In the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit, the SEC has undertaken a new effort to safeguard evidence related to former director Bill Hinman’s now-famous statement. Hinman, a former SEC director, is accused of intentionally breaking ethical guidelines.
According to emails revealed by Empower Oversight, a whistleblower organisation, former SEC Director William Hinman may have had a possible conflict of interest when prosecuting Ripple. The SEC has now filed a letter in court, claiming that Hinman’s speech notes are protected by client-attorney privilege. The SEC filing is the regulator’s latest attempt to prevent the release of the letters, which might be crucial evidence in the XRP lawsuit.
#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP The SEC has filed a letter motion asserting the attorney-client privilege in connection with the Hinman speech. pic.twitter.com/nTxlOEFLzF
— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪90k+ (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) April 30, 2022
SEC new strategy to delay trial
After a suggested timetable for summary judgement specified a significantly lengthier duration, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple is slated to last until 2023.
The SEC and Ripple jointly issued a letter on Friday requesting a simple judgement timetable. Judge Torres’ directives to shorten the planned summary judgement timetable.
9/ Ripple’s lawyers have consistently shown that they know what they are doing, so I would sit back, be patient, and watch them work their craft now.
— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪90k+ (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) April 29, 2022
However, after the latest SEC filing, crypto community members are accusing the SEC of purposely delaying the trail. One user tweeted that the SEC took this desperate measure so these documents won’t get revealed to the public because there is a genuine fear these documents may demonstrate systematic corruption inside the agency during this period.
I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say SEC is desperate not to have these documents revealed to the public, because there is a genuine fear these documents may demonstrate systematic corruption inside the agency during this period
— Steve G (@SteveG37122384) April 30, 2022
On the other hand, another user tweeted questioning the SEC filing, remarking that Hinman had been delegated to “acting as a client” because he, as primary official, met with SEC attorneys when drafting a speech.
Really?! Really!!!! Now Hinman has been delegated to “acting as client” because he, as primary official, met with SEC attorneys when drafting a speech.
— Sheri V. (@SheriV4399) April 30, 2022
Hinman speech letter as legal evidence
The SEC accused Ripple for trading unregistered securities in its native XRP token in December 2020. Ripple’s argues that the idea of XRP token is based on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Hinman gave a speech in June 2018 in which he said that Bitcoin and Ethereum were not securities. Afterward, Empower Oversight disclosed Hinman’s potential personal interest in prosecuting Ripple. The letter memos became very important legal evidence in the lawsuit.
The SEC stated in the filing that materials relating to Hinman’s June 14, 2018 speech are totally protected by the attorney-client privilege. The privilege is consistent with these themes since it shows discussion between SEC attorneys and then-Director Hinman.
It covers the offer or sale of a digital asset as part of an investment contract. What Hinman said in his speech corresponds to what he was told in the documents earlier. The commission is attempting to indicate that the speech was delivered with legal counsel in mind. It also wants the court to look into its suggested revisions. The SEC, on the other hand, claims that once the court agrees on revisions, it will submit the document for in-camera review.
Read more:
- Sec vs Ripple: SEC and Ripple executives agrees to postpone case hearing until 2022 end
- SEC vs Ripple: Ripple is all set for judgement, SEC wants more delay
