House Republicans Investigate Missing SEC Records Under Former Chair Gary Gensler

House Republicans have launched a probe into the disappearance of text messages from a government-issued phone used by former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler. The deleted messages, tied to a pivotal period of legal conflict between the SEC and digital asset companies, have sparked mounting controversy over transparency and compliance within the regulatory agency.

Four Republican lawmakers—French Hill, Dan Meuser, Bryan Steil, and Ann Wagner—addressed the issue in a letter sent to current SEC Chair Paul Atkins. They raised alarm over the loss of approximately a year’s worth of text messages from Gensler’s device during his leadership at the SEC. This revelation, reported by The Block on October 30, underscores growing concerns surrounding the agency’s record-keeping practices.

SEC Audit Uncovers Year-Long Data Gap

An internal audit conducted by the SEC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that text message records from Gensler’s government-issued phone were absent for nearly a year, covering a critical period from October 2022 to September 2023. The OIG attributed this data loss to an “automated policy” executed by the SEC’s technology division, which routinely deleted messages from Gensler’s device.

This timeframe coincided with the SEC’s aggressive legal proceedings against leading digital asset platforms, including Coinbase and Binance. Prominently, Coinbase filed a motion in federal court to recover the missing messages, demanding a “proper expedited search” of the records in question. These developments have amplified calls for stronger accountability measures within regulatory agencies.

Broader Allegations Against Gensler

In addition to his tenure at the SEC, lawmakers are reviewing Gensler’s previous record-keeping conduct during his time as the Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). They highlighted claims that Gensler had utilized personal email for official communications while overseeing the CFTC, raising further questions about his adherence to federal transparency and documentation standards.

Lawmakers emphasized that these incidences cast doubt on the SEC's commitment to federal record-keeping laws and transparency protocols. “The inspector general’s findings and these recurring issues challenge both Gensler’s compliance with legal obligations and the reliability of the SEC as a regulatory authority,” they stated.

Heightened Scrutiny of Gensler’s Regulatory Leadership

Gensler held the position of SEC Chair from 2021 until his resignation on January 20, 2024. During his tenure, he advocated for a strict regulatory approach toward the cryptocurrency sector. Key initiatives included categorizing XRP and Ethereum (ETH) as “unregistered securities,” flagging staking services for potential securities law violations, and filing high-profile lawsuits against major crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance for allegedly offering unregistered securities.

As investigations into Gensler’s missing text messages and alleged lapses in record-keeping deepen, critics argue this could further undermine public trust in the SEC’s oversight of digital assets. The scrutiny surrounding these missing records reflects broader tensions about the SEC’s transparency and its broader regulatory stance on the cryptocurrency industry.

The ongoing inquiry may signal a turning point in evaluating the role of government regulators in fostering accountability and compliance, particularly in the fast-evolving digital economy.