SEC vs. Ripple: SEC Object to Judge Sarah Netburn’s Ruling Ordering SEC To Disclose William Hinman’s 2018 Speech 

The agency wants to compile its objections to three of the court’s orders over Hinman’s document in a single brief.  

The Securities and Exchange Commission is requesting to file two separate briefs supporting its objection to Judge Sarah Netburn’s ruling, where she ordered the SEC to surrender William Hinman’s documents to Ripple.  

In a letter filed yesterday, the SEC requested permission to file a 30-page opening brief and another 10-page reply brief in support of the agency’s objection to three orders issued by Judge Netburn regarding the disclosure of drafts of a 2018 speech made by Hinman. 

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP The SEC has requested permission to file a 30-page opening brief and a 10-page reply brief in support of the SEC's Objections to Magistrate Judge Netburn’s Ruling Ordering the SEC to the disclose the Hinman Speech documents. Ripple objects. pic.twitter.com/We1PtV0t24

— James K. Filan ???? 106k (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) July 21, 2022

According to the SEC, it intends to save the court’s time by filing its objections to the court’s three orders in a single brief. 

“The SEC respectfully seeks to leave to file a 30-page memorandum of law in support of its objections (10 pages more than the court’s practices),” an excerpt of the SEC’s request reads. 

Furthermore, the Securities and Exchange Commission also requests permission to file a 10-page reply brief within seven days after the Defendants respond to its upcoming objection to Judge Netburn’s ruling. 

The agency noted that Ripple and individual defendants, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, opposed the request. However, the SEC did not disclose further details why Ripple objected to the request. 

SEC’s Efforts to Protect Hinman’s Documents

Recall that the Securities and Exchange Commission made several attempts to avoid disclosing the drafts of a 2018 speech made by its former director of Corporate Finance. 

The SEC’s first attempt to protect the document was based on deliberative process privilege (DPP) and was denied in April 2022. 

However, the commission made yet another attempt to keep the documents from being used to support Ripple’s Fair Notice Defense. 

The SEC claimed that Hinman’s document is protected by attorney-client privilege and cannot be used as evidence in the lawsuit. 

Despite the SEC’s attorney-client claim over Hinman’s document, Judge Netburn denied the motion last week, as reported by TheCryptoBasic. In the ruling, Judge Netburn noted that the SEC’s argument is inconsistent. She added that the purpose of the communication that led to Hinman’s 2018 speech was not to provide legal advice to support the SEC in conducting its operation. The SEC was ordered to surrender Hinman’s documents to aid Ripple’s Fair Notice Defense.

The SEC was given 14 days from the order to file an objection. Since Magistrate Netburn denied the SEC’s attorney-client claims on July 12, 2022, the agency’s objections to the order are due July 26, 2022. 

Following the SEC’s request, it is evident that the agency would file an objection to the court’s ruling over Hinman’s documents. 

The development has sparked reactions among XRP enthusiasts on Twitter. One of the Ripple enthusiasts who commented on the recent development is attorney Jeremy Hogan, a partner at Hogan & Hogan law firm. 

He said in a tweet: “The SEC is actually going to object to Judge Netburn’s scathing Order regarding attorney-client privilege and ask Judge Torres to overturn the Order. This is the Order in which Judge Netburn called the SEC’s argument hypocritical. Someone needs to talk them off the ledge.”