Attorneys representing the US Department of Justice (DOJ) have submitted a new court filing on August 29, arguing that Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried should provide more extensive disclosures for his planned defense. vant" to the claim that his legal team had condoned his alleged fraud while he was still associated with FTX. It urges the court to compel the defenders to acquire "additional notice" and "pretrial discovery."
The DOJ's filing emphasizes that if the defender fails to furnish additional disclosures, the court should exclude any irrelevant, confusing, or biased inquiries, evidence, or arguments concerning the attorney's involvement. Previously, SBF's legal representatives argued that the legal team at the helm of FTX had directed him to act in "good faith" and that his reliance on counsel was connected to matters of intent. A lawsuit filed on August 7 accused the former legal team behind FTX of establishing a "shadow entity" that enabled executives to implement " creative but illegal tactics" to perpetuate the fraud.
Barrister Damian Williams, who recently communicated with the court, contended that Bankman-Fried needed to be specific about the legal advice he had received or consider revising his defense. The DOJ underscored that the defenders had not provided an "exhaustive" list of the topics in which the attorneys were purportedly involved. Additionally, SBF had not yet determined the "profile of counsel's involvement" or the basis and specifics of the defense. Furthermore, there was a lack of documentation to substantiate, challenge, or understand his defense.On August 30, SBF's attorney, Mark Cohen, responded to the DOJ's filing, countering that information about the defense had been "fully" disclosed and asserting that the client's prison conditions violated the US Constitution.
Cohen particularly raised concerns about the severely inadequate internet connections available. On August 23, the court ruled that SBF could meet with his lawyers outside the prison, but with a 48-hour notice requirement. On August 25, lawyers respond ed by requesting provisional release and opposing the arrangement. SBF has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of fraud stemming from the November 2022 FTX crash.
