US Senate candidate John Deaton demands SEC Gary Gensler’s resignation over political bias

US Senate candidate John Deaton has called for the resignation of Gary Gensler, the current Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In an extensive March 26 post on X (formerly Twitter), Deaton said Gensler should resign because the SEC under his leadership “has forgotten, or intentionally abandoned, its primary mission in protecting innocent investors” and instead “serves his and other’s political agenda.”

Why Deaton wants Gensler to resign

Deaton noted that the US Congress’s failure to enact laws that adapt to modern technologies like artificial intelligence and Bitcoin has allowed unelected officials like Gensler to wield archaic laws arbitrarily, without due consideration.

The pro-crypto lawyer further accused Gensler’s leadership of compromising the SEC’s autonomy in favor of personal and political agendas. He pointed to a string of judicial rebukes against the SEC’s conduct, notably in high-profile cases like the Ripple lawsuit, where individual investors suffered substantial losses of billions of dollars.

According to him:

“In that case, a lifelong democratic judge, appointed by President Obama, agreed with me and ruled that the cryptocurrency in question, XRP, was NOT an unregistered security, as alleged by the SEC. But the damage to retail investors had already been done. Life-savings’ accounts were frozen pending the outcome of the case, while some investors, including in Massachusetts, were wiped out completely by the SEC’s overreach.”

Besides that, another notable incident involved the US Court of Appeals denouncing the SEC’s rejection of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application as arbitrary and capricious. These episodes, Deaton said, reflect a systemic failure within the SEC under Gensler’s stewardship.

He questioned:

“The SEC [under Gensler] has failed to protect investors from the fraudsters. Where was the SEC to protect investors from the fraud committed by Celsius, SBF and FTX?”

Lampoons Warren

Deaton also criticized his political opponent, Senator Elizabeth Warren, accusing her of leveraging her influence on the banking committee to manipulate the SEC for personal political gains.

He highlighted a coordinated effort between Gensler and Sen. Warren as evidence of the SEC’s compromised independence.

He stated:

“Prior to running for U.S. Senate I argued that Senator Warren violated her oath by conspiring with Gensler to secure sworn testimony she desired for political purposes. I stand by those statements today.”

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