Reversal of SBF’s Bail Requested Over Caroline Ellison Diary Leak

Following the leak of Caroline Ellison’s private diary to the New York Times, a flurry of accusations was served against SBF, as evidence at the time already pointed towards his identity as the source.

Constant Communication With Reporters and Unidentified Guests

Since then, SBF has been served a gag order meant to stop him from engaging in further behavior of the sort, which could be classified as witness intimidation. The gag order was accepted by Bankman-Fried’s legal team.

However, they also requested one for all witnesses in return, which has not and most likely will not be approved.

New evidence has since been presented to the judge, indicating that it would be almost impossible for the leaker to be someone else. As a result, the prosecution requested that SBF’s bail be rescinded.

Separate from the prosecution’s request, Inner City Press has filed a request to unseal the list of visitors to SBF’s house and to end the practice of certain guests being exempt from signing the visitor’s log.

Inner City Press also live-tweeted the court case, revealing that although Judge Kaplan took exception to Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon’s accusation of interference with a fair trial, SBF’s behavior does indeed merit a closer look.

OK – now at US v. Bankman-Fried, hearing on US request to remand SBF to jail after leak of Caroline Ellison’s Google docs to NYT – and about sealed list of secret visitors? Inner City Press has asked to unseal that, and will live tweet, thread below pic.twitter.com/2RGMWagZuQ

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) July 26, 2023

According to Sassoon, over 100 phone calls were held between Sam Bankman-Fried and the NYT reporter who published the excerpts of Ellison’s diary. Furthermore, she stated that the prosecution does not consider this leak protected by the First Amendment.

“Your honor asked us if we were putting too much trust in the defendant. We were proceeding incrementally, but we now agree we put too much trust in him. He used his Google Docs and Google Drive to leak these materials to the NYT.”

However, the turnover of the documents themselves was done in person, which means that the reporter’s name should be on the guest list, provided they are not one of the privileged visitors who are exempt from signing.

Judge Warns SBF to Take Things Seriously

After much deliberation, Judge Kaplan decided to resume the subject of bail revocation on the 3rd of August.

In closing, the judge warned SBF and his legal team to take things very seriously and to be mindful of case law when filing his defense motion.

“Careful attention to the statute and case law. Reply August 3. I’ll docket the order. I am mindful of the First Amendment and of the government’s interest. Mr. Bankman-Fried, you better take it seriously too.”

On an unrelated note, Sam Bankman-Fried has also had some good news recently. According to another court document, the charge against him related to his political campaign donations will be dropped, owing to the intervention of the Bahamas.