3:59 p.m. ET, October 30, 2023
SBF’s answers remain ambiguous
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is questioned during his fraud trial over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, at federal court in New York City today.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon’s pointed cross-examination continued after a break for lunch, in the form of short rapid-fire questions about what Bankman-Fried knew as the head of FTX versus what he stated publicly to reporters and to members of Congress.
Sassoon moved quickly from topic to topic, seeking to poke holes in testimony SBF offered under questioning from his lawyers.
Sassoon: “You called the shots as CEO, didn’t you?”
SBF: “I called some of them.”
Sassoon: “You think you’re a pretty smart guy?”
SBF: “In many ways, not all ways.”
Armed with a litany of documents and audio clips from past interviews Bankman-Fried gave to the media, Sassoon sought to illustrate that FTX’s sister company Alameda Research was not subject to the same trading rules as other accounts on the FTX platform, and that Bankman-Fried hid that privilege from the public.
Bankman-Fried has largely offered vague responses, often stating that he does not recall conversations or statements he made in the past. Judge Lewis Kaplan has at least twice interjected to instruct Bankman-Fried to simply answer yes or no and stop trying to infer Sassoon’s intentions.
“Sir, do you remember saying that in words or in substance?” Kaplan asked the defendant.
After a pause, SBF replied: “Referring to some particular things and time periods, yes.”
