CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M

US charges two brothers with novel $25 million cryptocurrency heist

Nate Raymond
Wed, May 15, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: Illustration shows representation of cryptocurrency Ethereum


By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - Two brothers who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were arrested on Wednesday on U.S. charges that they carried out a cutting-edge scheme to exploit the Ethereum blockchain's integrity and steal $25 million worth of cryptocurrency.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan called the scheme perpetrated by Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, "novel" and said the case marked the first time that such a fraud had ever been the subject of U.S. criminal charges.


Authorities said they executed their elaborate heist in April 2023, stealing $25 million from traders in just 12 seconds by fraudulently gaining access to pending transactions and altering the movement of cryptocurrency.

"As we allege, the defendants' scheme calls the very integrity of the blockchain into question," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

An indictment charged them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Anton Peraire-Bueno was arrested in Boston, while James Peraire-Bueno was arrested in New York.

Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Both brothers had attended Cambridge, Massachusetts-based MIT, where according to prosecutors they studied computer science and math and developed the skills and education they relied upon to carry out their fraud.

The indictment alleged that for months, the Peraire-Bueno brothers plotted to manipulate and tamper with the protocols used to validate transactions for inclusion on the Ethereum blockchain, a public ledger that records each cryptocurrency transaction.

Prosecutors said they did so by exploiting a vulnerability in the code of software called MEV-boost that is used by most Ethereum network "validators," who are responsible for checking that new transactions are valid before they are added to the blockchain.

Prosecutors said that after carrying out the heist, the brothers rejected requests to return the funds and instead took steps to launder and hide the stolen cryptocurrency.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Brothers Accused of $25M Ethereum Exploit as U.S. Reveals Fraud Charges
Sam Kessler, Nikhilesh De
Wed, May 15, 2024 



Two brothers have been arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice for attacking the Ethereum blockchain and stealing $25 million of cryptocurrency during a 12-second exploit, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

The indictment charges Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, of Boston, and James Pepaire-Bueno, 28, of New York, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The charges are significant because they represent a first-of-its-kind criminal action from the U.S. government related to the controversial practice of MEV, or maximal extractable value, whereby the operators of Ethereum (and similar blockchains) preview upcoming transactions from users to earn an extra profit for themselves. The government suggests in the indictment that the very existence of MEV illustrates how Ethereum itself is a vulnerable system.

"[T]he defendants’ scheme calls the very integrity of the blockchain into question," Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a press release.
What is MEV-Boost?

According to Wednesday's indictment, the Pepaire-Bueno brothers exploited MEV-boost, an MEV software used by most of the validators that run the Ethereum blockchain.

The indictment walks through how Ethereum works, highlighting its staking consensus mechanism and the role of validators as participants who secure the network.

Read more: What Is MEV, aka Maximal Extractable Value?

When users submit transactions to Ethereum, those transactions are not immediately written to the blockchain's ledger. Instead, they're added to a "mempool" – a waiting area for other yet-to-be-processed transactions.

MEV-boost lets "block builders" assemble those mempool transactions into official blocks. MEV bots called "searchers" scour the mempool for profitable trading opportunities and will sometimes "bribe" builders to insert or re-order transactions in a manner that would net them an extra profit. (These "MEV strategies" can sometimes eat into the profits of end users.)

Validators, the operators that ultimately add blocks to the Ethereum blockchain, take the pre-built blocks from MEV-boost and then write them to the chain, where they're cemented permanently.
The exploit

The Pepaire-Bueno brothers exploited a bug in MEV-boost's code that allowed them to preview the content of blocks before they were officially delivered to validators, according to the indictment.

The brothers created 16 Ethereum validators and targeted three specific traders who operated MEV bots, the indictment said. They used bait transactions to figure out how those bots traded, lured the bots to one of their validators which was validating a new block and basically tricked these bots into proposing certain transactions. The brothers allegedly frontran the bots on certain trades and also used their validator to "tamper with" the new block by sending a false digital signature that gave them access to the block's full contents and replaced "lure transactions" with "tampered transactions." In those tampered transactions, the brothers allegedly sold illiquid cryptocurrencies they had tricked the victims' trading bots into placing buy orders for.

"In effect, the Victim Traders sold approximately $25 million of various stablecoins or other more liquid cryptocurrencies to purchase particularly illiquid cryptocurrencies," the document said. "In effect, the Tampered Transactions drained the particular liquidity pools of all the cryptocurrency that the Victim Traders had deposited based on their frontrun trades."

This meant the traders couldn't sell their new illiquid cryptos, which were "rendered effectively worthless," while the defendants made off with the $25 million in stablecoins and other "more liquid cryptocurrencies," the DOJ alleged.

The defendants then allegedly laundered the funds through various addresses and sets of transactions, including converting the stolen funds into DAI and then USDC.

“These brothers allegedly committed a first-of-its-kind manipulation of the Ethereum blockchain by fraudulently gaining access to pending transactions, altering the movement of the electronic currency, and ultimately stealing $25 million in cryptocurrency from their victims,” Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) New York Field Office said in the statement.

The indictment walks through some of what investigators found, including "a document setting forth their plans," the launch of shell companies, test transactions to identify best practices for attracting MEV bots and internet search histories.


DOJ: $25 million in crypto allegedly stolen by 2 brothers in 12 seconds

Chris Benson
Wed, May 15, 2024 


"This alleged scheme was novel and has never before been charged," Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for New York's Southern District, said Wednesday. 

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

May 15 (UPI) -- The Justice Department on Wednesday revealed it indicted two brothers in their twenties for a series of alleged crimes for manipulating the cryptocurrency market to steal $25 million in crypto in a 12-second period, according to reports.

Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, of Boston, Mass., and his brother James Peraire-Bueno, 28, of New York were arrested Monday in their respective cities and are being charged for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering,

"This alleged scheme was novel and has never before been charged," Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for New York's Southern District, said in a news release.

The Peraire-Bueno brothers Wednesday afternoon will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Levenson for the Massachusetts District, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo for New York's Southern District of New York.

If convicted, the brothers individually face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each criminal count.

"As alleged in today's indictment, the Peraire-Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency through a technologically sophisticated, cutting-edge scheme they plotted for months and executed in seconds," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a news release.

The Justice Department alleges the Peraire-Bueno brothers had "meticulously" planned their "exploit" over the course of several months. The indictment says their alleged crimes began as early as December 2022 and continued as far as this month with a series of executed financial transactions.

Monaco indicated that Internal Revenue Service agents were instrumental in unraveling the "first-of-its kind wire fraud and money laundering scheme" allegedly committed by the brothers.

Williams says their alleged crimes "calls the very integrity of the blockchain into question."

According to the Justice Department, the brothers had studied computer science and math "at one of the most prestigious universities in the world." The internet links one of them to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The federal government alleges that the two "used their specialized skills and education to tamper with and manipulate the protocols relied upon by millions of Ethereum users across the globe. And once they put their plan into action, their heist only took 12 seconds to complete."

Among other things, DOJ says they took the time to learn the trading behaviors of the victim traders whose cryptocurrency they allegedly stole, and "took numerous steps" to conceal their identities and "lay the groundwork to conceal the stolen proceeds," which the government contends included setting up shell companies and using multiple private cryptocurrency addresses and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges.

The indictment asked for a series of JP Morgan Chase and Choice Bank accounts under their names to be seized along with other personal property. The federal government claims the two had executed a series of financial translations designed to conceal not only their identities, but the real ownership of the funds stolen.

But investigators had found that both brothers had a digital search history consistent with the alleged crimes committed by them, including lawyers and American extradition policies.

CANADIAN CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$T

Crypto tycoon is Canada's richest person, but U.S. prison stay awaits

Changpeng Zhao is Canada’s richest person, but the crypto tycoon is about to spend four months inside a U.S. prison.

Author of the article:Postmedia News
Published May 08, 2024 • 

Former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao arrives at U.S. federal court in Seattle on April 30, 2024. PHOTO BY JASON REDMOND / AFP /Getty Images

The 47-year-old Chinese-born businessman, founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency-exchange Binance, ranks 30th in the world with a net worth of $40.5 billion as of Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Zhao’s family immigrated to Vancouver in the late 1980s when he was 12 after his father, a university instructor in China, was hired by the University of British Columbia

By 16, Zhao was learning how to code and eventually attended McGill University in Montreal where he majored in computer science.

After graduation, Zhao — also known as CZ — moved to Shanghai in 2005 and founded a technology startup company that automated high-frequency trading platforms and systems for stockbrokers.

In 2013, he learned about Bitcoin and was so enamoured by its potential that he invested all of his money in the cryptocurrency.

Four years later, Zhao launched Binance and his wealth exploded. He was named one of the richest people in cryptocurrency a year later by Forbes.

However, in March 2023, a federal lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Binance and Zhao, which accused the company and founder of breaking rules intended to thwart money laundering operations after alleging transactions by Palestinian militant group Hamas and other suspected criminals were using the crypto exchange

Fallen Crypto Mogul Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a cryptocurrency fraud that a prosecutor has described as one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history. His parents left the courthouse without comment.

Three months later, Zhao and Binance were also sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, accused of 13 violations of securities rules.

Zhao resigned as Binance CEO after pleading guilty last November to one count of failing to maintain an anti-money-laundering program. He was sentenced in April to four months in prison.

Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle related allegations from the U.S. government.

“I failed here,” Zhao told a Seattle court Tuesday. “I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry.”

Zhao also agreed to a fine of $50 million while avoiding what a U.S. Justice Department’s request for three years behind bars upon conviction.

FTX says most customers will get all money back, less that 2 years after collapse

HUNTER: Billion dollar crypto crook Scam Bankman-Fried caged 25 years

In a letter to the court, Zhao wrote that there was “no excuse for my failure to establish the necessary compliance controls at Binance.”

“I wish I could change that part of Binance’s story,” he added. “But under my direction, Binance has now implemented the most stringent anti-money laundering controls of any non-U.S. exchange, and those controls have been in place since 2022.”

— with files from the Associated Press.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenges Donald Trump to debate at Libertarian Convention

NEITHER OF THEM ARE LIBERTARIAN 

NOR MEMBERS OF THE PARTY


Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has challenged Donald Trump to a head-to-head debate for when both address a Libertarian convention later this month, a move that comes as the presumptive GOP nominee has ramped up both criticism of Kennedy's independent bid and demands that President Joe Biden meet him on a debate stage.

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press
MAY 8, 2024 —

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has challenged Donald Trump to a head-to-head debate for when both address a Libertarian convention later this month, a move that comes as the presumptive GOP nominee has ramped up both criticism of Kennedy's independent bid and demands that President Joe Biden meet him on a debate stage.

Arguing that he is ''drawing a lot of voters from your former supporters,'' Kennedy said to Trump in an open letter posted Tuesday to X that the Libertarian convention provides ''perfect neutral territory for you and me to have a debate where you can defend your record for your wavering supporters.''

Trump has been bullish in calling on Biden to debate him ahead of the November general election but has shied away from other rivals' previous debate entreaties. Trump skipped the 2024 GOP primary debates, saying it was unnecessary because voters know him and his record.

Kennedy, who last year challenged Biden for the Democratic nomination before launching an independent bid, has argued that his relatively strong showing in a few national polls gives his candidacy heft. Polls during the 2016 presidential campaign regularly put libertarian Gary Johnson's support in the high single or low double digits, but he ultimately received only about 3% of the vote nationwide.

In the open letter to Trump, Kennedy said their debate could ''show the American public that at least two of the major candidates aren't afraid to debate each other." Kennedy wrote that convention organizers "are game for us to use our time there to bring the American people the debate they deserve!''

Spokespeople for the Trump campaign and the Libertarian Party did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Kennedy's debate challenge.

Kennedy and Trump are scheduled to appear on separate days before attendees at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. later this month. Both candidates have been courting support from libertarian-leaning voters, although Kennedy — who is working to appear on all 50 ballots, a state-by-state petition process — has ruled out officially running as a Libertarian candidate.

In recent weeks, Trump's campaign has ramped up its attacks against Kennedy, who has appealed to disaffected Democrats and Republicans looking for an alternative to the pending rematch of the 2020 election.

Last month, Trump wrote on Truth Social that ''RFK Jr. is a Democrat 'Plant,' a Radical Left Liberal who's been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden." MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump's candidacy, has also issued its own critical posts and created an anti-Kennedy website.

Leaving court one day last week after his hush money trial, Trump told reporters asking about Kennedy's campaign that he didn't feel threatened by it, pointing to polling.

''He might hurt me, I don't know. But he has very low numbers, certainly not numbers that he can debate with, and he's got to get his numbers up a lot higher before he's credible,'' Trump said. ''The numbers that he's taking away, they say will be against Biden. I don't know, it could be a little bit against me, but I don't see him as a factor.''



Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

___

Michelle L. Price and Ruth Brown in New York and Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Pro-Crypto Presidential Candidiate, to Appear at Consensus 2024

Nick Baker
Tue, May 7, 2024 


Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent U.S. presidential candidate who has promoted a pro-cryptocurrency stance during his campaign, will speak later this month at the Consensus 2024 crypto conference in Austin, Texas.

"As an environmental lawyer, scion of a Democratic political dynasty, and now maverick presidential candidate, Kennedy will explain his support for cryptocurrency and self-custody," according to a press release from CoinDesk, which puts on the annual event.

Read more: RFK Jr. Vows to Back Dollar With Bitcoin, Exempt BTC From Taxes

Kennedy is polling well behind the presumptive Republican and Democratic candidates in the presidential election, Donald Trump and incumbent Joe Biden, respectively. He is running as an independent after not making headway in the Democratic primary.

Crypto has increasingly become politicized in the U.S., with many Republicans pro-crypto and Democrats opposed or skeptical at best. Kennedy is a member of a famously Democratic family (that has endorsed Biden). His uncle, John F. Kennedy, served as U.S. president in the 1960s, and his father served as U.S. Attorney General during that administration before running for president.

On the issue of crypto, he's breaking away from those Democratic roots.

Opinion
RFK Jr. Finally Offers an Explanation for Why He’s Like This

Hafiz Rashid

NEW REPUBLIC
Wed, May 8, 2024 


As if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. couldn’t get any weirder, the presidential candidate has admitted that a doctor once suspected a worm ate part of his brain and then died inside his head.

The New York Times reports that in 2010, Kennedy was experiencing severe mental fog and memory loss, so he went to see specialist doctors, including some of the same neurologists who had treated his uncle Senator Ted Kennedy’s brain cancer. After brain scans, doctors thought that he had a tumor and quickly scheduled a surgery to have it removed

But, while he was preparing, another doctor called him with a different opinion: Kennedy had a dead parasite in his head, “a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” Kennedy said in a 2012 deposition from his divorce proceedings reviewed by the Times.

In the deposition, Kennedy said, “I have cognitive problems, clearly. I have short-term memory loss, and I have longer-term memory loss that affects me.”

The 70-year-old independent presidential candidate claims to be in better shape, mentally and physically, than his opponents Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who are 81 and 77, respectively. He’s posted videos skiing and lifting weights shirtless at an outdoor gym in Venice Beach, California. In an interview with The New York Times, Kennedy said he had recovered from symptoms including memory loss and fogginess.

But he’s also had his own health issues over the years, such as atrial fibrillation, a heart issue linked to an increased risk of stroke or heart failure; mercury poisoning, which can cause neurological issues; and spasmodic dysphonia, which results in a shaky, tight or strained-sounding voice.

Kennedy’s campaign has had mixed news as of late, gaining ballot access in California and Delaware and worrying the Trump campaign. But he’s also faced calls to drop out from his allies in the environmental movement, and one of his campaign consultants was arrested for allegedly choking and punching a woman.

OH DEAR WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE....

Kevin Spacey endorses ‘loyal friend’ Robert F Kennedy Jr in 2024 presidential race

Inga Parkel
Mon, May 6, 2024 

Kevin Spacey has voiced his support for 2024 presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is currently campaigning as an independent.

The outspoken conspiracy theorist and vaccine-sceptic declared his independent candidacy in October 2023, announcing that he would be running against Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Over the weekend, Kennedy Jr’s official X account released a campaign video, narrated by actor Woody Harrelson, addressing recent news headlines, which have accused the lawyer of being “racist”, “a lunatic” and more.

“The Bobby Kennedy video Meta doesn’t want you to see,” reads the caption.

The clip begins with Kennedy reading out the negative media coverage of himself before turning towards the camera and admitting: “I wouldn’t vote for that guy either.”

The lengthy 30-minute video continues to answer the question: “Who is Bobby Kennedy?”

On Monday (6 May), Spacey retweeted the video, writing: “There’s a lot I can learn from this man. When the world turned its back on me, Bobby leaned in.

Kevin Spacey and Robert F Kennedy Jr (Getty Images)

“He’s a formidable fighter for justice and a loyal friend that’s not afraid to stand up for what he believes,” the former House of Cards star, 64, said of Kennedy, who is the son of Robert Francis Kennedy and nephew of former US President John F Kennedy.

Spacey’s endorsement comes days after he was accused of groping former actor Ruari Cannon. The American Beauty actor has denied Cannon’s claims – which are included in Channel 4’s newly released documentary, Spacey Unmasked.

The two-part documentary examines the actor’s “spectacular fall from grace came amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour”.

In 2023, Spacey was found not guilty of sexually assaulting four men, following a four-week trial in London.

The Oscar-winner was cleared of all nine charges, including sexual assault, which were alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.

Reacting to Spacey Unmasked, Spacey issued a fiery statement, claiming that Channel 4 hadn’t given him the proper time to respond to allegations made against him in the documentary.

“I have repeatedly requested that @Channel4 afford me more than 7 days to respond to allegations made against me dating back 48 years and provide me with sufficient details to investigate these matters,” he tweeted. “Channel 4 has refused on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me.

“I will not sit back and be attacked by a dying network’s one-sided ‘documentary’ about me in their desperate attempt for ratings. There's a proper channel to handle allegations against me and it’s not Channel 4,” Spacey added.
Spacey Unmasked airs on 6 and 7 May.

RFK Jr. Lands Coveted Kevin Spacey Endorsement

Miles Klee
Mon, May 6, 2024


While Joe Biden and Donald Trump have kept their in-person campaigning to a minimum so far this election cycle, third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done everything he can do steal the spotlight, holding event after event with celebrity supporters. Now he can add another to the roster: actor Kevin Spacey.

Spacey, who faced more than a dozen accusations of sexual misconduct or assault since the #MeToo movement gripped the culture in 2017, appeared to indicate in a tweet on Monday that Kennedy had been there for him at his lowest. “There’s a lot I can learn from this man,” Spacey wrote, sharing a 30-minute Kennedy ad that the campaign claims Facebook and Instagram parent Meta is trying to censor. (Meta said that the link to the video was blocked for about a day because it was incorrectly flagged as spam.) “When the world turned its back on me, Bobby leaned in,” Spacey told his followers, adding that Kennedy is a “formidable fighter for justice and a loyal friend that’s not afraid to stand up for what he believes.”

The allegations against Spacey have recently been examined in a two-part documentary from British broadcaster Channel 4, Spacey Unmasked, which includes interviews with 10 men who accused him of inappropriate behavior or abuse.

Spacey’s legal woes arising from the various assault allegations, which he has denied, seem to be behind him at this point. Two U.S. criminal cases didn’t go forward (in one case because the accuser died); he was acquitted in a U.K. trial last year; and he successfully defended against a lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who claims that Spacey made a sexual advance on him in 1986, when he was 14 years old and Spacey was 26. Spacey also paid $1 million to settle arbitration on his alleged sexual harassment of crew members during the production of Netflix series House of Cards — a payout greatly reduced from an initial $31 million judgment.

Yet his reentry into public life has been bumpy, perhaps in part because, while a pariah of the entertainment industry, Spacey shared creepy (if not downright threatening) Christmas greeting videos in which he addressed viewers as his House of Cards character, the Machiavellian politician Frank Underwood. More recently, he has taken roles in little-noticed indie films and received a standing ovation for his performance of a Shakespeare scene at a “cancel culture” event held by the University of Oxford.

Kennedy, whom Spacey called a “loyal friend,” did not appear to immediately tout or even acknowledge the warm words from the tarnished actor. It’s also not clear how he “leaned in” as Spacey’s reputation cratered in 2017.

However, the anti-vax candidate is hardly a stranger to controversy. Married to Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines, he has put Hollywood figures front and center during his run — Woody Harrelson narrates the ad that Spacey shared, for example. These two elements of the campaign have seen Kennedy align himself with any number of “canceled” celebrities who relate to his rhetoric about censorship and free speech (or at least appreciate his offer of an open forum).

These include Russell Brand, a comic-turned-conspiracy-theorist who has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and abuse by multiple women and has interviewed Kennedy. (He denies the allegations, the subject of two ongoing police investigations in the U.K.) Brand will appear as a special guest of the candidate at a “Night of Country & Comedy” fundraiser in Nashville on May 15. Motivational speaker and life coach Tony Robbins, whom Kennedy approached at least twice when considering his pick for vice president, has been accused of sexual harassment and assaults dating back to the 1980s. (He denies the claims and has not faced any legal consequences). Comedian Bobby Lee, known for repeatedly telling a story about having sex with a “scared” young Tijuana prostitute as she cried (he later claimed it was a fabrication) has taken the stage at Kennedy events and given him a platform on his podcast TigerBelly. Eight women have accused actor Jeremy Piven, another Kennedy fundraiser performer, of sexual assault and misconduct. (He, too, denies those allegations and has not been criminally charged or sued.)

Of course, not all of Kennedy’s well-known backers have such scandals to their credit — some are apparently just unpleasant. Former Saturday Night Live cast member and Kennedy supporter Rob Schneider was reportedly pulled offstage during a comedy set at a Republican networking event late last year when attendees were offended by his vulgar material. Schneider denied that his routine had been cut short, but in any case, the Kennedy camp kept him on the bill for a fundraiser scheduled soon after unflattering descriptions of the show emerged. That event must have gone somewhat better, because Schneider is among the comedians listed for the upcoming Nashville party with Russell Brand.

Will Spacey eventually join this tour group of the usual suspects, perhaps to offer politically charged recitations of Shakespeare or riff with the crowd as Frank Underwood? Don’t be surprised if it happens. Kennedy is drawing on star power wherever he can find it — and Spacey seems keen to regain an audience under any conditions.

More from Rolling Stone

Kevin Spacey Avoids Default Judgment in Sexual Assault Civil Suit After Lawyer 'Error'

Kevin Spacey Calls 'Unmasked' Allegations 'Utter Nonsense' in Video Interview Ahead of Documentary

'Spacey Unmasked' Gives Men the Floor in the #MeToo Conversation - And Shows Sympathy for a Disgraced Star


State by state, RFK Jr. pushes for nationwide ballot access

Aaron Pellish and Eva McKend, CNN
Wed, May 8, 2024 


Before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the stage at a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, last month, a team of his campaign staffers and volunteers organized hundreds of attendees through an assembly line of government forms, ID checks and color-coded wristbands. The bureaucratic workforce contrasted starkly against the classic rock music blaring over the speakers, the crowded bar at the back of the venue and the jovial spirit circulating among Midwesterners excitedly awaiting Kennedy’s remarks.

But the paperwork was a fundamental ingredient of the rally’s significance. The independent candidate’s campaign planned to use the event to qualify for Iowa’s presidential ballot through a unique process that requires hundreds of registered voters in Iowa to sign up for a convention-like process to formally nominate Kennedy to appear on the state’s ballot.

The Iowa event is part of the Kennedy campaign’s push for ballot access in all 50 states and Washington, DC, an undertaking that has endured hiccups and won incremental victories since the effort began last year, capitalizing on voters’ appetite for an alternative to the presumptive nominees from the major parties, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

“People on both sides are waking up and wanting an option,” Dan Twelmeyer, a Kennedy supporter from Des Moines said. “They don’t want the lesser of two evils. They want hope, he delivers a message of hope.”

After his remarks in Iowa, Kennedy doubled down on his audacious 50-state ballot access goal and said the campaign will achieve full ballot access in the next few months.

“We will have ballot access in every state by the end of July,” Kennedy told reporters.

Whether Kennedy succeeds in his ballot access mission could have major implications on the playing field ahead of the presidential election. An NPR/PBS/Marist College national poll of registered voters released earlier this month showed Kennedy earning 11% support in a hypothetical five-way matchup between Biden, Trump, Kennedy, independent candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Biden and Trump both received 42% support in the same poll.

It’s unclear if Kennedy would draw more support from Biden or Trump, but in a close race, a third-party candidate with substantial support has potential to tip the balance of the electoral map in unknown ways. In the 2020 election, Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin were all decided by margins of less than 1 percentage point.

Drew Dietle, a 37-year-old Kennedy supporter from Golden Valley, Minnesota, says he believes the environment is ripe for someone like Kennedy to make a significant impact.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had two candidates like Trump and Biden who are more unpopular, and so I think the road is wide open for a third-party candidate to be successful this time around.”

Kennedy’s ballot push could also go a long way to proving the legitimacy of his insurgent third-party bid in the eyes of voters who are curious about his message but concerned about his electability.

Stefanie Westendorf, a 47-year-old plumber from Dayton, Ohio, voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 but has also voted for Democrats in previous elections. She said she’s considering voting for Kennedy because of his background in environmental advocacy and because “he’s not a politician.” Still, she’s leaning toward supporting Trump in November because she doesn’t think Kennedy can qualify for the ballot in her state.

“I like Kennedy, but, you know, he’s not gonna be on the ballot in Ohio,” Westendorf said.

Kennedy is officially on the ballot in five states: battleground Michigan, Utah, Hawaii, Delaware and California. The campaign says it’s gathered enough signatures to put Kennedy on the ballot in two more battlegrounds, North Carolina and Nevada, as well as Idaho, Nebraska and Iowa.

The campaign has adopted a wide range of methods meant to find the easiest way to navigate the often disparate and convoluted processes to meet different ballot qualification criteria in each state. Volunteers have collected signatures outside sporting events, on college campuses, at festivals and state fairs and more across the country. The campaign has even drafted off the exposure of more prominent political events: Volunteers collected enough signatures to appear on the New Hampshire ballot by canvassing voters at polling places on the day of the Granite State’s presidential primary in January.

The campaign typically aims to collect at least 60% more signatures than the required amount in each state, a campaign official told CNN, to avoid invalidated signatures undermining Kennedy’s petition.

Kennedy has also reached out to minor parties with ballot eligibility in some states to circumvent the signature-gathering process altogether, making strange bedfellows of Kennedy and some fringe political groups. He’ll appear on Michigan’s ballot on the Natural Law Party line, a party best known for promoting transcendental meditation. In California, Kennedy will be on the ballot thanks to the American Independent Party, a group founded in the 1960s to promote segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s third-party bid in 1968.

In a video statement announcing his California ballot qualification, Kennedy condemned Wallace’s views and said the party has “been reborn as a party that represents not bigotry and hatred, but rather compassion and unity and idealism and common sense.”

Sierra Lyons attended a Kennedy campaign event in Michigan celebrating his ballot access win in the state along with her mother. A native of Macomb County who voted for Trump in 2020, she’s been volunteering for Kennedy since last year. She said she’s excited to have the chance to vote for Kennedy, despite criticisms from Democrats and Republicans that Kennedy could be a spoiler for Biden or Trump.

“I’m not even letting myself go there because I’m not going to vote for Biden or Trump, just because people say the odds are stacked against Kennedy,” Lyons said.
Roadblocks to access

The campaign’s ballot access infrastructure is overseen by campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy and Nick Brana, the campaign’s ballot access director, who coordinate strategy with staff and volunteers in each state. Trent Pool, a key ballot access consultant who has worked with the campaign since last year, has helped bring professional petition circulators into the campaign as it ramps up signature gathering in several states. (Pool was charged with assault in Manhattan last week, a New York police spokesperson told CNN. Pool’s attorney told CNN he is “innocent of all charges.”)

The team works closely with Paul Rossi, the campaign’s lead ballot access attorney who has spearheaded lawsuits challenging petition filing deadlines and signature gathering protocols and coordinated the campaign’s defense against legal challenges over its ballot access work.

In Utah, the state moved back its petition deadline for independent candidates after Kennedy sued the state. In Idaho, the state legislature changed its statutes on petition gathering after the campaign filed a lawsuit challenging its petition deadline and rules around signature gathering. And in Hawaii, the campaign successfully defended a challenge to invalidate its ballot petition from the state Democratic Party despite not being formally represented in the hearing by an attorney.

Despite those legal victories, Kennedy still faces a long road to nationwide ballot access. The campaign has yet to file petitions in most states, which will subject the campaign to scrutiny from more state elections officials and outside groups over the validity of their petitions and their signature collection methods. The campaign has already faced issues in Nevada, after the Secretary of State’s office admitted it “provided inaccurate guidance” to the Kennedy campaign regarding whether it needed to announce Kennedy’s vice presidential running mate prior to gathering signatures in the state.

The campaign is waiting to submit petitions in states where it said it has collected enough signatures to qualify until the deadlines in those states draw closer in hopes of reducing opportunities for legal challenges from Democrats and Republicans, a second campaign official told CNN.

American Values 2024, a super PAC backing Kennedy, had initially outlayed an eight-figure initiative earlier this year to gather signatures on behalf of Kennedy in some states. The PAC said it gathered enough signatures to put Kennedy on the ballot in Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and South Carolina. But in the wake of a Federal Elections Commission complaint filed by the Democratic National Committee alleging the PAC illegally coordinated with the Kennedy campaign to set up the ballot access operation, the PAC has abandoned its plans despite spending more than $2 million on the effort, a PAC official told CNN.

While most states require candidates to collect under 10,000 signatures to qualify, some states require candidates to meet significantly larger thresholds. Florida, for example, requires candidates to collect more than 145,000 signatures to qualify in the state. But Kennedy has expressed optimism about hitting signature targets in some states with the largest thresholds, like New York and Texas. New York in particular is a priority for Kennedy due to the state laws that require a high volume of signatures to be gathered in a short six-week window, the second campaign official told CNN, and the campaign sees qualifying in the state as a critical step in gaining ballot access nationwide. The campaign has volunteers in all 62 counties in New York working to collect the necessary 45,000 signatures before the state’s petition filing window closes at the end of May.

Matt Rigolini is a 43-year-old health care worker from Huntington, New York, who’s backing Kennedy. He said he didn’t vote in the 2020 election and would stay home again unless Kennedy is able to qualify for the ballot in New York.

“If Kennedy wasn’t on the ballot whatsoever, I would not be showing up to the polls. I have zero interest if he’s not on the ballot,” Rigolini said. “Trump is a non-option, and Joe Biden’s a non-option. So I would just be happy to sit that one out.”

The legal battles and signature-gathering challenges amount to financial hurdles that typically prevent independent candidates from gaining ballot access nationwide. Kennedy’s campaign ended March with about $6 million in cash on hand after ramping up spending in March to $4.5 million. But the campaign has received a significant financial boost from Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s independently wealthy vice presidential nominee, who contributed $2 million to the campaign in March. Politicians can contribute unlimited sums of money to their own campaigns, meaning Shanahan could continue to provide liquidity as the ballot access effort picks up steam.

For Kennedy, gaining ballot access is the first measure of his outsider campaign’s potency in the race. For some voters, their support for Kennedy is predicated on whether he can compete in every state. Debra Chilcott, 57, said she hopes Kennedy has enough support nationwide to get him on the ballot in every state. But Chilcott, a paralegal from Patchogue, New York, said that if he doesn’t get on the ballot everywhere, she’ll likely vote for Trump, whom she’s supported previously.

“I want to obviously put my money where the best bet is,” she said.

But while obtaining ballot access nationwide would mark a major milestone for Kennedy, it’s unclear at this point whether their grassroots outreach for petition signatures will help build support for Kennedy in November. Benjamin Novak, a Maryland voter and a senior at Towson University, gave his signature to help Kennedy get on the ballot in Maryland. He said he hopes Kennedy can gain ballot access across the country for the benefit of voters who want to support him. But he said he’s planning on voting for Biden in November.

“If I’m going to be honest, I’m not a huge Kennedy fan but I think it’s important to have options for third-party candidates even if they’re not your favorite. It sets a good precedent for the future,” Novak said.

But for some voters, the opportunity to potentially cast a ballot for a high-profile third-party candidate is an exciting prospect. Doniella Pliss, a 52-year-old from Springfield, New Jersey, said she’s planning to vote for Kennedy if he qualifies in her state. She’s voted for third-party candidates previously but typically supports Democrats. She said she hopes to be able to vote for Kennedy because he aligns with her values.

“Look, I’m not a rich person. I cannot buy influence. All I can offer is my vote. I value it very highly. My vote is never wasted,” Pliss said. “Do I see a path to victory? In an ideal world, maybe. In practical terms, maybe not. But for me personally, this vote is more of my choice, and my action and my civic duty. And that’s what I’m going to use it for.”

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M

FTX has billions more than required to repay bankruptcy victims

FTX's recovery is aided by cryptocurrency resurgence and asset liquidation

ByMudit Dube

May 08, 2024

02:26 pm

What's the story

FTX, once a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has successfully gathered billions in surplus funds following its November 2022 collapse.This unexpected financial turnaround enables the firm to fully compensate its customers for their losses under its bankruptcy plan.Newly appointed CEO John Ray announced, "We are pleased to be in a position to propose a chapter 11 plan that contemplates the return of 100% of bankruptcy claim amounts plus interest for non-governmental creditors."

Asset liquidation

FTX anticipates over $16 billion in cash post asset sale

Following the sale of all its assets, FTX expects to have up to $16.3 billion in cash available for distribution, according to a company announcement.The firm's debts total around $11 billion, owed primarily to customers and other non-governmental creditors.Earlier this year, the company had approximately $6.4 billion in cash due to a surge in cryptocurrency prices, including Solana, a token heavily backed by FTX's disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Recovery process

FTX's recovery aided by cryptocurrency resurgence and asset liquidation

In addition to the cryptocurrency surge, FTX has also liquidated various other assets such as stakes in venture capital projects like Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company.Despite comparisons to the fraudulent collapses of Enron and Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, no funds will remain for equity holders once all debts and interest have been fully paid.The task of locating the company's assets and deciphering a complex network of global accounts has been undertaken by restructuring advisers.

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Pending approval

FTX's revised reorganization plan awaits court approval

FTX's revised reorganization plan suggests that most creditors will receive approximately 118% of their claims within two months.The plan is yet to be approved by a US bankruptcy court, with Judge John Dorsey set to consider the creditors' vote when deciding whether to approve the plan later this summer.FTX declared bankruptcy in November 2022. Its founder swindled customers and investors out of billions, using the cash for personal gain and to cover his hedge fund, Alameda Research's debts.

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