(JustPatriots.com)- House Financial Services Committee chair Maxine Waters reportedly told Democrats that she doesn’t plan to subpoena former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, saying instead that she would rather he appear voluntarily at next Tuesday’s hearing on the crypto exchange’s collapse.
In a joint tweet sent by Waters and the Financial Services Committee this week, Waters and the committee invited Bankman-Fried to testify voluntarily in next Tuesday’s hearing.
However, in his tweeted response, Bankman-Fried said while it was his duty to explain what happened to FTX it might not happen by December 13. Bankman-Fried explained that he first needs to finish “learning and reviewing” what happened before he can testify.
According to CNBC, during a private meeting with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler this Tuesday, Waters informed committee members that she wanted them to convince Bankman-Fried to testify voluntarily rather than issue a subpoena.
Waters will lose her chairmanship on January 3 when Republicans take control of the House. At that time, it is expected North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry will replace her as chair.
CNBC reported that Waters may kick the can down the road and leave it up to McHenry to decide whether or not to subpoena Bankman-Fried if he doesn’t show up next Tuesday to testify under oath.
Maxine Waters has denied the CNBC report, saying on Twitter that issuing a subpoena for Bankman-Fried’s testimony is “definitely on the table,” adding “stay tuned.”
Since the collapse of FTX, Bankman-Fried has been under scrutiny both by federal investigators and lawmakers.
Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown announced his committee would be holding a hearing on FTX next Wednesday.
Bankman-Fried reportedly transferred $10 billion in customer funds from FTX to his trading company Almeda Research.
FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11 and announced that the 30-year-old CEO Bankman-Fried was resigning after traders rushed to withdraw $6 billion from the platform in just 72 hours after rival exchange Binance walked away from a proposed rescue deal.
