When Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairmanJay Clayton handed a policy win to corporate executives thismonth, he pointed to a surprising source of support: a mailbag full of encouragement fromordinary Americans.

To hear Clayton tell it, these folks are really focused on theintricacies of the corporate shareholder-voting process. "Some ofthe letters that struck me the most," he said at a commissionmeeting in Washington, "came from long-term Main Streetinvestors, including an Army veteran and a Marine veteran, a policeofficer, a retired teacher, a public servant, a single mom, acouple of retirees who saved for retirement." Each bolsteredClayton's case for limiting the power of dissentingshareholders.

But a close look at the seven letters Clayton highlighted, andabout two dozen others submitted to the SEC by supposedly regularpeople, shows they are the product of a misleading—and laughablyclumsy—public relations campaign by corporate interests.