LITERARY: In Bankman-Fried Trial All Hands Audio Has Ellison Laugh as Drappi on Stand Crypto Creeps

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by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

LITERARY SDNY, Oct 12 -- Twelfth day of October and in the SBF trial after a meandering cross examination of Caroline Ellison, the prosecutors put on their next witness.

He was Christian Drappi, an Alameda employee in Hong Kong on the fateful days. His role was to describe, authenticate and comment on the "all hands" meeting audio. 

 But first SBF's lawyers tried to keep the audio out. Why wasn't it hearsay? Why because Ellison had been operating as Sam's agent, the prosecutors said.

 To some it was counterintuitive: if she had been throwing him under the bus, was she really working for him at that point? 

 It was like Michael Cohen saying Trump should pay his legal fees for his appearance at the impeachment proceedings. Judge Kaplan, who had earlier in the year presided over the E. Jean Carroll versus Trump (first) trial, decided to let the prosecutors play six short clips, and then the defense play one, of Caroline Ellison laughing.

   What did it prove, levity amid bankruptcy and before search warrants and prosecution? She'd already said she was relieved, the day that Alameda and FTX collapsed.  Something she said she'd been dreading had in fact happened.  Ha ha. Or as Sam's Signals put it, about the Chinese bribes and telling Handi to f*ck off, LOL. 

Court art by Elizabeth Williams courtesy to Inner City Press

 Drappi bragged that he had quit right after hearing from Caroline what Sam had done. But who then was the new boyfriend who had slipped out in Caroline Ellison's cross examination, as having been at her parent's home when the agents came to search? He'd been at Alameda too, she'd said. How many of them were there?

And what of his evidence had been on his laptop which had been seized?

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