Sam Bankman-Fried Contests DOJ's Requests for Evidence Inclusion in Trial

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has submitted a memorandum through his legal team to contest the US Department of Justice (DOJ) request.

In particular, the memorandum calls for the court to reject the evidence put forth by the DOJ for the upcoming trial.

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Authored by Mark Cohen, Sam Bankman-Fried's attorney, the memorandum deems the DOJ's requests as "unfounded and overbroad." It argues that many issues raised by the federal government are not suitable for discussion at this stage of the legal process.

The document further contends that the DOJ's requests aim to include "irrelevant and prejudicial evidence" that either has never been charged or is no longer charged against Bankman-Fried. It criticizes the prosecutor’s approach as "unsupported by law" and "unworkable."

The memorandum comes on the heels of several filings by the DOJ aimed at influencing various facets of the case. One such filing occurred on August 28th, where the DOJ submitted a motion to exclude testimony from all of Bankman-Fried’s expert witnesses. They claimed that these experts and their accompanying disclosures are flawed and, thus, should be barred from the trial.

Additionally, a motion filed by the prosecutor on August 29th questioned the relevance of Bankman-Fried's defense against fraud allegations. The motion also sought extra disclosures regarding the defense strategy.

Sam Bankman-Fried and his legal team are mounting a robust defense against the Department of Justice's recent moves to shape the upcoming trial. The memorandum submitted stands as a comprehensive rejection of the evidence the DOJ wishes to introduce, setting the stage for what promises to be a closely-watched legal battle in the cryptocurrency world.