This development has sparked widespread reactions among XRP enthusiasts, who have been closely following the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. SEC.

Empower Oversight took to Twitter yesterday to announce the SEC’s release of an additional 324 pages of documents in response to their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. This comes in the wake of Empower Oversight’s lawsuit against the regulatory agency earlier this year.

1. The @SECgov has now turned over 324 pages of new documents in response to our crypto conflicts FOIA requests. https://t.co/Axzz0cFyJF

— Empower Oversight (@EMPOWR_us) August 3, 2023

Read Also: Legal Expert Says a Breach of Ethics Could Mark SEC’s End in Lawsuit against Ripple. Here’s why

At the center of these newly disclosed documents lies the revelation of Lubin’s notable role during the drafting of Hinman’s speech, which took place on June 14, 2018. It was during this speech that Hinman declared both Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) as non-securities, a statement that has been a topic of controversy since then.

Ripple’s copy of the documents had earlier revealed that Hinman disregarded warnings from senior SEC officials regarding the speech. It was also revealed that Hinman initially referred to the speech as “The Hinman Speech” and held a meeting with Vitalik Buterin, another co-founder of Ethereum, just one week prior.

Empower Oversight’s recently released emails now shed further light on Lubin’s involvement in facilitating the connection between Buterin and Hinman during the drafting process.

The emails indicate that Lubin initiated contact with the SEC, reaching out to Barnett Gary, the then deputy director of SEC’s Trading and Markets division, to arrange a meeting. Gary subsequently introduced Lubin to Hinman, who expressed enthusiasm about the meeting.

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XRP Community Reacts

This latest development has sent shockwaves through the XRP community, and various prominent figures have since reacted to the newly disclosed information. Crypto-Law.US took to Twitter to highlight how Lubin influenced the naming of Hinman’s speech as “The Ether Speech.”

Attorney John Deaton, the founder of Crypto-Law.US, also weighed in, recalling how Hinman lied under oath during his deposition in the ongoing Ripple lawsuit. Hinman had claimed that he never communicated with external parties about the content of his speech, but the documents show that he did indeed meet with Buterin a week prior.

Digital Asset Investor, a well-known XRP influencer, and YouTuber, joined the chorus of reactions to the SEC’s emails. He referred back to a statement by Hinman, where he denied the SEC having identified a third-party promoter associated with Ethereum.

Read Also: Anti-Corruption Watchdog: There Is Evidence to Prove That SEC Official Had Conflict of Interest in Ripple Lawsuit

Digital Asset Investor argued that Lubin, who allegedly attempted to arrange a meeting with the SEC, could be considered a third-party promoter.

The post XRP Community Reacts to New Revelations About Ethereum Co-founder’s Role in Hinman Speech appeared first on Times Tabloid.

The lawyer pointed to documents uncovered by Empower Oversight, an anti-corruption watchdog, involving William Hinman, the SEC’s former Director of Corporate Finance, coupled with the controversial 2018 speech, where Ethereum is considered not a security.

Read Also: Attorney John Deaton Highlights Why it’s Risky for Ripple to Sue Hinman for His Criminal Violation

As stated by Empower Oversight, the emails uncovered suggest that Hinman knowingly had a conflict of interest before delivering the speech.

According to Deaton, if the allegation can be proven before the judge, it would mark the end of the SEC in the lawsuit filed against Ripple Labs in December 2020.

John Deaton tweeted, “Empower Oversight and Jason Foster retrieved the emails below. If Hinman didn’t submit the speech to conflicts screening it is game set & match. The Ethics Office is going to be pissed and want to throw him under the bus if we force this investigation through letters from Congress.”

@EMPOWR_us and @JsnFostr retrieved the emails below. If Hinman didn’t submit the speech to conflicts screening it is game set & match. The Ethics Office is going to be pissed and want to throw him under the bus if we force this investigation through letters from Congress. pic.twitter.com/8j9Nwb0OZn

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) May 11, 2022

As stated in a statement released by the anti-corruption watchdog, Hinman had a connection with a law firm known as Simpson Thacher, which promoted Ethereum (ETH).

According to the group, Hinman had failed to disclose his connection with law firm, adding that the speech subsequently boosted the price of Ethereum (ETH) back then.

Read Also: CZ Binance Apologizes and Clears the Air after CoinMarketCap Called Ripple’s XRP an Imposter

Empower Oversight noted:

“[Our] FOIA request shows that the SEC’s Ethics Office cautioned Mr. Hinman that he had a direct financial interest in his former law firm, Simpson Thacher, and thus, he needed to recuse himself from any matters that would affect the firm; and, lest he may have misunderstood its position, the Ethics Office explicitly told him not to have any contact with Simpson Thacher personnel.

“The records disclosed to Empower Oversight and other information tend to show that Mr. Hinman failed to disclose Simpson Thacher’s, and by extension his, direct financial interest in the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance…

“In his speech, he opined that Ether is not a security, stating that ‘based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions.’ Ether’s value rose immediately after Mr. Hinman’s speech.”

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In a recent press release, the anti-corruption watchdog disclosed that it received over 200 email records through a Freedom of Information Act request, which shed light on a conflict of interest related to William Hinman, the former Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance.

Read Also: Ripple Releases New Version of XRP Ledger That Will Support Advanced NFT Functionality: Details

The non-profit Empower Oversight says the emails reveal that SEC officials had warned Hinman about a conflict of interest due to its connection with Simpson Thacher, a law firm that promoted Ethereum (ETH) through an organization called Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

The press release published by Empower Oversight reads in part:

“SEC Ethics office cautioned former SEC official William Hinman that he had a direct financial interest in Simpson Thacher, and thus, he must recuse himself from any matters that would affect the firm.

“Additionally, the Ethics office explicitly told Hinman, per the documents, to not be in any contact with Simpson Thacher for any reason. However, Hinman met with Josh Bonnie, a partner at Simpson Thacher, at least three times after that warning.

Read Also: Ripple-SEC Lawsuit: SEC Is Deploying another Delay Tactic with the Latest Request Filed

“Hinman also met with the co-founders and investors in Ethereum ahead of a market-moving speech he gave in 2018 declaring the digital asset Ether to not be a security, despite Simpson Thacher’s participation in the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, which is dedicated to promoting the commercial use of Ethereum.

“This raises questions as to whether Hinman fully disclosed Simpson Thacher’s role in Ethereum from SEC Ethics officials and whether they would have approved the meetings or his speech if he had.”

One of the emails found in the documents says, “But Bill [Hinman], it occurs to us that you have a full financial conflict with your old firm, not just an impartiality one. Hence, you should not be having any meetings with your old firm. even group meetings.”

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The post Anti-Corruption Watchdog: There Is Evidence to Prove That SEC Official Had Conflict of Interest in Ripple Lawsuit appeared first on Times Tabloid.

Empower Oversight received the document following the lawsuit under the freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 2021.

Read Also: Attorney Jeremy Hogan: Ripple Just Did the Hardest Hitting Thus Far in the Lawsuit. Details

According to the non-profit organization, its intention is to know whether there is a conflict of interests by the agency in relation to crypto enforcement, which could have prompted the filing of the lawsuit.

It’s worthy of note that William Hinman and Marc Berger, the two former SEC officials left the agency to join Simpson Thacher & Barlett, an affiliate of Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, a group of companies based on marketing Ethereum (ETH) as an enterprise solution. Mind you, Jay Clayton, who masterminded the lawsuit before leaving the SEC is also under suspicion.

In a bid to get relevant information for the investigation, Empower Oversight specifically listed the names of these former SEC officials under suspicion with the companies named in the FOIA request.

What the Documents Say

As stated by Empower Oversight, the documents obtained contain 1,053 pages of emails from an email address traced to Hinman, including a 46-page document of messages related to Berger.

The non-profit organization stressed that most of the information is likely not included in the report due to formatting issues, making lots of the messages blank and duplicated.

Read Also: Attorney Jeremy Hogan Highlights Recent Big Blunder that Could Hurt SEC in Favor of Ripple and XRP

The founder of Empower Oversight, Jason Foster, who reacted to the development said the production of the first document is seemingly the right step to take.

He added that the regulatory agency “must keep its commitment to conduct additional searches in order to fulfill its legal obligation to transparency. Empower Oversight will not relent in its commitment to enforcing accountability through the public’s right to know.”

About Empower Oversight

Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (EMPOWR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to enhancing independent oversight of government and corporate wrongdoing.

The organization also works to help insiders document and report corruption to the relevant authorities while also seeking to hold authorities accountable to act on those reports.

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