US House committee chair pushes back against SBF's excuse to potentially delay testimony

Maxine Waters, seat of the United States House Financial Services Committee, has called retired erstwhile FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for announcing connected societal media helium intended to attest aft “learning and reviewing what happened” astatine the exchange.

In a Dec. 5 Twitter thread, Waters cited Bankman-Fried’s galore media interviews successful the aftermath of FTX’s bankruptcy arsenic grounds that his accusation was “sufficient for testimony” earlier the committee. Waters volition preside implicit a hearing investigating the illness of FTX connected Dec. 13, successful which committee enactment said they expected Bankman-Fried and different individuals associated with the events astir the exchange’s downfall to appear.

“The illness of FTX has harmed implicit 1 cardinal people,” said Waters, successful a connection directed to Bankman-Fried. “Your grounds would not lone beryllium meaningful to Members of Congress, but is besides captious to the American people. It is imperative that you be our proceeding connected the 13th, and we are consenting to docket continued hearings if determination is much accusation to beryllium shared later.”

— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) December 5, 2022

Bankman-Fried has reportedly not spoken straight to U.S. lawmakers pursuing FTX’s bankruptcy filing connected Nov. 11, but has taken portion successful galore media interviews and posted to Twitter connected the events astir the exchange’s collapse. Many connected societal media person suggested the erstwhile FTX CEO was improbable to testify fixed helium would beryllium nether oath and his statements could beryllium utilized to found a imaginable intent to defraud investors.

Committee ranking subordinate Patrick McHenry, who alongside Waters called for Bankman-Fried to appear earlier Congress connected Dec. 2, had not pushed backmost against the erstwhile FTX CEO’s Twitter effect astatine the clip of publication. It’s unclear whether the U.S. lawmakers intended to person Bankman-Fried look successful idiosyncratic oregon remotely from the Bahamas, wherever helium was based astatine the clip of publication.

Related: Crypto assemblage baffled by SBF dictating presumption implicit legislature hearing

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee held a akin proceeding to research the downfall of FTX connected Dec. 1. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam was the sole witnesser earlier the committee, to which helium reported connected gaps successful legislation that perchance could person been addressed to lessen the interaction connected FTX’s users.