US Congressman Rejects SBF’s Pretext for Delaying His Testimony before Congress

Maxine Waters urges Sam Bankman-Fried to come forward to testify, just as proactively as he was during his media tour.

US House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters called on former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to testify before the committee and not make excuses for not attending.

The congresswoman urged SBF to testify before the commission with the same disposition that she had on her media tour in the United States and even urged it to “take it seriously”, due to the millions affected by the FTX collapse.

Maxine Waters pointed out the following on her Twitter account:

“Based on your role as CEO and your media interviews over the past few weeks, it’s clear to us that the information you have thus far is sufficient for testimony.”

“As you know, the collapse of FTX has harmed over one million people. Your testimony would not only be meaningful to Members of Congress but is also critical to the American people.”

For Maxine Waters, Sam Bankman-Fried must appear to testify on December 13. However, she announced that the House of Representatives “is willing” to schedule the hearing if SBF “advances” some information that allows adjusting the date.

Democrats Do Not Deny Elon Musk’s Accusation

The congresswoman’s response has a more serious tone after she was criticized a few days ago for “using neutral words” during the invitation to SBF to testify since she was asked if she was “willing to speak to the public, which will help to customers, investors and others of the company.

Meanwhile, the crypto community speculated that Waters tweeted in a “neutral manner” because SBF had donated to her campaign, while some shared videos of her blowing a kiss at the FTX founder.

Later, on December 4, Sam Bankman-Fried wrote on his Twitter account that he was considering “appearing and testifying before the United States Committee on Financial Services”, even though he has since admitted that he “could not guarantee to show up on December 13,” as requested by Maxine Waters.

Even Elon Musk revealed that SBF and FTX “donated” to the United States Democratic Party around a billion dollars, while the exchange had reported only 40 million dollars.

Musk alleged that SBF donated more than $1 billion to Democratic candidates, which is far more than the publicly disclosed amount of $40 million. SBF previously admitted to making backdoor donations to the Democratic Party.

While this controversy develops, SBF, when speaking to the media during the “apology tour”, presented himself as a victim, and was applauded at the end.

According to Twitter user and developer Naomi (@schetty), “watching SBF’s interview is kind of like watching Casey Anthony’s documentary. They’re so mechanical, they’re so inauthentic in their delivery. If you feel any emotion, at all, it slows people down. The way it is expressed is a separate subjective matter.”

By Audy Castaneda