Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, has placed the spotlight on a high-stakes legal battle involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and allegations of record destruction under former Chair Gary Gensler.
Grewal accused the SEC of destroying key documents, saying the agency’s own Inspector General confirms the misconduct. Coinbase, through History Associates, has asked a federal court to intervene and ensure the agency cannot repeat what it calls a “gross violation of public trust.”
The Gensler SEC destroyed documents they were required to preserve and produce. We now have proof from the SEC’s own Inspector General. Today we ask the federal court to address this gross violation of public trust to ensure that it never happens again. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/DPLtHUiolj
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) September 11, 2025
Inspector General’s Findings Reveal Key Timeline
Grewal noted that the SEC Office of Inspector General revealed text messages from October 2022 to September 2023 were destroyed despite long-standing information requests covering “all communications” related to crypto regulation.
The report detailed how SEC officials’ text messages had been excluded from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) responses despite their potential classification as agency records.
According to the filing, almost a year’s worth of then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s messages disappeared in September 2023, after FOIA requests but before litigation began. Messages from more than 20 other high-ranking SEC officials may also be gone, with many more at imminent risk of erasure.
Coinbase Pushes for Immediate Legal Remedies
Coinbase has asked the court for expedited discovery, sanctions, and the immediate production of any remaining text messages. Grewal presented this as a necessary step to hold the SEC accountable, pointing to what he described as double standards between the agency’s treatment of private firms and its own conduct.
In court filings, History Associates says the SEC had known of serious record-retention and FOIA problems for two years but did not disclose them during 14 months of litigation.
The filing describes the destruction of records as systemic, with major consequences for public access to information about the SEC’s internal approach to cryptocurrency policy.
XRP Army Reacts
The news has generated strong reactions among XRP supporters, who see the court filing and Inspector General’s findings as validation of long-held concerns. Gensler, long criticized for hypocrisy, now faces mounting scrutiny and growing calls for accountability.
Several commenters urged lawsuits or criminal charges, including calls for jail time for Gary Gensler. Others described the situation as despicable or negligent, echoing frustrations about accountability.
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Some focused on transparency, emphasizing that public officials must be held to the same standards they impose on private firms. One commenter argued that the SEC works for citizens and should face heightened scrutiny.
Allegations of destroyed records and selective disclosure threaten to erode confidence in one of the nation’s most powerful financial regulators. While the current SEC has a more pro-crypto stance, former officials must be held accountable for their actions to rebuild public trust.
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