FROM DAILY CALLER: Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler wiped his government cellphone of official text messages even as he oversaw a wide-reaching, years-long probe into Wall Street for deleted text messages, according to a new watchdog report.
As former President Joe Biden’s top financial regulator, Gensler oversaw a sweeping crackdown of the concealment of “off-channel” communications like text messages. The investigation charged major banks, financial firms and credit rating agencies with improperly deleting text messages and other records, resulting in $2 billion in penalties.
The SEC argued that preserving records is important to protect everyday investors. But Gensler’s SEC was concealing a massive double standard, a new SEC Office of the Inspector General report finds.
Gensler’s phone was wiped in September 2023 when SEC IT staff performed a factory reset, deleting nearly a full year’s text messages. The maintenance was performed —amid the “off-channel” probe.
President Donald Trump’s SEC Chairman Paul Atkins told said deletions like that should never happen again.
“When Chairman Atkins was briefed on this matter, he immediately directed staff to examine and fully understand what occurred and to take steps that will prevent it from happening again,” an SEC spokesperson told the DCNF. “Transparency is paramount. Taxpayers and those regulated by the Commission must have full confidence in our work.”
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