FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Submits Legal Brief to Halt DOJ’s Evidentiary Requests

Sam Bankman-Fried, the originator and previous CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, submitted a legal brief on September 1, urging the court to reject the pretrial requests made by the prosecuting team.

The legal document, drafted by Bankman-Fried’s attorney Mark Cohen, labels the motions submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as “baseless and excessively broad,” among other criticisms.

Cohen contends that the issues the government has brought up are not suitable for resolution at this phase of the legal process. The brief further asserts that the DOJ’s requests aim to introduce irrelevant and potentially damaging evidence about actions that were either never charged or are no longer relevant, with the intention of undermining any forthcoming defense. It also accuses the requests of including wide-ranging categories of hearsay and other inadmissible evidence.

The document further states that the prosecutor’s requests are “legally unfounded and impractical” to implement, and therefore should not be approved.

In related news, Robinhood recently repurchased Bankman-Fried’s stake from the U.S. government for $606 million.

This legal maneuver comes on the heels of numerous recent motions from the DOJ seeking court intervention on multiple fronts. On August 28, the DOJ filed a motion seeking to disqualify all expert witnesses presented by Bankman-Fried from taking the stand.

The government claimed that the experts, along with their disclosed credentials, have various shortcomings that justify their exclusion from the trial proceedings.

On August 29, prosecutors submitted yet another motion, stating that Bankman-Fried’s defense against fraud allegations is currently “inapplicable” and asking for further disclosures related to his defense strategy.

Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried’s legal team is advocating for his temporary release, arguing that the conditions set by the authorities are inadequate for him to adequately prepare for the trial set for October.

The defense is also appealing a prior court decision made on August 11 to rescind his bail, asserting that the revocation was an act of “reprisal” for Bankman-Fried exercising his First Amendment rights.

Sentiment: Fairness