Rep. Sessions to Newsmax: SEC 'Asleep at the Wheel' on FTX

The Securities and Exchange Commission was "asleep at the wheel" regarding the money that vanished from cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Rep. Pete Sessions said on Newsmax Saturday.

"As you heard the new [FTX] president say, it was a simple matter of fraud, and we need to look at what the Securities and Exchange Commission was doing," the Texas Republican told Newsmax's "Saturday Report."

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange, is in custody and facing several criminal charges, ranging from wire fraud to money laundering to conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States, along with violating campaign finance laws. Bankman-Fried was one of the largest political donors this year, particularly to Democrat candidates.

Those charges are in addition to charges announced by the SEC, which says the 30-year-old defrauded investors while using proceeds to buy real estate for himself and his family. But Sessions said the SEC allowed meetings between Bankman-Fried with its chairman, and the former FTX official also had "full access to members of Congress and the U.S. Senate."

"The SEC was asleep at the wheel for these billions of dollars that we now find out about a year later," Sessions said.

He noted that Bankman-Fried was a witness at a congressional committee hearing about a year ago, and he recalled asking him questions about his business and what should give confidence that it had a sound financial backing.

"He said, 'It's just a matter of transparency,'" said Sessions. "The argument was about whether there needed to be regulatory oversight, specifically of cryptocurrency. This is a simple matter."

He stressed, though, that members of Congress don't have regulatory oversight of investigators who need to look at the reports that need to be filed to the SEC or the IRS.

"I can't pick up the phone and call a bank or someone else and just say, 'Tell me what's in there,' without an official subpoena from our financial services or government reform and oversight committee; so that is their job," said Sessions. "I'm not suggesting in any way that they necessarily did anything wrong; but what I'm suggesting is it's up to us to have that oversight of not just the government, but how they operate."

Meanwhile, some questions must be answered concerning the influence Bankman-Fried had, as he was "trying to turn the election," said Sessions.

"That's why he gave so much money and in particular, gave it to Senate candidates and the Senate candidates were there to ensure that the policies would be favorable to whatever this man wanted," said Sessions, adding that it's a "cop-out" for the White House not to say if President Joe Biden's campaign will be returning donations it got.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, in a press briefing this week, pushed back on questions concerning the donations, citing prohibitions from commenting based on the Hatch Act.

The congressman also on Saturday discussed reports that the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks is urging the Department of Justice to pursue at least three charges against former President Donald Trump, calling their investigation "incomplete" and "unprofessional."

"I think the Department of Justice is capable of drawing their conclusions," said Sessions. "The facts of the case need to be done, not a political hearing."

The committee's hearings, he added, were "set up for TV" and were always about getting Trump.

"They've already impeached President Trump twice," said Sessions. "We already get it. They don't like him."

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