Proactive Investors - Former FTX and Alameda Research head Sam Bankman-Fried has declined an invitation from Democratic representative and chair of the House Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters to take part in a congressional hearing scheduled for December 13.
According to SBF, “once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain,” but “I'm not sure that will happen by the 13th. But when it does, I will testify”.
Whether through contempt or fear, SBF’s attempt to dictate the terms of his testimony is at odds with the fervour of his recent press tour.
As author Alex Berenson pointed out, “SBF is happy to talk to anyone and everyone… just as long as he’s not under oath”.
Rep. Waters, and the House Committee on Financial Services:Once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain.
I'm not sure that will happen by the 13th. But when it does, I will testify. https://t.co/c0P8yKlyQt
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 4, 2022
SBF has displayed a knack for choosing the right people to be interviewed by.
Andrew Ross Sorkin managed to lob a few tough ones during his interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit, but SBF was still able to deflect, gaslight and even charm the audience, if their applause and laughter at his self-deprecating humour was anything to go by.
His three-hour Twitter Spaces chat with the Crypto Banter podcast failed to deduce anything that wasn’t already known, and the fact that host Ran Neuner decided to conduct the roundtable in a wig gives a good indication of the podcast’s tone.
Even Sam’s interview with citizen journalist Tiffany Fong (who did manage to ask some tough questions) ultimately allowed SBF to paint a sympathetic image of himself.
This interview with Fong, the first since his crypto empire’s collapse, laid the foundations for his press tour to come, in which SBF continued to push a narrative of mismanagement and poor corporate governance, instead of the more widely believed story of outright theft.
But a recent interview with popular YouTuber and journalist Coffeezilla, renowned for his hard-hitting investigations, may have not only skewered this narrative, but provided ammunition to prosecutors in the inevitable litigation to come.
Coffeezilla – real name Stephen Findeisen – pressed SBF on the US$8bn of missing user funds, and refused to take “I don’t know” as an answer.
Alameda’s use of FTX customer funds to open high-value margin positions, which SBF has admitted to, is a huge problem for him.
FTX’s terms of service clearly stated that customer funds would not be used to open margin positions, but SBF has contended that certain accounts were exempt.
Yet armed with insider information from former Alameda Research employees, Findeisen pointed out that his contention doesn’t stack up.
The same line of questioning was brought up in an interview with Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos. SBF failed to give a reasonable answer.
It was a terrible look for SBF. It also foreshadowed the difficulty prosecutors are going to have in litigating this case.
Will the right questions be asked in court? Will the lawyers even have sufficient knowledge of the arcane world of crypto trading in order to build a case?
They need to pull him up on charges first, because he doesn’t appear willing to cooperate on his own accord.