'Hypocrisy': Judge denies SEC motion to keep Hinman documents secret in Ripple case

The SEC argued that the documents should be protected because Hinman wrote the speech as a "personal errand", but the judge did not didn't buy this.

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suffered a major blow in its case against Ripple after a U.S. judge denied its requests for attorney-client confidentiality regarding internal documents related to the "Hinman speech" .

In denying the motion on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn denounced the SEC's hypocrisy by claiming that the speech - in which former official Bill Hinman suggested that Ether (ETH) was not a security - was a personal matter for Hinman while also claiming he should be shielded as he received legal advice from the SEC to confirm the commission's policies:

"Hypocrisy in arguing to the Court, on the one hand, that the speech is irrelevant to the market's understanding of how the SEC will regulate cryptocurrency, and on the other hand, that Hinman sought and obtained legal advice from SEC counsel while writing his speech, suggests that the SEC adopts its litigation positions to achieve its desired goal, and not out of staunch allegiance to the law. »

The draft of Hinman's speech, which the SEC fought to keep secret, was seen by many in the Ripple (XRP) community as a key piece of evidence that could work in favor of Ripple Labs.

The SEC sued blockchain company Ripple in late 2020 over allegations that senior executives Brad Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen sold Ripple's XRP tokens as unregistered securities.

However, Ripple argued that former Corporate Finance Division Director Bill Hinman's 2018 speech stating that Ether did not constitute "corporate securities transactions" - contradicted the SEC's position on the question.