The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services held its first hearing investigating the collapse of FTX on Tuesday.
FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was scheduled to testify before the committee, however, he was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday evening. FTX CEO John J. Ray testified in Bankman-Fried’s place on Tuesday.
During the hearing, FTX CEO John Ray blamed “grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals” for the collapse of the crypto company. Ray also testified that the scandal at FTX is “plain old embezzlement.”
New FTX CEO John Ray: Scandal Is "Plain Old Embezzlement" pic.twitter.com/XfT2HmDhPt
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 13, 2022
Before questioning the hearing’s witness, Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) began by criticizing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its failure of duty.
During his remarks, Rose asserted that SEC Chair Gary Gensler failed to execute the agency’s three-pronged mission – which consists of protecting investors; maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitating capital formation – by failing to conduct “proper oversight” of FTX.
“Frankly, Chair Gensler has failed at his job, and worst of all, he has failed to protect investors, which is one of the key components of the SEC’s [three-pronged] mission,” Rose stated during the committee hearing.
Rose then targeted the committee’s Democrat Majority, criticizing the lawmakers for failing to have FEC Chair Gensler testify for more than 14 months.
“Similarly, while he has been asleep at the wheel, the Democratic Majority has failed to have him testify before this Committee for over 14 months which I believe is a disservice to investors. I hope that in a few weeks that we in the new Republican Majority will finally start to hold the Biden Administration accountable for their failures,” Rose added.
While Rose called the timing of Bankman-Fried’s arrest “interesting” during the hearing, he overall applauded the arrest of the FTX founder, tweeting, “While I’m glad to see the wheels of justice turning, the American people still deserve to know what led to the collapse of FTX. Tweets and interviews won’t cut it.I look forward to seeing the details of Sam Bankman-Fried’s indictment.”
While I’m glad to see the wheels of justice turning, the American people still deserve to know what led to the collapse of FTX.
Tweets and interviews won’t cut it.
I look forward to seeing the details of Sam Bankman-Fried’s indictment. https://t.co/KZNg0dQlTU
— Congressman John Rose (@RepJohnRose) December 13, 2022
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
