Tom Emmer is the latest politician to grill the SEC for its unethical approach to dealing with crypto companies
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Tom Emmer, a Republican Congressman from Minnesota, has criticised the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its unethical actions against crypto companies. He accused the agency of using enforcement to broaden its jurisdiction at the expense of public resources and trust, particularly with regard to the digital asset industry.
On Tuesday, Emmer released a video of his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee accusing the SEC of politicising regulations in that video. He took to Twitter to say: "The SEC Director of Enforcement admits the SEC is cracking down on companies outside its jurisdiction. Absolutely unacceptable."
He went on to question SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal about the SEC's unethical 'industry sweeps' against crypto companies. Grewal refused to provide details about current industry sweeps, citing SEC policy. The Enforcement Director also admitted to making 'extrajudicial requests' on companies that are not subject to the SEC's jurisdiction.
Senator Emmer also claimed that Gensler directed the enforcement division to send 'sweep letters' to 'jam them into a presumably prohibited violation.' Emmer accused SEC Chairman Garry Gensler of threatening and baiting companies. In his words: “Under Chair Gensler, the SEC has become a power-hungry regulator, politicising enforcement, baiting companies to ‘come in and talk’ to the Commission, then hitting them with enforcement actions, discouraging good-faith cooperation."