Federal prosecutors in New York defended their decision to have fallen crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas on Monday night, hours before he was set to be grilled by Congress. Lawmakers expressed both surprise and outrage at the move on Tuesday. Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), a former prosecutor, said it was “kind of bizarre” that investigators would not want to have a target grilled for hours under oath. “This was a decision made by somebody at the DOJ to prevent Sam Bankman-Fried from coming here,” he said. Rep. John Rose (R-TN), a former attorney, called the timing “interesting” and questioned why the feds wouldn’t want the opportunity to potentially add a charge of lying to Congress. But Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said he authorized charges a week ago and Bankman-Fried was indicted last Friday. The timing “was dictated by law enforcement as opposed to any other considerations including the timing of his testimony in Congress,” he said. The indictment, unsealed Tuesday, charged the FTX founder with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and campaign finance violations.
