The United States Securities and Exchange Commission sought to access Ripple Lab’s concerns regarding the status of XRP as an unregistered security. The SEC reached out to the magistrate judge Sarah Netburn to allow SEC access to the subjective opinion of SEC discussed with attorneys regarding the matter. The SEC believes it will grant them will support their case.

On May 7^th, the SEC had asked the presiding judge for access to documents protected by attorney-client privilege to find out Ripple Labs opinion on the subject matter. However, the SEC was not successful in its efforts. The magistrate judge Sarah Netburn made her filing public citing the attorney-client privilege has not been waived; hence, the SEC cannot access the legal advice sought by Ripple Labs on the security status of XRP. Ripple Lab’s opinion on XRP is said to be not relevant to the “Fair Notice” defense.

In a counter move, Ripple Lab’s counsel has also sought something similar. The Labs has asked judge Netburn to be allowed access to SEC’s internal memos regarding cryptocurrencies. The firm believes that the SEC is biased against the SEC and its internal discussions on cryptocurrencies may reveal that. The judge has granted the request “in large part”.

The SEC vs. Ripple Labs lawsuit started in December of last year when the SEC filed a lawsuit alleging Ripple Labs has been issuing XRP as an unregistered security. The firm has effectively denied the allegations and the legal battle has ensued. Ripple Labs believe the SEC is prejudiced against XRP. Some have even called SEC’s allegations and the lawsuit as completely baseless. XRP tumbled drastically as the lawsuit was announced but it has since recovered. At the time of writing, the XRP coin stands at a price level of $0.9.