Prosecutors just withdrew a campaign finance charge ahead of Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial this October.
That doesn’t mean the U.S. Department of Justice is letting the FTX founder off on alleged criminal conduct, however – and campaign finance charges could still be tried later.
Bankman-Fried is currently set to go on trial on Oct. 2 on seven different charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is then set to go on trial again in March of next year on another five charges, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to bribe foreign government officials.
The DOJ said in a letter Wednesday night that it was withdrawing the charge due to extradition treaty obligations with the Bahamas, sparking speculation that he was being protected by political backers.
In March, New York DA Alvin Bragg brought indictment charges against the former president over an alleged “campaign finance violation.” Now the corrupt DOJ is *dropping* the campaign finance violation charge against Sam Bankman-Fried, a Democrat mega donor. Political… https://t.co/ch47aca941
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) July 27, 2023
The reality is much more boring.
Some background: Police in the Bahamas arrested Bankman-Fried in December in response to an extradition request from the U.S. government. Under the terms of the extradition treaty, Bankman-Fried had the ability to fight extradition, which he did initially before later agreeing to extradition.
At the time he was extradited, Bankman-Fried faced only the eight initial charges prosecutors brought in December 2022. The DOJ added another five charges through two superseding indictments over the next few months.
However, Bankman-Fried’s defense team argued in court that the Bahamas had to agree to those additional charges under the terms of its extradition treaty. The DOJ said it was willing to wait for that approval, and while the Bahamas government seemed willing to grant that OK, a Supreme Court judge ruled that Bankman-Fried had the right to contest it first.
As a result, the DOJ said it was willing to sever,…
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