Former Fed Prosecutor: 'Curious' Timing for DOJ to Charge FTX Founder Hours Before Congressional Testimony Scheduled
National Review columnist and former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy finds the timing of the Department of Justice issuing an arrest warrant for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried the night before he was to testify before Congress “curious.”
Bahamian authorities took Bankman-Fried into custody on Monday night after the DOJ requested his extradition to face multiple charges in the U.S., including wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and campaign finance law violations.
The cryptocurrency trader was due to testify before House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, the timing of his arrest denies the public the opportunity to get the answers they deserve,” the committee’s Democratic chairwoman, Rep. Maxine Waters of California, said at the hearing.
“Rest assured that this committee will not stop until we uncover the full truth behind the collapse of FTX,” she added.
McCarthy, who served as a U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, found that office’s decision to indict Bankman-Fried just hours before he was to testify puzzling.
“It’s very curious,” McCarthy said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
“This would’ve been under oath in front of Congress facing very hostile questioning, and why they would forego that opportunity — I mean, all they needed to do was wait a few hours and let him testify and then you could pop him at that point.”
Fox host Bill Hemmer asked McCarthy to speculate as to what the DOJ’s reasoning may have been in the timing of the arrest of Bankman-Fried, who is also known as SBF.
“You have a Democratic Justice Department. It’s entirely possible the Democrats on the [House Financial Services Committee] did not want to hear a lot of questioning by aggressive Republicans about the fact that all that money went into these politicians, while the public, people who invested with SBF, appear to have lost their shirts,” McCarthy said.
He noted that SBF gave about $40 million to Democrats this election cycle, making him the second-highest donor to that party behind George Soros.
‘JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG’: @cvpayne: “I’m concerned a little bit at the market perspective from a contagion effect, but overall I’m really most concerned, and I’ve shared this with you all, that this doesn’t just become a Sam Bankman-Fried story…” @BillHemmer @DanaPerino pic.twitter.com/NSk6VXSb41
— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) December 13, 2022
Fortune reported that Ryan Salame, an executive at FTX, gave around $23 million to Republicans and PACs supporting them, as well.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York said Tuesday in a statement regarding the SBF indictment and arrest, “One month ago, FTX collapsed, causing billions of dollars in losses to its customers, lenders, and investors.”
“Now, a federal grand jury in New York has indicted the former founder and chief executive officer of FTX and charged him with crimes related to the phenomenal downfall of that one-time cryptocurrency exchange, including fraud on customers, investors, lenders, and our campaign finance system,” he continued.
“As today’s charges make clear, this was not a case of mismanagement or poor oversight, but of intentional fraud, plain and simple.”
A version of this article originally appeared on Patriot Project.
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