According to persons with direct knowledge of the conversation, House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters informed Democrats that she does not intend to call former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at the hearing on Tuesday regarding the crypto exchange's quick death.
People with knowledge of the discussion said that Waters requested that committee staff attempt to persuade Bankman-Fried to testify voluntarily. Two of the persons said that as of late Wednesday, Bankman-Fried had not yet consented to voluntarily speak before the House committee.
If Bankman-Fried declines to voluntarily testify under oath next week, Waters, who will lose her position as chair when Republicans take control of the House on January 3, may end up deferring to Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina, the panel's top Republican and likely new chair, to decide whether to subpoena her in the ensuing congressional session.
Federal authorities and politicians on Capitol Hill have been looking into Bankman-Fried since his bitcoin exchange abruptly shut down last month, exposing a number of dubious transactions. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, declared that his panel will hold a hearing on FTX's collapse on December 14. After FTX allegedly transferred billions of dollars in client cash to Bankman-trading Fried's company, Alameda Research, the company crashed.
Bankman-Fried was invited to testify before the panel on his own accord, but Waters had the option to change her mind and subpoena him before Tuesday. A representative for the committee declined to comment.
In response to Waters, Bankman-Fried tweeted that he believed it was his "responsibility" to explain what had happened, but it might not take place the next week. The testimony of John Jay Ray III, the new CEO of FTX, will take place before a House hearing the following week.
Bankman-Fried added that he would feel that it was his job to testify before the committee and explain once he have completed learning and examining what transpired. he doesn't know if it will occur by the 13th. But when it does, he'll testify.
After years of being the "darling" of cryptocurrency on Capitol Hill, Bankman-fall Fried's from grace was quick and merciless. He gave over $40 million to the 2022 midterm congressional elections, the majority of which went to Democrats.
After working briefly with Bankman-trading Fried's company Alameda Research, Nishad Singh joined FTX as the company's head engineer in 2019. Since the start of the 2020 presidential campaign, Singh has donated more than $13 million to Democratic Party causes.
Another $23 million was given by FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, with the majority of his gifts going to support Republicans.
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