U.S. DoJ to drop campaign finance charge against FTX’s SBF

• Since the Bahamas didn’t include the said charge in its extradition treaty, DoJ has decided to drop the charge against FTX’s SBF.
• SBF will go on trial on 2 October.

According to the latest court filing, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said it plans to drop the campaign finance charge against Sam Bankman-Fried “SBF,” the disgraced founder and ex-CEO of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

The DoJ informed Judge Lewis Kaplan of the District Court for the Southern District of New York that it did “not intend to proceed” with the aforementioned charge against SBF. It took the decision after consulting with the Bahamas if it included this specific charge in the extradition document last year.

The court has permitted the DoJ to drop the charge.

The Department initially wanted to press the campaign finance charge against SBF. But SBF’s legal counsel put forth an argument in the court that the Bahamas, which first arrested ex-FTX CEO, needed to accede to those charges under the terms of its extradition treaty with the U.S.

The DOJ’s letter reads,

The Government has been informed that The Bahamas notified the United States earlier today that The Bahamas did not intend to extradite the defendant on the campaign contributions count. Accordingly, in keeping with its treaty obligations to The Bahamas, the Government does not intend to proceed to trial on the campaign contributions count.

The court has set up a schedule for both the contending parties to submit written submissions on the matter. Furthermore, the court has issued an interim gag order that stops SBF from communicating publicly.

Sam Bankman-Fried will go on trial on 2 October.

A wide range of criminal dealings alleged

The bankrupt crypto exchange’s campaign finance activities have been widely debated. Out of the $70 million that FTX contributed to political efforts, $41.6 million went to Democratic efforts. In contrast, Republican outfits received close to $20 million in donations.

Recently, the prosecutors demanded that SBF’s bail be revoked, claiming that he intimidated and attempted publicly discrediting former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison by leaking her private journals to The New York Times.