Former SEC Lawyer Highlights How Hinman’s Emails Could Affect the SEC

Former US SEC regional Director, Marc Fagel, weighed on a discussion regarding the Hinman emails during a talk show hosted by CryptoLaw TV. The lawyer disclosed the potential effects Hinman’s emails could have on the Ripple lawsuit and the SEC.

Fagel responded to Deaton’s questions regarding the impact of the just-released Hinman’s documents on the commission. The CryptoLaw founder requested Fagel’s perspective as a lawyer who served as SEC’s regional director for 16 years. 

Hinman Emails Being Public Besmirches Hinman’s Character

CryptoLaw TV, a broadcast channel established by the pro-XRP lawyer, John Deaton, hosted a talk show yesterday, June 14, to discuss the Hinman documents. 

The Florida-based lawyer and crypto enthusiast Jeremy Hogan, former SEC lawyer Marc Fagel, and John Deaton were guests in the live broadcast. 

During the discussion, Deaton’s asked: “These emails being public, is it embarrassing to people at the SEC, or is it ‘no big deal’? If you can give that perspective in addition to what your overall thoughts on the emails are.”

Responding to Deaton’s question, Fagel said he concurred with Jeremy Hogan’s perspective regarding the ethical implications of the emails. 

Attorney Hogan had stated that the email documents’ redaction casts a bad light on Hinman but does not relatively affect the broader Ripple/SEC lawsuit.

“It’s hard to quarrel with anything Jeremy said on the ethical aspect; it’s really the optics,” said Fagel. 

The former SEC regional director noted that he couldn’t guess what motivated Hinman to make the infamous speech since he had never met the latter.

Effects on SEC Staff

This perspective varies with Hogan’s hypothesis that Hinman might have been personally interested in Ethereum for a particular reason. 

However, while Fugal could not give specific speculation, he noted that Hinman’s action seemed odd, given that he delivered the speech despite warnings against it.

“But it does seem unusual, and I think people on the staff would chafe at that. Just to give an example, I ran a regional office, and I had over 100 people working for me. I had to tell them when they went to visit an advisor or broker or one of the registrants that we evaluated: they couldn’t take a muffin,” Fugal explained.

He noted that part of the SEC’s ethical structure was to ensure that staff does not take anything from registrants (entities the agency is evaluating). Fagel noted that witnessing Hinman’s actions discourages the staff if he were to assess the matter logically. 

“The SEC, almost to a fault, is religious about that,” he added.

The ex-SEC lawyer confirmed that he feels frustrated by such behavior as an alumna and believes the current SEC staff feels the same. In addition, Fagel emphasized that the Hinman documents have no significant influence on the Ripple lawsuit bearing.