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STORY: Jailed crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried considered paying Donald Trump not to run for re-election.

That’s according to excerpts from a forthcoming book revealed over the weekend.

The Washington Post published a passage from “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon” by Michael Lewis.

In it, the writer says Bankman-Fried told him that he explored paying Trump not to stand again in 2020.

Lewis says the then-boss of crypto firm FTX had a back-channel to the re-election campaign team.

Through this came word, Lewis says, that Trump would consider stepping aside for $5 billion.

The excerpt did not say why the deal never went ahead.

Lewis also claims that Bankman-Fried was planning to give up to $30 million to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell to help defeat ardently pro-Trump candidates.

There was no comment on the excerpt from spokespersons for Trump or Bankman-Fried.

The former FTX chief is now in jail awaiting trial.

He’s pleaded not guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from the collapse of his company.

Lewis’s book release is set to coincide with the start of the trial this week.