US Representative Maxime Waters has not ruled out her intention to bring Sam Bankman-Fried to testify before US Congress.
Maxine Waters, US representative and the Chair of the United States House Financial Services Committee, says that a subpoena is "definitely on the table."
Water’s statement comes after CNBC shared a report claiming that the US representative is not planning to subpoena Sam Bankman-Fried to testify in the December 13th hearing. CNBC claims that it is so because Waters wants SBF to testify voluntarily.
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In response to the report, Waters' shared a tweet calling out CNBC and stating that a “subpoena is definitely on the table.”
The ongoing discussion about whether Bankman-Fried will come to testify before the US Congress started on December 2rd. At the time, Maxine Waters shared a tweet inviting the former FTX CEO to testify before US Congress on December 13th.
On December 4th, Bankman-Fried replied to Water’s tweet stating that he aims to testify once he finishes “learning and reviewing what happened.” On top of that, in his tweet, SBF added that he is “not sure that will happen by the 13th” indicating that it is unlikely that he would appear before Congress.
The next day, on December 5th, Waters shared another message stating that Sam Bankman-Fried's participation in several public interviews shows that “the information <he> have thus far is sufficient for testimony.” Moreover, Waters added:
It is imperative that you attend our hearing on the 13th, and we are willing to schedule continued hearings if there is more information to be shared later.
If a subpoena is issued, Sam Bankman-Fried would be forced to attend the hearing, dubbed "Investigating the Collapse of FTX." However, if SBF fails to come and testify, the former FTX CEO can receive up to 12 months in prison and a $100,000 fine.
On December 7th, Sam Bankman-Fried was called to testify in a December 14th hearing titled “Crypto Crash: Why the FTX Bubble Burst and the Harm to Consumers” before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
