GOVERNMENT: Hopelessly Compromised SEC Dismisses Dozens of Cases Due to Widespread Agency Misconduct.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed dozens of enforcement cases Friday, including two involving current NCLA clients (Michelle Cochran, Marian Young) and one of a former client (Christopher Gibson). The agency revealed on June 2, 2023, that members of its enforcement staff had gained illicit access to confidential adjudicative documents and downloaded them in far more cases than originally reported, exposing rot in a hopelessly compromised in-house adjudication regime.

SEC publicly admitted in April 2022 to the existence of a so-called control deficiency within its administrative adjudication system. It said the agency’s Chair had launched an internal review of the issue (using a contractor dependent on staying in SEC’s good graces for its other agency business). At that time, the agency specifically divulged that SEC Division of Enforcement personnel had accessed adjudication material in the SEC v. Cochran case, temporarily making the material available to everyone in the Division, including attorneys who prosecuted Ms. Cochran on SEC’s behalf. Now it turns out agency personnel had done the same thing in dozens more cases.

Abuse of power has become the norm in our government institutions, along with impunity.