Cohen & Gresser – an international law firm representing the former CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) – maintained that he did not attempt to intimidate Caroline Ellison (ex-leader of Alameda Research) or taint the jury’s sentiment when talking to a New York Times reporter.

The 31-year-old, who faces several fraud charges and is accused of being the main culprit behind the collapse of the once-leading crypto exchange, shared quoted excerpts of Ellison’s private diary, revealing that her psychological condition was shaken prior to the catastrophe. 

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) insisted on SBF’s detention and a bond revocation, maintaining that his actions could have tampered with the woman, who may be summoned as a witness at his trial set for the beginning of October.

The Lawyers’ Response 

Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell – attorneys at Cohen & Gresser – sent a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, requesting that their client Bankman-Fried should not be imprisoned for leaking information from Caroline Ellison’s diary.

The lawyers argued that SBF’s contact with the journalist was “a proper exercise of his rights to make fair comment on an article already in progress, for which the reporter already had alternate sources.” They also insisted that the defendant has a right to talk to the press about his case to protect his reputation “as long as the communications are not calculated to pervert the course of justice.”

“The Government’s proffered factual basis to revoke Mr. Bankman-Fried’s bail is extremely thin and relies heavily on assumptions, unsupported inferences, and innuendo. The Government recognizes that, even under its view of the facts, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s contact with the New York Times r