US DOJ Opposes Sam Bankman-Fried’s Claims on Evidence

The US
Department of Justice (DOJ) has responded to claims by FTX Founder Sam
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers that prosecutors are dumping “millions of pages” of
discovery materials or evidence on the embattled crypto entrepreneur
less than six weeks before his criminal trial. In a letter sent on Friday to Judge Lewis
Kaplan, who is presiding over the case, Bankman’s legal team had claimed that
prosecutors produced “an additional 4 million pages of discovery” without plans
to make them available for the former FTX CEO’s review.

In another
letter sent yesterday (Monday), the lawyers further claimed that US prosecutors
also produced another 3.7 million pages of discovery. They noted that producing
these materials while Bankman-Fried is currently under detention at the
Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn “is plainly inadequate” and violates
the former FTX boss’ right to participate in preparing for his defence. They,
therefore, urged the court to stop prosecutors from using evidence gathered after July 1 during Bankman-Fried’s trial.

However, in
a new letter addressed to Judge Kaplan on Monday, Damian Williams, the US
Attorney for the Southern District of New York, urged the court to dismiss the
request, noting that the evidence was gathered from Bankman-Fried’s
Google accounts. Williams added that Bankman-Fried and his legal team have had access to the evidence for
months.

“The
defendant’s representations are distorted to the point of being misleading,”
William stated in the letter. “The 4 million pages referenced in the defendant’s August 25,
2023 letter are materials that the government obtained from Google in response
to a search warrant for the defendant’s own Google accounts.”

To buttress
this point, Williams alleged that Bankman-Fried shared details from the Google
accounts with The New York Times when he exposed personal details about
Caroline Elision, his former romantic partners and the ex-CEO of FTX’s sister
trading firm, Alameda Research. In addition, the attorney claimed that the 3.7 million pages of evidence
claimed to have been produced by the prosecuting team “constitutes a
duplicative subset of prior productions.” This means that Bankman-Fried’s legal team “is literally double counting to inflate the amount of discovery the Government
has produced,” Williams further noted.

“[Sam
Bankman-Fried] cannot plausibly claim to be prejudiced by the Government’s
production of these materials, as he had months prior to being detained to mine
them for materials relevant to his defence,” the US Attorney commented.

The US
Department of Justice (DOJ) has responded to claims by FTX Founder Sam
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers that prosecutors are dumping “millions of pages” of
discovery materials or evidence on the embattled crypto entrepreneur
less than six weeks before his criminal trial. In a letter sent on Friday to Judge Lewis
Kaplan, who is presiding over the case, Bankman’s legal team had claimed that
prosecutors produced “an additional 4 million pages of discovery” without plans
to make them available for the former FTX CEO’s review.

In another
letter sent yesterday (Monday), the lawyers further claimed that US prosecutors
also produced another 3.7 million pages of discovery. They noted that producing
these materials while Bankman-Fried is currently under detention at the
Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn “is plainly inadequate” and violates
the former FTX boss’ right to participate in preparing for his defence. They,
therefore, urged the court to stop prosecutors from using evidence gathered after July 1 during Bankman-Fried’s trial.

However, in
a new letter addressed to Judge Kaplan on Monday, Damian Williams, the US
Attorney for the Southern District of New York, urged the court to dismiss the
request, noting that the evidence was gathered from Bankman-Fried’s
Google accounts. Williams added that Bankman-Fried and his legal team have had access to the evidence for
months.

“The
defendant’s representations are distorted to the point of being misleading,”
William stated in the letter. “The 4 million pages referenced in the defendant’s August 25,
2023 letter are materials that the government obtained from Google in response
to a search warrant for the defendant’s own Google accounts.”

To buttress
this point, Williams alleged that Bankman-Fried shared details from the Google
accounts with The New York Times when he exposed personal details about
Caroline Elision, his former romantic partners and the ex-CEO of FTX’s sister
trading firm, Alameda Research. In addition, the attorney claimed that the 3.7 million pages of evidence
claimed to have been produced by the prosecuting team “constitutes a
duplicative subset of prior productions.” This means that Bankman-Fried’s legal team “is literally double counting to inflate the amount of discovery the Government
has produced,” Williams further noted.

“[Sam
Bankman-Fried] cannot plausibly claim to be prejudiced by the Government’s
production of these materials, as he had months prior to being detained to mine
them for materials relevant to his defence,” the US Attorney commented.