Deaton Applauds Empower US Lawsuit Against SEC, Says Firm has No Ties to Ripple or XRP

Deaton reacts to Empower Oversight’s lawsuit against the SEC.

Attorney John E. Deaton, a lawyer representing thousands of XRP holders as amicus curiae in the SEC v. Ripple case, reacted to the lawsuit filed yesterday by Empower Oversight against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

In a tweet today, attorney Deaton stressed that Empower Oversight has no affiliation with him, CryptoLaw, Ripple, crypto, or XRP. However, the anti-corruption watchdog sued the SEC at a time when many consider the evidence assembled by the XRP community as “massive conflicts of interest and gross appearance of impropriety.” 

@EMPOWR_us has no affiliation w/me, @CryptoLawUS, @Ripple, or #XRP. The company has nothing to do w/crypto. The evidence me and my 76K friends assembled showed massive conflicts of interests and gross appearances of impropriety so EMPOWR acted accordingly.👏#DecentralizedJustice https://t.co/a7Hh4eWQoR

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) May 12, 2023

Deaton Reacts to Empower Oversight vs. SEC Lawsuit

Deaton had previously commented on the lawsuit filed by Empower Oversight against the SEC. 

Reacting to the development yesterday, Deaton said the SEC is stonewalling any attempt to shed light on conflicts of interest at the agency because it is hiding the truth. 

Even though Deaton believes good people are working at the SEC, he asserted that the agency’s leadership is corrupt. He called on the SEC to let the public view the documents requested by Empower Oversight. Empower Oversight also asked for detailed information involving former SEC chairman Jay Clayton.

Empower Oversight Sues SEC

As reported yesterday, Empower Oversight filed new charges against the SEC to force the regulator to comply with its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. 

Empower Oversight asked the SEC to provide detailed William Hinman’s and Jay Clayton’s phone calls, emails, and meeting notes with some entities and individuals regarding XRP and other crypto assets. 

“In December 2022, Empower Oversight filed a FOIA request designed to counter the SEC’s bad faith refusal to search for all communications between senior SEC officials and a specific list of people with interests in promoting other cryptos over XRP,” it noted. 

For context, Empower Oversight made its first FOIA request in August 2021. After the SEC refused to comply with the request, Empower Oversight filed a lawsuit against the SEC in December 2021 in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Due to the lawsuit, the securities agency was forced to provide selective communications between Hinman and related entities. The documents showed a gross conflict of interest involving the former director of SEC’s Corporate Finance and his former employer, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Empower Oversight filed another FOIA request in December 2022. However, the SEC refused to comply, prompting the anti-corruption watchdog to file its second lawsuit against the regulator yesterday.