The New York Times verdedigt zijn stuk over Ellison
- The New York Times officials argued that Ellison’s role in the FTX saga made her a person of interest to the public.
- Het mediakanaal drong er bij de rechtbank op aan om de rechten van het eerste amendement te handhaven door toegang te verlenen tot informatie over de zaak.
- Aanklagers beschuldigden Bankman-Fried onlangs van geknoei met getuigen.
De mediaorganisatie The New York Times heeft zijn viral verdedigd deel op voormalig Alameda Research-CEO Caroline Ellison, wat volgens de aanklagers zou kunnen knoeien with the ongoing case. However, the news outlet defended its article, claiming the media and the public deserved significant information on a “central participant in a financial scheme that defrauded investors of billions of dollars.”
In een aanvraag bij de rechtbank die de Bankman-Fried-zaak behandelt, drong de New York Times er bij de rechtbank op aan het eerste amendement te handhaven door toegang te verlenen aan sleutelfiguren die bij de zaak betrokken waren. Het bedrijf uitte zijn bezorgdheid over een spreekverbod dat de 31-jarige Bankman-Fried verbiedt details van de zaak met mediaorganisaties te delen.
Prosecutors had previously accused the FTX founder of sharing documents with a New York Times reporter, which was used in a piece about Ellison, who, aside from working as Bankman-Fried’s colleague, was also his lover.
The New York Times piece shared insight into some of Ellison’s private journals, where she wrote about her conflicting emotions about working at Alameda Research and her complicated relationship with Bankman-Fried.
The company’s vice president and deputy general counsel David McCraw argued that Bankman-Fried was not a lawyer, which meant that he was subjected to less strict gag orders than would have applied to a lawyer.
McCraw wrote that “while the current round of motion practice was prompted by a Times article about Caroline Ellison, and the Government argues that the article was part of the defendant’s effort to interfere with the trial, that overlooks the public’s legitimate interest—independent of this prosecution—in Ms. Ellison and her activities at her cryptocurrency trading firm.”
McCraw argued that Ellison has “confessed to being a central participant in a financial scheme that defrauded investors of billions of dollars—a scheme that was not detected by government regulators and law enforcement agencies until the public’s money had disappeared.”
McCraw also claimed that Elison’s role in the FTX scandal made her one of the primary figures of interest to the public, who would want access to information about her.
The New York Times’ filing comes as prosecutors demand that Judge Kaplan revoke Bankman-Fried’s bail term. Although prosecutors recently dropped a charge related to campaign finance fraud, Bankman-Fried is still facing 12 other counts.