A federal judge overseeing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal case has issued an order allowing Sam Bankman-Fried to meet with his legal team outside of jail for roughly seven hours.
In an Aug. 21 filing in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that Sam Bankman-Fried, who also goes by SBF, will be allowed to meet with his counsel in the cell block attorney room at the courthouse on Aug. 22 around one of his scheduled hearings. Kaplan ordered SBF’s bail revoked on Aug. 11, sending the former FTX CEO to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn likely until the conclusion of his criminal trials.
According to the order, SBF will be allowed access to “one Internet-enabled laptop and one WiFi device” from roughly 8:30 AM EST until 3:00 PM while meeting with counsel. His lawyers had petitioned the court to release SBF for five days every week through his trials in order for him to prepare for the case. However, Kaplan’s order suggested only a one-time release within the confines of the courthouse on Aug. 22, with another decision likely pending based on a response from the Department of Justice.
Bankman-Fried’s first of two trials is scheduled to begin on Oct. 2, when he will face seven charges related to fraud at FTX. The latest superseding indictment filed by prosecutors on Aug. 14 said they will consider SBF’s alleged violations campaign finance scheme as part of a wire fraud charge. He will face five other charges at his other trial scheduled for March 2024.
Before his $250-million bail was revoked, Bankman-Fried was largely confined to his parents’ home in California. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Sir Keir Starmer continues to face the threat of a major rebellion during a key vote on welfare reforms later – despite making last-minute concessions to disgruntled Labour MPs.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed that all existing claimants of the personal independence payment (PIP), the main disability benefit, will be protected from changes to eligibility.
The combined value of the standard Universal Credit allowance and the health top-up will rise “at least in line with inflation” every year of this parliament.
And an additional £300m for employment support for sick and disabled people in 2026 has been announced, which will rise every year after.
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10:54
Welfare cuts ‘needed to be made’
Ms Kendall has also promised that a consultation into PIP – “co-produced” with disabled people – will be published next autumn.
She said the U-turn on welfare cuts will cost taxpayers about £2.5bn by 2030 – less than half the £4.8bn the government had expected to save with its initial proposals.
But after announcing the U-turns, Labour MPs were still publicly saying they could not back the plans as they do not go far enough to allay their concerns.
Disabilities minister Stephen Timms would not say he was “confident” the proposals would pass the Commons when asked on Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.
“We’ve got a very strong package, I certainly hope it passes,” he replied.
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1:49
‘Disabled people thrown under the bus’
A total of 86 charities united yesterday to call on MPs to reject the reforms, saying they will harm disabled people and calling it “a political choice”.
The likes of Oxfam, Child Action Poverty Group, Mind and Shelter said the bill has been brought to a vote without consulting disabled people and without any assessment “of its impact on health and employment outcomes”.
When asked to name “a single” disability organisation in favour of the reforms, Ms Kendall declined to do so.
Several Labour MPs indicated they would still vote against the changes, leaving the government in the dark over how big a rebellion it still may face.
Ms Kendall tried to allay their fears, telling MPs: “I believe we have a fair package, a package that protects existing claimants because they’ve come to rely on that support.”
Richard Burgon presented a petition to parliament yesterday evening against the cuts, signed by more than 77,000 people.
Several Labour MPs questioned why the vote was going ahead before the review into PIP is published – including Rachael Maskell, who said she could not “countenance sick and disabled people being denied support” and added: “It is a matter of conscience.”
Connor Naismith said the concessions “undoubtedly improve efforts to secure welfare reform which is fair”, but added: “Unfortunately, I do not believe these concessions yet go far enough.”
Image: Labour rebel Nadia Whittome said the government was ‘ignoring’ disabled people
Nadia Whittome accused the government of “ignoring” disabled people and urged ministers to go “back to the drawing board”.
Ian Byrne told the Commons he will vote against the “cruel cuts” to disability benefits because the “so-called concessions go nowhere near far enough”.
The vote will take place this evening, with coverage on Sky News’ Politics Hub live blog and on TV.
Other crypto firms are also reportedly considering applying for a national bank charter, following in the footsteps of Anchorage Digital Bank, which received a license in 2021.
A lower court ruling will stand in a case involving a Coinbase user who filed a lawsuit against the IRS after the crypto exchange turned over transaction data.