Snippets of computer code. More than 6 million pages of emails, Slack messages and other digital records. And a small black notebook, filled with handwritten observations.
“It is a massive amount to sift through, and sometimes you can find incredibly useful information,” said Moira Penza, a former federal prosecutor who’s now in private practice. “It is a real challenge.”Typically, the evidence in a criminal case remains largely secret until right before trial. But in Bankman-Fried’s case, interviews and a review of recent court filings have offered an early glimpse of the idiosyncratic array of records that the FTX prosecutors have collected.
The black notebook, described as a diary, belonged to Bankman-Fried’s on-and-off girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, a former top lieutenant in his business empire, three people familiar with the matter said. Any personal writings from her or other witnesses might be useful to defense lawyers during cross-examination, Penza said.