- Congressman Tom Emmer has questioned the “unusual speed” with which Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested
- The FTX co-founder was supposed to testify before a U.S. House, but was arrested hours before
- Many have suggested that the timing is far from coincidental
Pro-crypto congressman Tom Emmer has suggested that the speed with which Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested earlier this month was not a product of a desire to bring him to justice but was instead instigated to prevent him from testifying. Emmer appeared on Nicholas Carter’s On the Brink this week, in which he questioned the “unusual speed” at which the wheels of justice turned when certain politicians’ reputations might have been at stake.
Prosecution Was Conducted in a “Much Faster Fashion” Than Usual
Bankman-Fried had reluctantly accepted the ‘invitation’ to testify remotely to the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on December 13, with current CEO John Ray III scheduled to appear before Bankman-Fried to answer questions from the House about what he had found. It was already known that he would implicate the disgraced co-founder, which would have left Bankman-Fried with two choices – admit his role or deny it and face potential perjury charges.
However, Bankman-Fried was arrested and rushed off to jail the evening before this was due to take place, scuppering his appearance, which Emmer alluded to in the podcast:
The speed with which this indictment apparently moved at… it’s an unusual speed that it moved at by any account. You talk to anyone in the prosecution business. They’ll tell you that this really went in a much faster fashion than most of these that they have ever seen out of the Southern District of New York.
It is indeed odd that, having spent weeks compiling data and not seemingly being in a rush to move, authorities were able to issue the arrest order in the tiny window between his agreeing to testify and his arrest.
Emmer Not Alone
Emmer wasn’t the only person to be concerned about this – other on Twitter quickly came to the same opinion:
Why did prosecutors move so aggressively to arrest SBF right before he was supposed to testify to congress??
— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) December 13, 2022
Wait does the @SBF_FTX arrest mean he suddenly doesn’t have to testify tomorrow? Cause if that’s true that is shady as fuck
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 13, 2022
FTX said recently that it will try to recoup millions of dollars in donations to US politicians made by Bankman-Fried and his close associates to help pay back creditors following accusations that the contributions were funded with customers’ money.
Bankman-Fried himself yesterday agreed to extradition from the Bahamas to the U.S. to face multiple charges relating to fraud and money laundering, presumably because an American prison will be more palatable than Fox Hill prison where he has been spending his days.
