Crypto-supportive litigator John Deaton is off to a strong start in his bid to displace Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren from her place in Parliament – at least when it comes to fundraising.
John Deaton’s Campaign Fundraising
As reported by Eleanor Terret of Fox Business, the lawyer-turned-senate hopeful raised $1.36 million for his campaign Q1, compared to Warren’s $1.1 million.
“According to his campaign, Deaton has received donations from prominent figures in the crypto industry such as Ripple execs Brad Garlinghouse, Chris Larsen, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Charles Hoskinson, Jameson Lopp, and Anthony Scaramucci,” Terret wrote to X on Friday.
According to Politico, donors including Garlinghouse, Larsen, Scaramucci, and the Winklevoss twins put down the maximum donations of $6600 for his campaign.
🚨NEW: According to the Federal Election Commission, @DeatonforSenate outraised @SenWarren in the first quarter with Deaton raising total revenues of $1.36M and Warren $1.1M.
According to his campaign, Deaton has received donations from prominent figures in the #crypto industry…
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) April 12, 2024
Deaton’s large, largely corporate funding is as foretold by Warren, who issued warnings to her followers in February in anticipation of Deaton’s campaign announcement. “I’m not afraid, but this now means we need to prepare to compete against funding from powerful special interests, Wall Street, and the GOP,” she said at the time.
Deaton’s history with the crypto industry is no secret. He’s best known for representing 75,000 XRP holders in a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that closed last year, which mostly panned out in Ripple’s favor.
He’s also blasted the SEC for harshly treating the crypto industry in several other high-profile lawsuits, including its fight with Grayscale – the issuer of the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF. The result of that lawsuit ultimately forced the SEC into allowing Bitcoin spot ETFs to trade, which Elizabeth Warren loudly disapproved of.
Is Elizabeth Warren Worried?
Beyond crypto, Warren and Deaton fiercely disagree on other partisan topics: student loan forgiveness, the migrant crisis, and loose monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.
“I’ve beaten the odds as an underdog my entire life and I’m going to do it again. The only difference this time, is the world will get to witness it,” Deaton wrote to X on Friday.
A friend of mine is a registered Democrat in Texas. He called me the other day to let me know that he’s received multiple emails from @ewarren, mentioning me by name and calling a me serious threat to her seat. I reminded him that it’s not her seat and I intend to reclaim it and…
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) April 12, 2024