Will the Judge allow the SEC to extend the issue further? Or will she put an end to the never-ending Hinman saga?
The Hinman notes and emails, which the court has repeatedly ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission to hand over to Ripple Labs and individual defendants, are an example of how the justice system can move slowly.
After an extensive back and forth, the SEC argued the documents were protected by deliberative process privilege. The court eventually ruled against that motion, only to find itself caught in yet another claim, that the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege. Judge Sarah Netburn denied the motion earlier this month.
It is unsurprising that the SEC requested permission to file a 30-page opening brief and a 10-page reply brief in support of the SEC’s objections to that ruling.
“The SEC previously sought leave to file objections to all orders relating to the Speech Drafts in a single brief. The Court granted the SEC’s application and ordered that the SEC file any objections to the orders within 14 days of Magistrate Judge Netburn’s order on the SEC’s outstanding motion relating to the Speech Drafts. Magistrate Judge Netburn issued her latest order on July 12, 2022, and the SEC’s objections are due on July 26, 2022.
“Because the SEC is filing objections to three separate orders in a single omnibus brief, the SEC respectfully seeks leave to file a 30-page memorandum of law in support of its objections (10 pages more than the Court’s Individual Practices otherwise allow. The SEC further seeks leave to file a 10-page reply brief within seven days of Defendants’ response to the SEC’s upcoming objections”, said the letter submitted by Ladan F. Stewart, Senior Trial Counsel, Division of Enforcement at the SEC.
XRP-friendly attorney Jeremy Hogan commented on the filing. “The SEC is actually going to object to Judge Netburn’s scathing Order regarding attorney-client privilege and ask Judge Torres to overturn the Order. This is the Order in which Judge Netburn called the SEC’s argument hypocritical. Someone needs to talk them off the ledge.”
It is now up to the court to make a final decision on the matter. Will the Judge allow the SEC to extend the issue further? Or will she put an end to the never-ending Hinman saga?
The plaintiff will hardly let go of the matter if the court denies the new request and is expected to insist on it even if it means appealing against the ruling. This has been predicted and XRP Holders’ amici attorney John Deaton have praised the court’s past rulings for their appeal-proof features.
