Sam Bankman-Fried considered blaming lawyers, "woke agenda" to protect image

Companies • March 16, 2024, 7:28PM EDT

Published 1 minute earlier on

Quick Take

Prosecutors, in arguing for a sentence of up to 50 years for Sam Bankman-Fried, have published a document in which Sam Bankman-Fried considers a variety of “random probably bad ideas” in order to protect his image.
The document is largely concerned with calling out the lawyers in charge of the bankruptcy process, though other ideas include coming out as a Republican, blaming Binance, and engaging with the press.

"Go on Tucker Carlsen [sic], come out as a republican." "Come out as extremely pro crypto, pro freedom." "Come out with a strong anti-Binance message."

These were just a few of the "random" and "probably bad" ideas that Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly considered in the days following his arrest, according to a new document published by prosecutors, as part of their argument that Bankman-Fried should be served with a hefty sentence of up to 50 years.

In the document, a Google Doc written by Bankman-Fried, he appears to consider a variety of ways to restore his public image, though he acknowledged, "these are all random probably bad ideas that aren’t vetted." Many of them involve blaming the lawyers and the bankruptcy process for stealing away his company, a line of argument Bankman-Fried has been insistent in promoting, though he was forbidden from arguing such during the trial.

In fact, were Bankman-Fried able to make it on Tucker Carlson's show, he planned on coming out as a republican and against "the woke agenda," but also talking about "...how the cartel of lawyers is destroying value and throwing entrepreneurs under the bus in order to cover up the incompetence of lawyers."

Bankman-Fried also considered speaking with other journalists, including Matt Levine of Bloomberg and Michael Lewis, who wrote the book Going Infinite chronicling Bankman-Fried's rise and fall. A separate document lists other potential figures in the media whom Bankman-Fried thought might serve as allies.

Bankman-Fried may also have been considering discussing the effects of his antidepressant; the entry on the Google Doc simply reads "Send this EmSam tweet thread," referencing the prescription medication he has taken for most of his adult life and linking to another, unfortunately inaccessible, document.

Bankman-Fried's final two ideas? "Send out a twitter poll asking people what to do" and "Try to get people to supor [sic] the true narratives."

Bankman-Fried is set to be sentenced on March 28. Bankman-Fried's lawyers and supporters have asked the court to impose a much more moderate sentence of 63 to 78 months.

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About Author

Zack Abrams is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. Before coming to The Block, he was the Head Writer at Coinage, a Web3 media outlet covering the biggest stories in Web3. The story he co-reported on Do Kwon won a 2022 Best in Business Journalism award from SABEW. Other projects included a deep dive into SBF's defense based on exclusive documents and unveiling the identity of the hacker behind one of 2023's biggest crypto hacks — so far. He can be reached via X @zackdabrams or email, [email protected].