United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Charles Grassley have written a letter to Rostin Behnam, the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), requesting information about his contacts with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried prior to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. The senators want to “renew requests” for this information and refer to a letter sent to Behnam and others by Senator Josh Hawley.
Warren and Grassley, who represent opposing ends of the political spectrum in the US, reminded Behnam of his statement during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing in December. He had mentioned that he and his team had met with Bankman-Fried and his team on ten separate occasions over the past 14 months at the request of the CFTC.
During the hearing, Behnam had used the opportunity to call for more authority for the CFTC, claiming that without it, there would be gaps in the federal regulatory framework, even if other regulators were acting within their existing authority. In their letter dated April 12, Warren and Grassley expressed their desire to obtain a record of all interactions, including meetings, phone calls, written correspondence, and conversations between Behnam or CFTC staff and Bankman-Fried, FTX, Alameda, or any associated executives. They also requested a timeline of the CFTC’s knowledge of the fraud committed, as well as any ongoing investigations into the parties involved.
The senators specifically want to understand the nature of Behnam’s repeated correspondence with Bankman-Fried before his crimes were made public. The letter states that this information is crucial for their understanding.
In a separate letter, Senator Hawley had previously reached out to Behnam, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler in November. He inquired whether their agencies had initiated investigations into FTX or Alameda prior to their collapse or had entered into confidential settlements with the companies or their executives.
Overall, the senators are seeking transparency and accountability regarding Behnam’s connections with Bankman-Fried and his knowledge of the fraudulent activities that eventually led to the collapse of FTX.