“I would really love to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other,” Bankman-Fried said in one message, according to the Justice Department. The Department of Justice has urged the court presiding over Bankman-criminal Fried’s case to prevent him from contacting current and former FTX workers and from using Signal or any other encrypted or ephemeral messaging service. Following the request, SBF’s legal team charged federal prosecutors with attempting to portray their client in the “worst possible light.” They allege Bankman-Fried attempted to contact FTX US general counsel and CEO John Ray to provide “assistance,” rather than interfering with his criminal prosecution. His attorneys argue that a Signal ban is unnecessary since Bankman-Fried does not use the app’s auto-delete option.
