A journalist is arguing to have critical documents released in the contentious legal dispute between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Forbes senior contributor Roslyn Layton, represented by her attorney J. Carl Cecere, filed a motion with District Judge Analisa Torres to release the Hinman files to the public.
The SEC had repeatedly tried to keep the Hinman documents out of the courtroom, but once the judge ruled they must be turned over, the SEC later filed a motion in December to keep some of the contents sealed from public view.
The documents contain internal SEC deliberations about a speech delivered by former SEC official William Hinman in 2018 when Hinman stated in his official capacity that he believed both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are not securities.
Layton is a regulatory policy columnist and argues in the motion against the SEC’s motion to seal. The motion says she has no financial stake in Ripple or XRP, the token that the SEC sued Ripple over, alleging they had violated securities law.
The motion argues that the First Amendment and federal common law should grant the press and public access to the documents.
Says the motion,
“The case for public release of those documents is particularly strong. This case has garnered intense public and media attention…
The stakes are extremely high, and not only for Ripple, its executives, and the thousands of XRP holders who have suffered billions in losses through the SEC’s misguided effort at supposedly protecting them. This case is also poised to determine the future of cryptocurrencies in this country, serving as a legal referendum on the SEC’s entire system of ‘regulation by enforcement’ for the industry.”
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