Coinbase has filed a motion accusing the SEC of unjustified delays and withholding key documents vital to its defense, citing misuse of FOIA Exemption 7(A).
Coinbase has asked the U.S. District Court of Columbia to rule that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is withholding important papers and delaying access to information that is needed for its defense without a good reason.
In the filing from October 15, the exchange says the SEC wrongly relied on FOIA Exemption 7(A) and is now suggesting an unfair three-year review to look at the documents again.
The U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), passed in 1966, lets anyone see records from any government agency. But there are a few important cases. One of the nine exemptions, 7(A), lets agencies keep papers important for law enforcement secret.
That is, the SEC is now saying that answering Coinbase’s request for public records would get in the way of current criminal investigations.
The new filing is similar to Coinbase’s motion with the SEC in August 2024. That motion asked for internal communications, including those from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, but the SEC turned it down.
“The SEC’s stonewalling leaves History Associates no choice but to press forward challenging the agency’s already-final, erroneous denials,” Coinbase wrote in its filing.
Meanwhile, the SEC has called Coinbase’s separate subpoena request for additional documents as “overreaching” and burdensome.
