Pro-XRP attorney John Deaton says that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) erred in filing aiding and abetting allegations against Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
Deaton highlighted that testimony from former SEC officials Bill Hinman and Jay Clayton during the SEC vs. Ripple Labs case would have categorized XRP (XRP) as a non-security early on, but the agency deliberately disregarded this information for an extended period.
On X (formerly Twitter), user Digital Asset Investor.XRP said if it were his choice, he would have summoned a16z attorneys Lowell Ness and Chris Dixon as initial witnesses in the SEC vs. Ripple legal battle, along with former SEC officials Clayton and Hinman.
Jay Clayton is associated with the concept of the Ethereum Free Pass Speech, wherein executives were tasked with leading efforts that contributed to this stance.
Deaton concurred that it’s essential for Hinman to provide testimony. Notably, there was no chance to legally summon a former SEC Chairman for a trial. Nevertheless, Deaton contends that the SEC erred in its decision to charge CEO Brad Garlinghouse, especially considering Jay Clayton’s inclination to file a complaint against executives on a personal basis in a non-fraudulent context.
He maintains that Jay Clayton holds substantial importance as a witness who should provide testimony in the courtroom. Notably, Clayton engaged with Ripple’s CEO and CTO, during which Brad Garlinghouse conveyed that “Ripple is living in purgatory” following the Hinman speech. However, neither Clayton nor Hinman explicitly stated that XRP was categorized as a security.
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Obtaining a clarification from Clayton and Hinman could have averted legal expenses, time consumption, and bolstered cryptocurrency adoption. The SEC aims to reverse the situation even after Judge Torres ruled that XRP is not a security.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, there’s a concern that the XRP price might decline to $0.41 if substantial accumulation doesn’t occur around the $0.50 support level. In line with this, a significant whale moved over $20 million worth of XRP to exchanges while the price persisted in breaching its support levels.
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