The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is opposed to allowing attorney and XRP supporter John Deaton from participating in the Ripple lawsuit any longer.
In April 2021, Deaton and five other XRP holders, referred to as “movants” in the case documents, filed a motion to intervene in the case “on behalf of all similarly situated XRP Holders.”
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said last October that while the XRP holders cannot intervene in the case, she will allow them to act as “amici curiae” in the SEC’s action against Ripple Labs Inc.
“Amici Curiae” means “friend of the court,” according to Cornell Law School. Amici curiae can submit documents known as amicus briefs on issues relevant to the case as long as the court approves the briefs in advance.
The SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple Labs in late December 2020, declaring XRP a security and accusing the San Francisco payments company of selling the crypto asset without proper authorization.
In May, Deaton filed a letter requesting to represent 67,000 XRP holders. The move was a direct response to the SEC wanting to bring in an expert to testify on what XRP holders thought when they purchased the sixth-largest crypto asset.
Recently surfaced court documents indicate the SEC filed a letter to Judge Torres in early June requesting that Deaton and the XRP investors be prevented from filing an amicus brief regarding the opinions of one of the Commission’s experts.
The SEC also requested that Torres prohibit Deaton from any further participation in the lawsuit. The SEC claims the movants’ “amici” status is only permitted on briefings related to legal issues, not factual ones.
Crypto attorney James K. Filan notes that the amici have until Monday, July 25th to respond.
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