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Defense attorney and former U.S. Attorney James K. Filan expects Hinman’s infamous speech documents to be released by June 6, citing a previous court ruling.
The Hinman documents refer to a 2018 speech by former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) corporate finance director Bill Hinman, who essentially stated that ether (ETH) is not a security. The papers include an internal SEC discussion and a discussion of this speech.
In a May 17 Twitter thread, Filan, who has been actively following the SEC case against Ripple for the past couple of years, revealed when the documents could be made public.
“According to the court order of September 12, 2022, the parties have 21 days to submit publicly available redacted versions of the documents of the summary judgment in accordance with the sealing order. June 6 is 21 days after yesterday’s decision,” he wrote.
#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP Update on timing regarding when we should see the documents ordered unsealed. According to the Court’s 9/12/2022 Order, the parties have 21 days to file public, redacted versions of Summary Judgment documents consistent with the sealing… pic.twitter.com/doV5fUxDG5
— James K. Filan (@FilanLaw) May 17, 2023
Some, however, believe the stated timeline could be changed if the SEC appeals or the case is settled.
Another lawyer who followed the case, Jeremy Hogan, a partner at Hogan & Hogan, noted that the SEC has approximately 10 days to appeal this particular order.
Others in the XRP community, such as @AshleyPROSPER1, believe that the prospect of a showdown could encourage either party to seek a settlement, as they both may have information they would not want the public to get their hands on.
However, a May 16 tweet from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse suggests they are keen to have Hinman’s unredacted emails go “public soon.”
Another win for transparency! Unredacted Hinman emails to be publicly available soon – stay tuned as the lawyers work through the mechanics to make that happen. https://t.co/o6puPypRHd https://t.co/qmaLVeQaP8
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) May 16, 2023
Although Ripple Labs has had access to the documents for a long time, it views this aspect of the case as important evidence in its defense against the SEC and its claims that XRP falls under the classification of securities.
Related: Ripple Acquires Swiss Blockchain Custody Company Metaco for $250M
In late December, the SEC filed a motion to keep the documents from the public, arguing that the documents had “nothing to do” with the final outcome of the case, and the SEC’s mission outweighed the “right of the public” to have access to the documents.
Ripple Labs prevailed this week after the proposal was formally rejected on May 16th.
1.Yes
2. The SEC has 10 days to move for reconsideration so I assume Ripple is asking them about that today…if the answer is “we are not” then they could be released sooner I imagine.
— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) May 17, 2023