On June 13, the public will see how many of William Hinman’s emails Ripple cited and included in its objection and reply filings, claims lawyer and enthusiast Bill Morgan. The court has set that date as the deadline for Ripple to submit the final set of permitted redactions in its lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
How many Hinman emails are cited by Ripple and incorporated in its counterarguments and responses? We can see these once the papers with the final permitted redactions are submitted on June 13. By analyzing these briefs, we could not identify those that Ripple should have mentioned and included.
Morgan does not believe that all of Hinman’s case-related emails could be made public unless the parties include them in their briefs for summary judgement, opposition, or reply—former Director of the Division of Corporate Finance of the SEC.
Hinman’s emails were initially requested to be sealed and removed from the case in a motion made by the SEC. District Court Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York rejected the motion.
Ripple sees the refusal of the motion as a further step in the case’s favour. Brad Garlinghouse, the company’s CEO, hailed the court’s ruling as a victory for openness and promised that the emails would be made public after the attorneys worked out the technicalities.
John E. Deaton, the creator of Crypto Laws.us and Managing Partner of the Deaton Law Firm, thinks Hinman’s emails contain information that refutes the SEC’s case against Ripple. In Deaton’s opinion, the emails will further demonstrate Hinman’s conflict of interest.
There is speculation among interested parties that examining Hinman’s emails would reveal more about the internal debates and perspectives of the SEC. The information it might offer could be used to refute the SEC’s case against Ripple.
Additionally, Judge Torres turned down Ripple’s request to seal some references, which connected Ripple’s earnings to XRP sales. She rejected requests from third parties to obfuscate identities and the names of open cryptocurrency trading sites.
