Attorneys representing the United States Justice Department rested their case against Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried after more than three weeks of expert witnesses and testimonies from former FTX and Alameda employees.
According to reports from the courtroom on Oct. 26, the U.S. government’s last witness before resting was FBI agent Mark Troiano, who primarily testified on SBF’s involvement in more than 300 groups with the messaging app Signal. Following Toiano’s testimony, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers motioned to dismiss, which was quickly denied by Judge Lewis Kaplan.
SBF’s attorneys, Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, presented two witnesses before Bankman-Fried. Krystal Rolle, a Bahamas-based attorney previously representing the former FTX CEO, testified she accompanied SBF to a meeting with the Securities Commission of the Bahamas in November 2022 and witnessed him transferring FTX assets to authorities.
Joseph Pimbley from litigation consulting firm PF2 Securities, the defense’s second witness, testified he had been paid more than $50,000 to extract data from Amazon Web Services on Alameda Research’s line of credit with FTX and data on roughly 9 to 11 million users of the crypto exchange. Attorneys with the Justice Department questioned Pimbley on whether he had any knowledge of how FTX funds were used or the “allow negative” button — the feature giving Alameda the ability to trade more funds that the firm had available.
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Based on reporting from the courtroom, Judge Kaplan often pushed back on questions posed by Everdell or Cohen to witnesses, saying, “This is not helpful” and “Can we get to the point?” At the time of publication, Bankman-Fried had not yet testified, but his lawyers said they expected him to be on the stand for roughly four hours.
Defense attorneys told Kaplan in an Oct. 25 conference call that they planned to have Bankman-Fried testify as part of their case defending the former FTX CEO. Prosecutors previously called former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang and former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh to testify on SBF directing efforts to have Alameda use FTX funds.
Bankman-Fried’s trial is expected to end within a few business days amid closing arguments and the judge considering any motions submitted by prosecutors or defense lawyers. However, the former FTX CEO is scheduled to face five more criminal counts in a second trial expected to begin in March 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases.
The chief rabbi has described the BBC’s response to anti-IDF chanting at Glastonbury as “belated and mishandled” – as the punk-rap duo involved, Bob Vylan, said the UK government needed to talk about its “criminal inaction”.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis said “vile Jew-hatred” had been aired at the Somerset music festival and it was a “time of national shame”.
Confidence in the BBC’s “ability to treat antisemitism seriously” has been brought to a “new low”, he said in a post on X, adding that “outright incitement to violence and hatred” appeared to be acceptable if it was couched as “edgy political commentary”.
Ordinary people had not only failed to see incitement “for what it is” but had cheered it, chanted it, and celebrated it, he said. “Toxic Jew-hatred is a threat to our entire society,” he added.
Bob Vylan, posting a new statement on Instagram on Tuesday, said they were “not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people”.
Rather, they were for the “dismantling of a violent military machine” – the Israel Defence Forces.
Bob Vylan chanted “death to the IDF” at Glastonbury. As many as 95% of the IDF are thought to be Jewish.
In their statement, the group said they were a “distraction from the story” and that whatever “sanctions” they received would also be a distraction.
Their US visas have been revoked and United Talent Agency, their US representatives, have dropped them.
Image: Bob Vylan with their MOBO award in London in November 2022. Pic: Reuters
Referring to the war in Gaza, they claimed the UK government does not want them to ask “why they remain silent in the face of this atrocity”, “why they aren’t doing more to stop the killing” and “feed the starving”.
They added: “The more time they talk about Bob Vylan, the less time they spend answering for their criminal inaction.
“We are being targeted for speaking up. We are not the first, we will not be the last, and if you care for the sanctity of human life and freedom of speech, we urge you to speak up, too.”
It has emerged that Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, was at Glastonbury when the duo led chants of “Death to the IDF” which were broadcast live.
The prime minister’s spokesman, asked if the PM had confidence in Mr Davie, said Sir Keir Starmer had “confidence in the BBC”, adding: “The position of the director-general is a matter for the BBC’s board.”
Speaking in the Commons, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said “accountability” was important and it was something she had “impressed upon the BBC leadership”.
She added: “When you have one editorial failure, it’s something that must be gripped. When you have several, it becomes a problem of leadership.”
The cabinet minister said she’d called Mr Davie after Bob Vylan’s set had been broadcast to find out why it had aired, and why the feed had not been cut.
“I expect answers to these questions without delay,” she said.
Meanwhile Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the culture, media and sport committee, has written to Mr Davie in relation to the corporation’s Glastonbury coverage.
The committee has said the letter asks about editorial and decision-making processes and whether consideration was given to broadcasting with a delay. It also asks about staffing levels at the festival and contingency planning.
Image: Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has claimed there is a ‘problem of leadership’ at the BBC. File pic: PA
Avon and Somerset Police has begun a criminal investigation and is reviewing footage of both Bob Vylan and Kneecap’s performances at Glastonbury.
The force said a senior detective had been appointed – and it had been contacted by people from around the world.
“We… recognise the strength of public feeling,” it said.
During Kneecap’s set, one member suggested starting a “riot” outside his bandmate’s forthcoming court appearance, before clarifying that he meant “support”. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara, is charged with a terror offence.
Image: Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap performing at Glastonbury. Pic: Reuters
Bob Vylan had been due to tour the US before their visas were revoked.
US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau said action had been taken “in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants”.
“Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” he added.
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During Bob Vylan’s set, the duo performed in front of a screen that showed several messages, including one that claimed Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to “genocide”.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has led to the deaths of more than 56,500 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Media watchdog Ofcom has said the BBC “clearly has questions to answer” over the live stream from Glastonbury.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The director-general was informed of the incident after the performance and at that point he was clear it should not feature in any other Glastonbury coverage.”
The broadcaster respects freedom of expression but “stands firmly against incitement to violence”, they said.
They added: “The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves…
“The team were dealing with a live situation, but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen.”