The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has intensified its efforts to secure FTX (CRYPTO: FTT) founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s detention pending trial.
The DoJ has submitted a letter to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the District Court for the Southern District of New York, arguing for the revocation of Bankman-Fried’s bail.
The letter responds to Bankman-Fried’s accusations of the government’s reliance on unsupported inferences and assumptions and outlines the DoJ’s case for Bankman-Fried’s alleged attempts to manipulate public perception and influence the trial’s outcome.
The DoJ maintains that Bankman-Fried shared private writings of Caroline Ellison, a key witness in the case, with the New York Times to influence public perception of her and, by extension, himself.
The letter further states that Bankman-Fried’s actions were not merely an exercise of his constitutional right to speak to the press.
Instead, it alleges that he took covert steps to discredit a trial witness and taint the jury pool.
The DoJ argues that these actions are consistent with Bankman-Fried’s escalating evasions of his bail conditions, warranting the revocation of his bail.
The DoJ also addresses the defense’s claims about Bankman-Fried’s use of the encrypted messaging application, Signal, to contact a witness, destroy communications and obstruct a potential government investigation.
The letter further discusses the defendant’s behavior, including his alleged attempts to discredit Ellison.
Bankman-Fried’s actions were designed to intimidate, harass, and embarrass Ellison; provoke an emotional response in potential jurors; and “pervert the course of justice” by allegedly tampering with and harassing a witness, and by tainting the jury pool, the DOJ alleges.
Produced in association with Benzinga
