Ripple v. SEC: Forbes Senior Contributor Files Motion to Release Hinman’s Documents

Forbes Senior Contributor Roslyn Layton has filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The motion, filed yesterday by attorney Carl Cecere on behalf of Layton, seeks to leave to petition the court for access to the drafts of William Hinman’s 2018 controversial speech.

Layton, through her counsel, opposes a recent motion filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to seal some documents of Hinman’s speech. Recall that on December 22, 2022, the SEC moved to seal some documents associated with Hinman’s speech document offered to support its summary judgment motion.

The SEC also requested to seal some of Hinman’s controversial speech documents referenced by Ripple in its opposition.

Layton Opposes SEC’s Motion to Seal Hinman’s Documents

Reacting to the development, Layton opposes the SEC’s motion. The Forbes Senior Contributor noted that although she has no financial interest in XRP or Ripple, she has written numerous op-ed articles about the documents and their significance to the lawsuit.

“She [Layton] therefore respectfully requests leave to intervene so she might ask the Court to release these documents to the public and to deny the SEC’s motion to keep them sealed,” an excerpt of the motion read. 

It bears mentioning that Layton is known for her numerous op-ed articles lambasting the SEC for abusing its regulatory powers in selecting who wins in cryptocurrency. Layton has written several articles about the ongoing Ripple lawsuit, which she describes as the “cryptocurrency trial of the century.” 

The motion comes a few hours before she wrote another hit piece slamming the SEC for treating Ripple and Ethereum differently. As many expected, it was not long before the Forbes team took the article down.

Deaton Reacts

Layton’s motion has stirred different reactions among members of the cryptocurrency community. Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton took to Twitter to applaud Cecere and Layton for petitioning the court for public access to Hinman’s documents.

? outstanding job Carl. https://t.co/MiZgRIeCIT

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) February 16, 2023

Hinman’s documents consist of emails and other SEC internal communications associated with the draft of Hinman’s controversial 2018 speech. Although the SEC surrendered the documents to Ripple in October, the public has yet to access them.

Last year, attorney Deaton explained why the document had not been released to the public. According to Deaton, a protective order is in place regarding the documents, which has stopped the parties from revealing the content.