Kevin O'leary was saying how he was trying to raise the bailout funds from sovereign wealth funds, but that evaporated once it looked like FTX lost the support (or at least the blind eye) of the SEC.
I'm not familiar with the claims. That said, the SEC is generally quite receptive to input when it comes to rule making.
> Coinbase has been complaining about being stonewalled by Gensler for even basic questions
Enforcement versus rule making. Asking the SEC "is this or that thing I'm currently doing legal" is totally different from proposing "you should write a rule that makes this legal or illegal." (Also, tweeting angry things at your regulator while you publicly try to yank their jurisdiction is a poor way to solicit discretionary feedback.)
“While examiners and investigators discovered suspicious information and evidence and caught Madoff in contradictions and inconsistencies, they either disregarded these concerns or relied inappropriately upon Madoff’s representations and documentation in dismissing them.” - SEC inspector general
A few SEC employees were disciplined internally, but none were fired.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-madoff-sec-remarks-idUKTR...
One of the enduring myths SBF crafted was that of his political connections. I have barely any D.C. connections. SBF has none. He was paid attention to. But walking into D.C. with tens of millions to spend is far from unprecedented, and it's not the sort of behavior that buys secrets. (Meetings? Sure.)