Gary Gensler Lambasted as Most ‘Historically Destructive and Lawless’ SEC Chair

On Sept. 24, Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer took aim at Gary Gensler over his “disastrous record” as Chairman of the SEC. The grilling came during a House Financial Services Committee congressional hearing.

Emmer accused Gensler of expecting political allegiance from SEC staff, including civil servants; however, the SEC chair denied this claim despite email evidence to the contrary.

“The way you hire and the culture you require encourages your staff to have loyalty to you, above the law, and above the mission of the SEC.”

Gary Gensler Under Fire

The lambasting continued with Tom Emmer accusing Gensler of abusing the agency’s enforcement tools.

“You’ve even baited companies eager to comply with you only to hit them with enforcement actions.”

Over the past few years, the SEC has brought legal action against several high-profile fintech and crypto companies, including Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken, BlockFi, Telegram, Celsius, Binance, and others, in its ongoing war on the industry.

“You’ve retaliated against businesses and people who have come before this committee to talk about the next generation of American finance,” Emmer continued.

.@GaryGensler has been the most destructive and lawless SEC Chairman in history. pic.twitter.com/HUV3HVI1FL

— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) September 24, 2024

He mentioned the Debt Box case where the SEC was sanctioned for material misrepresentation in court, noting that this resulted in the agency paying nearly $2 million in legal fees with taxpayer money.

Emmer mentioned Vice President Harris’s reported plans to create clear rules for digital assets, criticizing Gensler’s approach to regulating the industry, citing confusion in the marketplace and numerous court cases.

“Do you think she’s rebuking you because she doesn’t think you’ve done a good enough job establishing these clear rules over the last three years of her administration?” he asked.

Gensler replied with the same answer: laws are already in place, and it is his job to enforce them.

Fabricated Terminology

Finally, the Republican congressman took umbrage at Gensler, making up terms to suit the agency and its heavy-handed approach to the crypto industry.

“And perhaps somehow worst of all you’ve made up the term “crypto asset security.” This term is nowhere to be found in statute. You made it up.”

“You made the broad proclamation that you believe a majority of tokens are ‘crypto asset securities,’” he said before concluding that this was an intentional effort as part of the SEC’s war on crypto and “enforcement crusade” over the past three years.

Tom Emmer, who called for clarity on crypto airdrops earlier this month, wrapped up with this final conclusion:

“Your inconsistencies on this issue, sir, have set this country back. We could not have had a more historically destructive, or lawless, Chairman of the SEC.”