Lawmakers demand information about CFTC Chairman’s relationship with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Lawmakers are investigating ties between the U.S. commodity regulator and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

In a letter sent Monday to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) requested documents regarding Bankman-Fried’s correspondence with the regulator. According to the letter, the request is to determine the nature of Behnham’s relationship with the cryptocurrency CEO.

“Protecting Americans’ savings and retirement requires Congress and market regulators like the CFTC to determine how this multibillion-dollar crime was allowed to occur,” the senators said in the letter.

The request requires Behnam to turn over records of meetings, phone calls and other correspondence with Bankman-Fried ahead of FTX’s collapse by April 29.

In 2022, Behnam testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee that he and his team met with Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives about 10 times over 14 months, leading to the exchange’s bankruptcy in November of that year. He also disclosed to lawmakers that he had exchanged “multiple messages” with this administration.

This letter is the latest in a series of investigations into the FTX collapse led by Senator Warren. In November 2022, Warren wrote a letter to Sam Bankman-Fried and then-new FTX CEO John Jay Ray III requesting details about the misappropriation of FTX customer funds. A month later, the supposed anti-crypto lawmaker demanded answers from Silvergate Bank for its role in facilitating Bankman-Fried’s crimes.

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