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SEC Watchdog Says Avoidable IT Failures Erased Nearly a Year of Gary Gensler’s Texts

The agency watchdog says a cascade of IT missteps led to an avoidable records loss that could hinder FOIA responses.

Gary Gensler
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The Securities and Exchange Commission headquarters is seen on April 25, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • Gensler’s SEC-issued phone stopped syncing on July 6, 2023, was flagged under a new 45‑day wipe policy in August, and was factory reset on Sept. 6, permanently deleting texts from Oct. 18, 2022 to Sept. 6, 2023.
  • Investigators reconstructed roughly 1,500 messages from colleagues and found that many were federal records, with a partial review determining about 38% were mission-related communications.
  • Recovered texts referenced enforcement matters, including actions against crypto platforms, settlement discussions with a global financial firm, and coordination related to a commissioner appointment.
  • The SEC notified the National Archives of the loss, disabled most text messaging on government devices, and agreed to five Inspector General recommendations with implementation timelines extending into early 2026.
  • The OIG cited missed alerts, unverified backups, rushed change management, and poor vendor coordination over a known connectivity bug, while crypto industry figures criticized the loss as damaging to transparency and ongoing litigation.