The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants to block two additional companies from offering input on the regulator’s lawsuit against Ripple.
Earlier this week, TapJets, which bills itself as the Uber of private jet chartering, and remittance company I-Remit filed motions to serve as an “amicus curiae” in the case in support of Ripple.
Amicus 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 opposes the motions, according to crypto attorney James K. Filan. The regulator claims the efforts are “improper attempts… to offer evidence outside the constraints of discovery restrictions, the rules of evidence, and this Court’s prior order.”
Crypto legal expert Jeremy Hogan, a Ripple supporter, says he feels the SEC’s pain.
“The SEC objects to the amicus briefs as they contain facts outside of the discovery evidence, and which it hasn’t been able to investigate. As a litigator, I feel its pain. A tenet of law is the right to cross-examine a witness, right? And these briefs DO sneak new facts in.
The counter-argument is that there should be some leeway because the judge can give the amici evidence less weight than ‘normal’ evidence when weighing the facts.”
XRP–supporting attorney John Deaton criticized the regulator’s objections.
“This objection is called, ‘We don’t want the judge to consider the truth.’ Time magazine and thousands of others accept XRP and other cryptos as payment and do not consider it an investment when they accept it. This is the truth. The SEC wants to hide the truth from the judge.”
The SEC sued Ripple in late 2020 under allegations that it issued XRP as an unregistered security.
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