Protect Our Future
{{Short description|Democratic political action committee}}
Protect Our Future (POF) is a Democratic political action committee (PAC) started in 2022. It was funded primarily by Sam Bankman-Fried.
Funding
In 2022 Bankman-Fried provided initial financial support for Protect Our Future PAC. Protect Our Future was launched as a Democratic political action committee with $10 million in initial funding aiming to support "lawmakers who play the long game on policymaking in areas like pandemic preparedness and planning", according to Politico.{{cite news|first=Anthony |last=Adragna|title=A new Democratic super PAC has entered the chat: Protect Our Future will invest $10 million in Democratic primaries for lawmakers who take "a long term view on policy planning."|url=https://www.politico.com/minutes/congress/01-27-2022/new-pac-launches/|work=Politico|date=January 27, 2022}} Bankman-Fried had provided the majority of the $14 million raised by May 2022 for the PAC. A spokesperson for the PAC said Bankman-Fried had donated $13 million, while Nishad Singh had donated $1 million.{{cite news |last1=Sutton |first1=Sam |last2=Montellaro |first2=Zach |title=Revealed: The $14M mystery behind a new crypto super PAC |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/19/crypto-super-pac-campaign-finance-00026146 |access-date=6 May 2022 |work=Politico |date=April 19, 2022 |language=en}}
As of June 2022, Bankman-Fried contributed over $23 million to the PAC.{{cite news |last1=Iwayemi |first1=Timi |title=Sam Bankman-Fried's Multimillion-Dollar Game |url=https://prospect.org/power/sam-bankman-frieds-multimillion-dollar-game/ |work=The American Prospect |date=June 6, 2022 |language=en-us}}
2022 Democratic primary
POF spent funds in several 2022 Democratic primaries. In the 2022 Democratic primary between Shontel Brown and Nina Turner, POF spent at least $1 million in support of Brown,{{cite news |last1=Grim |first1=Ryan |author-link=Ryan Grim |title=Crypto PAC Throws in $1 Million to Back Ohio Rep. Shontel Brown Over Nina Turner |url=https://theintercept.com/2022/04/15/crypto-campaign-donations/ |work=The Intercept |date=April 15, 2022 |language=en}} largely on radio, TV, and digital ads. This amount was significant, given that the Brown campaign itself raised $4 million. POF spent at least $2 million for Georgia Representative Lucy McBath.
POF spent at least $7 million in the 2022 Carrick Flynn campaign for Oregon district 6 Representative.{{cite news |first=Karen James |last=Sloan |title=Crypto cash flows into midterm elections as the industry flexes its political clout |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/03/crypto-cash-flows-into-2022-midterm-election-races.html |access-date=6 May 2022 |work=CNBC |date=May 3, 2022 |language=en}} An opposing candidate alleged that POF coordinated with a Flynn campaign, an action illegal under federal law. POF denied this allegation.{{cite news |last1=Monahan |first1=Rachel |title=Congressional Campaign Alleges Super PAC and Democratic Candidate for Oregon's New Seat Are Improperly Coordinating |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2022/03/02/congressional-campaign-alleges-super-pac-and-democratic-candidate-for-oregons-new-seat-are-improperly-coordinating/ |work=Willamette Week |date=March 2, 2022 |language=en}} The Flynn campaign may have coordinated with POF through a strategy called red-boxing, whereby the campaign highlights particular language on its website in a red box that POF replicated in its advertising.{{cite news |last1=Goldmacher |first1=Shane |title=The Little Red Boxes Making a Mockery of Campaign Finance Laws |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/us/politics/red-boxes-campaign-finance-democrats.html |access-date=9 June 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=May 16, 2022}}