U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Charles Grassley Request CFTC Chair Rostin Benham Clarify Connections to Sam Bankman-Fried

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) have requested that Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Benham reveal details regarding his interactions with the disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried prior to the exchange’s downfall, as stated in a letter dated April 12 addressed to Benham.

U.S. Senators Seek Communication Records Between Rostin Benham and Sam Bankman-Fried

In the correspondence from Grassley and Warren, the senators asked Benham to provide a “complete account of all meetings, phone calls, and written communications between you and/or your staff and Mr. Bankman-Fried and/or his staff,” along with a “comprehensive account of all discussions regarding Mr. Bankman-Fried, FTX, Alameda, or any related executives involving you or any CFTC personnel.”

Furthermore, Grassley and Warren are requesting the CFTC to supply a timeline detailing the commission’s awareness of the cryptocurrency scheme related to Bankman-Fried, Alameda Research, and former executives of the now-failed crypto exchange.

. @SenWarren and @ChuckGrassley have requested chairman @CFTCbehman (12th April) to provide:

All correspondence between SBF, his staff and CFTC including any about Alameda, FTX and SBF

Dates, meeting minutes, phone calls, emails

Likely very incriminating – we know S&C lied… pic.twitter.com/sEYPyUpHxG

— Sunil (FTX Creditor Champion) (@sunil_trades) April 15, 2024

According to Benham’s testimony to the Senate Agriculture Committee in November 2022 following the collapse of FTX, the CFTC Chair reportedly met with Bankman-Fried approximately 10 times over a span of 14 months. During that same testimony, Benham acknowledged exchanging “a number” of messages with the former “king of crypto.”

Last month, Bankman-Fried received a 25-year sentence in federal prison. He was ordered to pay $11 billion for his involvement in the extensive crypto fraud that resulted in nearly $8 billion of customer funds being misused for real estate, political contributions, and venture investments.

“This sentence, while fitting, offers little solace to his victims, who will never be fully compensated,” the senators’ letter stated. “Protecting the savings and retirements of Americans necessitates that Congress and market regulators like the CFTC ascertain how this multi-billion-dollar crime was permitted to occur.”

Elizabeth Warren and Charles Grassley Renew Focus on FTX Connections

The letter from Grassley and Warren mirrors one sent by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) in November 2022 to Attorney General Merrick Garland, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, and Benham, demanding they disclose their communications between their agencies and prominent Democratic Party officials.

“The individuals responsible for these criminal activities and their facilitators must be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and you must perform a complete conflict-of-interest review to ensure that Mr. Bankman-Fried’s position as a significant donor to the Democratic Party did not shield him from scrutiny and accountability,” Hawley remarked.

In the wake of the crypto scandal, Bankman-Fried has been criticized for his apparent networking with high-profile regulatory officials, including Gensler, in what seemed to be an effort to maintain FTX’s favorable standing.

He privately informed Vox reporter Kelsey Piper that his apparent concern for crypto regulation was “just PR,” even going so far as to say “f-ck regulators.”

Bankman-Fried has since filed an appeal against his guilty verdict, but given the overwhelming evidence against him, he is likely to encounter significant challenges.

The recent letter from U.S. lawmakers to Benham signifies a renewed effort to investigate connections between government officials and Bankman-Fried.

The post U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Charles Grassley Demand CFTC Chair Rostin Benham Explain Ties To Sam Bankman-Fried appeared first on Cryptonews.