Rep. Maxine Waters Presses for Urgent Hearing with Sam Bankman-Fried
2 min readCongresswoman Maxine Waters has called for an immediate congressional hearing to examine the actions of former FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, and other executives from both FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research.
This request follows FTX’s recent appeal to Congress members to return any political contributions made by Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives. Congresswoman Waters is among the few members of Congress who have received such donations.
Maxine Waters Calls For Urgent Resolution of FTX Case and Sam Bankman-Fried’s Testimony
On February 10, Ranking Member Maxine Waters sent a letter to Patrick McHenry, Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, calling for Sam Bankman-Fried to testify before the committee. In her letter, Waters emphasized the importance of continuing the bipartisan efforts to thoroughly investigate the collapse of FTX.
Earlier the same day, Chairman McHenry sent a letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler requesting all records related to the coordinated investigation conducted by the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice into FTX, Bankman-Fried, and other executives. McHenry gave Gensler a deadline of two weeks to submit the requested records.
As the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services oversees the operations of several important financial regulators, including the SEC, Federal Reserve, and the Department of the Treasury, Waters urged McHenry to quickly secure the presence of all relevant FTX and Alameda executives for a congressional hearing. She expressed her desire to take swift and bipartisan action to pass legislation that protects investors and prevents future failures like FTX.
FTX Asks Politicians to Return Donations
FTX, now under the leadership of CEO John Ray III, has sent confidential letters to politicians who have received substantial campaign contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried and other executives associated with the company. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is among the politicians who have received donations from Bankman-Fried for their political campaigns.
Additionally, Sam Bankman-Fried and federal prosecutors have come to an agreement regarding his usage of encrypted messaging applications and his communications with former FTX employees.
