John E. Deaton, a seasoned attorney and notable figure within the XRP community, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, October 12, to signal his intention to write a letter to the Financial Services Committee (FSC), criticizing the lack of efficacy in addressing the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through letters to its Chairman, Gary Gensler.
On X (formerly Twitter), Deaton stated, “I think I’m going to write a letter, addressed to the FSC, discussing the inadequacy of writing letters to Gary Gensler. True oversight is not about how many stern letters you write or how many warnings you give. It isn’t about voluntary compliance. True oversight is achieved involuntarily.”
This Enrages Pro-XRP Attorney Deaton
This tweet was a response to a post by Eleanor Terrett, a journalist with Fox Business. Terrett had highlighted that Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer was contemplating utilizing subpoena power over Gary Gensler and the SEC, emphasizing the Committee’s exasperation with Gensler’s continuous non-compliance with oversight requests.
Terrett quoted an unnamed former SEC source stating, “I have never seen this requested before, at least not at the SEC.” Highlighting Comer’s reputation, a source from Capitol Hill chimed in saying, “Comer comes to play.”
In the letter to the SEC Chair, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability expressed its dissatisfaction over the SEC’s perceived lack of collaboration on oversight requests. The Committee highlighted its apprehensions about the SEC’s involvement in European social engineering schemes, citing them as transparency initiatives.
James Comer, Chairman of the Committee, noted that the SEC’s delivered documents are primarily already in the public domain and thus ineffective in satisfying the Committee’s inquiries. Reminding the SEC of its promise of collaboration made during the 118th Congress, Comer suggested that the Committee might resort to compulsory processes to guarantee compliance.
He also drew parallels with Goldman Sachs’ $6 million fine by the SEC for withholding data, indicating that the SEC should provide access to its records without obstruction.
What The Letter Could Be About
Though the specific topic Deaton wishes to broach in his letter remains undisclosed, his advocacy for XRP and criticisms of both Gensler and the SEC are well-known. Deaton is outspoken about his belief in the “ETH Gate” theory, suggesting that the SEC has potential conflicts of interest, including connections to China.
In another post yesterday, Deaton remarked, “It seems blatantly clear that having a CCP connection provides a company with not only access to US regulators, but an investigative free pass. Where is Gary Gensler – the self-proclaimed cop on the beat? Does he and the SEC only investigate and sue non-fraudulent American companies like LBRY, Dragonchain, Kraken and Coinbase?”
He was referencing a comment by Marc Cohodes who raised questions about the links between FTX’s Gary Wang and China, hinting at possible preferential treatments.
Remarkably, at his recent hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Chairman Patrick McHenry complained that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler had withheld requested documents from Congress for more than seven months, pointing to the SEC’s refusal to provide documents on the FTX collapse and climate disclosure rule.
At press time, XRP traded at $0.4817.
Featured image from Coinkolik, chart from TradingView.com