- Sam Bankman-Fried has appointed attorney Mark Cohen after he was asked to present himself before Congress.
- Moreover, the embattled CEO’s spokesperson Mark Botnick revealed that SBF also has professor David Mills as a legal advisor.
- A league of prominent legal consultants is behind SBF, including his father.
- Earlier, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (NYSE:WAT) urged SBF to appear before congress, but the CEO declined the request.
- Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), criticized SBF for blaming FTX’s collapse on an accounting error.
According to a fresh report from Reuters, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried appointed attorney Mark Cohen to defend him. Cohen is famous as the attorney representing Ghislaine Maxwell during her sex trafficking case.
The spokesperson of the embattled CEO, Mark Botnick, said that SBF also has a legal consultant in the form of Professor David Mills from Standford Law School.
As per sources, SBF has a league of prominent legal consultants within his reach. SBF’s father, Joseph Bankman, is also a professor at Stanford Law school. In the past, he has been represented by Martin Flumenbaum at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison.
Currently, the general opinion holds that the league of legal bigwigs at the disposal of SBF will provide him with formidable aid.
SBF Controversial Response to a Request for his Appearance Before Congress
The investigation into the collapse of FTX has attracted many controversies. In a recent one, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, urged SBF to appear before congress. Her disconcertingly polite request provoked a series of reactions from members of the cryptocurrency sphere, majorly those affected by the FTX fiasco.
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.@SBF_FTX, we appreciate that you've been candid in your discussions about what happened at #FTX. Your willingness to talk to the public will help the company's customers, investors, and others. To that end, we would welcome your participation in our hearing on the 13th.They criticized Walter for politely requesting SBF’s presence at the congressional hearing. The critics said the congresswoman should have invoked a part of the constitution that would compel him to attend. The hearing is slated to be held on December 13, 2022.— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) December 2, 2022
Maxine Waters - Time to step down. A failure of this magnitude with any other institution would not have been tolerated pic.twitter.com/QkM6AJMDQRLikewise, SBF hasn’t helped the situation either. Despite the gentle request from Walter, the former CEO has refused to accept the invitation. Instead, he declined by insisting that he would appear when he fully understood and reviewed what led to the collapse.— G Adams (@G_Money2015) December 4, 2022
Rep. Waters, and the House Committee on Financial Services:Once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain.I'm not sure that will happen by the 13th. But when it does, I will testify. https://t.co/c0P8yKlyQt— SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 4, 2022
Criticism of SBF’s Excuse for the Collapse
Critics haven’t held back from voicing their displeasure over SBF’s attitude so far. For instance, the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, faulted SBF for blaming the collapse of FTX and its $8 billion deficit on an “accounting error.”
I don't care how messy your accounting is (or how rich you are) - you're definitely going to notice if you find an extra $8B to spend.Even the most gullible person should not believe Sam's claim that this was an accounting error.The FTX co-founder said some cryptocurrency exchange users sent money to FTX’s sister firm, Alameda Research, instead of the exchange itself. Due to that, the FTX accounting system mistakenly credited the funds to the crypto exchange and the users.— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) December 3, 2022
Coinbase’s CEO faulted the excuses, claiming that they were not genuine. However, since FTX filed for bankruptcy protection early last month, the fate of furious users and their wayward funds remains unclear.
On the Flipside
- The former FTX CEO said he had $100,000 left and a single credit card. In another interview, he said retaining a lawyer was challenging, although the white-collar litigation firms in his vicinity suggest a different story.
Why You Should Care
As SBF refuses to appear before the court and hires Mark Cohen, the drama following the collapse of FTX is far from over. Even though Bankman-Fried hasn’t been charged with a crime, the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are still investigating what has transpired.
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