Previously, the Justice Department said Bankman-Fried and other members of senior management at FTX used customer deposits to make $90 million in campaign contributions to around 300 political candidates or political action committees . Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to the charges in March.
The dropping of the charge is a partial victory for Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, who have argued at previous court hearings that the United States government mishandled his extradition.
The court filing submitted by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams on July 20 accused Bankman-Fried of sharing Ellison’s journal and other personal writings with a New York Times reporter for an article published that same day, characterizing the leak as an “attempt to interfere with a fair trial by an impartial jury.”
She also said she is concerned about what Bankman-Fried may have told Michael Lewis, the author of financial true-crime best-sellers Liar’s Poker and The Big Short, who will be releasing a book about FTX around the time that the fall trial is scheduled to begin.