House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) told a group of Democrats that she doesn’t plan to subpoena former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at a hearing on the crypto exchange’s collapse next week, according to a report from CNBC.
Waters told members of the committee about her decision at a meeting with SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Tuesday, according to CNBC’s sources.
The sources said Waters prefers to try to persuade Bankman-Fried to testify voluntarily rather than subpoena him.
However, Waters tweeted on Wednesday night that “Lies are circulating @CNBC that I am not willing to subpoena @SBF_FTX” and noted that “a subpoena is definitely on the table. Stay tuned.”
Waters and Bankman-Fried have been tweeting at each other, with Waters inviting him to testify at the hearing on Tuesday. Bankman-Fried replied he felt that it was his “duty” to appear before the committee once he’s “finished learning and reviewing what happened.” But he noted that “I’m not sure that will happen by [Dec. 13].”
Though not yet formally charged with any wrongdoing, Bankman-Fried is reportedly being probed by both U.S. federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission for his actions with respect to FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research.
UPDATE (Dec. 7, 23:29 UTC): Updated with additional information throughout.
UPDATE (Dec. 8, 00:31 UTC): Updated with latest tweet from Waters.
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