SBF agrees to gag order after New York Times article raises tampering concerns

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has agreed to a possible gag order and will refrain from making public statements related to FTX and those involved in the lawsuit, Reuters reported.

Presiding Judge Louis Kaplan is scheduled to rule on whether a gag order is necessary at the next public hearing on July 26.

SBF has come under fire for sharing information related to Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison during an interview with The New York Times, which prosecutors say was an act of falsification of a witness.

no malice

In a letter to Judge Kaplan, the attorney for former FTX CEO confirmed that the SBF met with reporters and gave them documents written by Ellison, but denied that the prosecution had tampered with witnesses.

The defense said the prosecution’s allegations were baseless and that there was no malice behind SBF’s actions. Attorney Mark Cohen said:

“[SBF] No secrecy orders were violated, no bail conditions were violated, and no laws or regulations were violated in this case. ”

Lawyers wrote that if the court issues a gag order, the SBF will agree and refrain from making any public statements related to the case.

But they added that the gag order should also apply to prosecutors and all witnesses, including current FTX CEO John Ray.

Lawyers claimed that Mr. Ray had repeatedly “attacked and defamed” the SBF in public and continued to portray him as a “villain” even though the court had yet to reach a verdict on the matter.

Ellison’s personal diary

The New York Times published an article in the form of a Google Doc on July 20th detailing some of Ellison’s “personal diary” entries. These were written by Ellison as his head of research at Alameda before FTX collapsed.

The excerpt mainly details Ellison’s departure from SBF and her struggles leading Alameda Research, which she says she finds “overwhelming”.

Ellison has pleaded guilty to the FTX case and is cooperating with prosecutors. Her testimony could be key to this case, as she was part of the “inside circle” of the FTX leadership.

Prosecutors allege that the leakage of private documents was an attempt to sabotage a fair trial by poisoning jurors against key witnesses.

They said at the time:

“In addition to tarnishing the jury’s position, the effects of defendant’s conduct, if unintentional, not only harassed Ellison, but also discouraged other potential trial witnesses from testifying.”

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