Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Say They’re Not Prepared For a Trial

Lawyers for failed FTX crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried told the federal judge overseeing his trial Wednesday that they are not prepared for his Oct. 3 trial.

They told U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in a letter sent Wednesday that the federal government has failed to provide Bankman-Fried with access to the materials he need to prepare for trial, that he has "woefully inadequate" internet access and has had limited time with his defense team to discuss their strategy.

"We implore the court to allow Mr. Bankman-Fried access to counsel and the material which can be accomplished by allowing him to be released in the custody of his parents subject to severe constraints," the lawyers wrote in the letter. "Nothing short of that will suffice."

In a subsequent call with the court on Wednesday, his legal team asked Kaplan to prohibit the use of millions of pages of fresh evidence at trial, saying the documents from Google accounts turned over in recent days is too voluminous to adequately review before trial.

Kaplan rejected that request, saying they should instead ask to delay the trial, not to preclude the evidence.

“I’m not going to preclude any of this,” Kaplan said. “The accusations of broken promises and missed deadlines are not at all accurate.”

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers said they were not asking for more time, but the judge gave them until Friday to file a formal request for an extension.

They also ran through a litany of problems Bankman-Fried has had reviewing evidence and interacting with his lawyers since he was jailed Aug. 11, complicating efforts to prepare for trial. Spotty internet service, delayed access to computers and hard drives and limited battery life have impeded the ability to review material, and the defense team renewed their request to have Bankman-Fried released from custody pending trial.

Kaplan deferred a decision on the request and said he wanted an updated status report next week about whether the system was working or not.

Bankman-Fried was jailed earlier this month after Kaplan concluded that he engaged in witness intimidation and jury tampering when he leaked the private letters of his ex-girlfriend and business partner Caroline Ellison. Previously, he had been allowed to remain confined to home detention at his parents' home in Palo Alto, California, on $250 million bond.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed motions for all seven of Bankman-Fried's expert witnesses to be excluded from testifying in the former crypto mogul's October trial, alleging their testimony could be unfairly prejudicial and confuse the jury. The witnesses include a British lawyer, a law professor, a business school assistant professor and the heads of four different consulting firms.

The court is hearing arguments on Wednesday afternoon from lawyers for both sides of the trial regarding the inclusion of evidence produced through discovery so close to the trial's start date, according to court documents.

Earlier this month, the former crypto "wunderkind" pleaded not guilty to seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Bankman-Fried is facing 13 criminal charges related to the collapse of FTX last November, including allegations he stole billions from customers and misled investors and lenders.

In June, Kaplan dismissed Bankman-Fried's request to throw out some of the charges levied against him.