House Republicans have formally notified US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins that they are investigating the loss of text messages from former SEC Chair Gary Gensler during his tenure, amid concerns over the handling of official records.
In the official letter sent by the Republicans on September 30, 2025, they said that they are working with the SEC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) to learn more about the deleted text messages of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Earlier on September 3, the SEC’s OIG had released a report titled “Special Review: Avoidable Errors Led to the Loss of Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s Text Message”. According to the report, on July 6, 2023, former Chair Gensler’s “smartphone stopped communicating with the SEC’s mobile device management system.”
Even though the phone “worked normally and was used often, the SEC’s mobile device management system thought the phone was “inactive” for 62 days. The problem was brought up many times, but OIT staff did nothing to look into or fix it.
OIT instituted a “new policy of remotely wiping any SEC mobile device that did not
communicate with the mobile device management system for at least 45 days.”
Gensler’s phone was eventually wiped on September 6, 2023, well past the policy’s 45-day threshold.
Since there had been no backup since October 18, 2022, the factory reset erased all data, including text messages. The OIG attempted to recover the messages using forensic methods but was unable to retrieve everything. To partially restore the records, SEC staff compiled a list of 34 internal contacts they believed Gensler had communicated with.
However, this list did not include other commissioners, and Gensler staff were not involved in making it. Many think that the deleted messages contained important conversations between Gensler, commissioners, senior officials, and staff that went beyond just coordinating administrative tasks.
Crypto giants vocalize criticism
This incident has raised fresh concerns about the way agencies deal with sensitive information, especially records of high-ranking officials. Critics have also alleged that the SEC has a double standard because it has punished outside groups for breaking recordkeeping rules, but hasn’t done anything to protect its own leaders’ digital communications.
Earlier, on September 11, Coinbase had also asked a federal court in Washington to punish the regulator. The exchange said this after the OIG released its report on September 3.
Further, Tyler Winklevoss, Co-Founder of Gemini, criticized Gary Gensler following his September 18 interview on CNBC. In the interview, Gensler highlighted that the SEC handled nearly 100 fraud cases during his tenure and emphasized his strict approach to cryptocurrency, aimed at protecting investors. Winklevoss argued that Gensler’s methods have made it more difficult for the crypto industry to grow and innovate.
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