Overview
- U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the case, rejected the request on Tuesday, saying the cited witnesses were not newly discovered and could have been compelled to testify at trial.
- Kaplan dismissed claims that prosecutors intimidated witnesses as wildly conspiratorial and contradicted by the trial record.
- The judge wrote that the filing was part of a post‑bankruptcy plan by Bankman-Fried to rescue his reputation rather than a motion grounded in new evidence.
- Bankman-Fried named ex-FTX insiders Ryan Salame, Daniel Chapsky, and Nishad Singh, but prosecutors argued the defense chose not to call or subpoena them and said the solvency narrative was misleading, noting at one point FTX held about 105 BTC against claims nearing 100,000 BTC.
- Bankman-Fried filed the motion pro se in February, sought Kaplan’s recusal, then tried to withdraw the motion last week; the court denied those steps, and his 25-year sentence stands as his appeal proceeds and a reassignment request remains pending.