Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has harshly criticized former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton for his recent comments regarding the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) approach to litigation.
In a June interview with CNBC, Clayton suggested that the financial regulator should only pursue cases that passed judicial scrutiny.
Ripple CEO criticizes Clayton's 'hypocrisy'
Clayton said: “When you have state power, you're only supposed to bring cases and make rules that you think are going to be judicially approved.”
This statement drew the ire of Garlinghouse, who said the video made his “blood boil” and criticized Clayton's hypocrisy. Garlinghouse noted that the former SEC chairman initiated the SEC's ongoing lawsuit against Ripple in 2020.
The SEC's legal action alleged that the XRP token was a security and that Ripple's top executives, including Garlinghouse and Larsen, raised more than $1.3 billion through its sales.
He said: “As a reminder, Jay Clayton brought the case against Ripple, Chris Larsen and myself. And he left the building the next day.”
“The hypocrisy is shocking, CNBC and SquawkCNBC should call him out on his nonsense,” Garlinghouse added. Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton joined in criticizing Clayton's hypocrisy. According to Deaton, the former SEC chairman was “clearly the one who pushed for” joining Ripple's top executives in the case.
“[Clayton] likes to sue management because it ‘changes the dynamic’ of the lawsuit (i.e., it is a harassment/intimidation tactic),” he added.
He concluded that Clayton's hypocrisy became more evident when the SEC had nothing to prove its securities accusations against XRP. Deaton pointed out:
“When you consider the hypocrisy of Clayton's comments, remember that he filed a lawsuit alleging that ALL XRP from the beginning of time to the end of the world were, are, and always will be securities, even though the SEC failed to cite a just case.”
Ripple (XRP) price continues to advance
As the SEC's legal dispute with Ripple unfolds, the regulatory body has faced back-to-back setbacks, including a landmark ruling in July declaring that Ripple's sales of XRP to the general public were not a security.
These defeats led to charges being dropped against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen.
Ripple's XRP hit $0.57, its highest value since August, during the recent bullish rally fueled by Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The digital asset has since retreated to $0.54 at press time, according to data from BeInCrypto.
