A whistleblower's claim that the SEC for years destroyed enforcement records it should have kept will be officially backed by the agency's watchdog. A coming report by David Kotz, the SEC's inspector general, also criticizes the regulator for misleading another federal agency, the National Archives and Records Administration.  In response to the whistleblower's claims, NARA had confronted the SEC last year about the destroyed records. Mr. Kotz's investigation stems from allegations made by Darcy Flynn, a longtime enforcement-division lawyer who still works at the SEC.  Details of Flynn's claims were disclosed publicly in August by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee and a frequent critic of the securities regulator. Mr. Kotz handed his report on the matter to SEC officials, in keeping with usual practices, before his office's findings become public. Some details will be redacted before the document's public release, which is expected in the next two weeks.  It is unclear whether Mr. Kotz will conclude that there is evidence the document destruction damaged investigations or if his office will refer the matter to federal law enforcement. Senator Flynn criticized what he said was a longtime SEC policy of deleting thousands of files known as Matters Under Inquiry, or MUIs.  MUIs are preliminary looks into potential securities violations, which can lead to formal investigations. Flynn said the systematic destruction of files was unlawful, and damaged the SEC's ability to connect dots between cases and police potential wrongdoing within the agency itself. The SEC said this summer that a record of every MUI process is maintained in the agency's computer system, and that documents such as brokerage trading records, agency emails and newspaper clippings can be obtained again if necessary.  [WSJ, 11/8/11]