Report: Cronyism, political donations likely behind Obama, Holder failure to charge any bankers

Yet another case involving the top brass in Obama's DOJ. This should leave you with some very important questions.

Despite all of the name calling and finger pointing that became just part of the political theater, not a single charge has ever been filed against any top exec. who were targeted by these statements/accusations/finger pointing.

A new report from the conservative Government Accountability Institute (GAI) finds that President Barack Obama’s and Attorney General Eric Holder’s failure to criminally charge any top Wall Street bankers is likely a result of cronyism inside the Department of Justice and political donations made to Obama’s campaign.

Despite Obama’s and Holder’s “heated rhetoric” against Wall Street (in 2009, Obama blamed the 2008 financial collapse on “reckless speculation of bankers” while Holder charged that “unscrupulous executives, Ponzi scheme operators and common criminals alike have targeted the pocketbooks and retirement accounts of middle class Americans”), they haven’t “filed a single criminal charge against any top executive of an elite financial institution,” GAI wrote in its report, exclusively obtained by The Daily Caller.

Look at all of the heavy hitters connected to Holder

GAI argues that the Obama administration’s decision to not go after Big Finance is due to senior DOJ leadership — Holder, Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, Associate Attorney General Tony West, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Deputy Attorney General James Cole and Deputy Associate Attorney General Karol Mason — who “all came to the DOJ from prestigious white-collar defense firms where they represented the very financial institutions the DOJ is supposed to investigate.”

The report details how Holder and Breuer both came to the DOJ from Covington & Burling, a “top-tier Washington law firm” with a client list that includes financial firms like Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, CitiBank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, ING, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Wilmington Trust.

GAI said that President Obama’s decision to choose Holder, “a white-collar defense attorney from Covington,” as his attorney general, over a “more fiery prosecutor,” appears to have sent “a subtle signal to the financial community” that this administration isn’t going to actually do anything, despite the harsh words.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole

Cole, the report outlines, was with Bryan Cave LLP — “a white-shoe firm with A-list clients” — before becoming Holder’s right-hand man at the DOJ. One of Cole’s clients while at Bryan Cave LLP, the GAI report shows, was insurance and financial giant AIG.

Cole had done $20 million worth of work for AIG between 2004 and 2008, but his close ties with the company — which was “at the heart of the financial crisis largely because of its noncompliance in regulatory and compliance issues” — didn’t stop Obama or Holder from welcoming him aboard their administration.

Hmmm
MF Global (The Corzine Disaster)

The Obama administration’s decision to not appoint an independent counsel to investigate the MF Global scandal, despite more than 60 members of Congress demanding it, also reeks of cronyism, the GAI report details. Obama bundler and former Democratic New Jersy Gov. Jon Corzine was at the center of MF Global.

GAI points out how West — the DOJ’s no. 3 official — worked as a white-collar defense attorney for Morrison and Foerster before he came to the DOJ. Morrison and Foerster is currently providing legal representation to MF Global. Holder and Breuer’s old law firm — Covington & Burling — provided legal services to MF Global too, before MF Global sought bankruptcy protection.

GAI adds that the appearance of MF Global cronyism is “further complicated” by how Reid Weingarten — an attorney at Steptoe & Johnson — was selected to be MF Global treasurer Edith O’Brien’s lawyer.

“Weingarten previously served as Holder’s attorney following the controversial pardon of Marc Rich in the Clinton Justice Department,” the GAI report reads, adding that the blog Main Justice points out how Weingarten is “one of Holder’s best friends.”

It only gets better from here. Please read...
Read more: dailycaller.com... ltdown/#ixzz22riGdpRI

So we have cronyism and undue influence regarding the New Black Panther case and now this.... This information needs to be all over the news and Isn't!!!

The report

www.scribd.com...

When it comes to finance, you can guarantee that both main parties are up to their collective eyeballs in maintaining the hands-off, zero accountability approach to the bankers and Wall Street. Lets face it, successive administrations have given them carte blanche to do as they please. Ever wonder why the stock portfolios of the politicians do so well in an economic downturn?

The regulators are staffed with execs from the big banks and turn a blind eye, working to cover up the fraud rather than investigating it. Even when the fraud becomes so in your face it cannot be ignored, the bankers get to "apologise" and are given "Deferred Prosecution Agreements" (go look it up) whereby they'll agree to a fine (slap on the wrist) without ever having to admit any wrongdoing or face a courtroom appearance. A small time loan shark, however, will get the book thrown at him and go to jail.

In short... it is the banks that dictate to the government, not the other way around, which is why it's us, the taxpayers, who get to bail them out when it all goes belly up. We get to bankroll their gambling and they get the bonuses!

reply to post by Britguy


Good point! But, if you read further into the article you will discover that both Bush and Clinton had quite the track record of going after White Collar financial criminals.

In the report, GAI details how the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations both actually took down financial criminals — unlike the Obama administration. Between 2002 and 2008, for instance, GAI points out how a Bush administration task force “obtained over 1,300 corporate fraud convictions, including those of over 130 corporate vice presidents and over 200 CEOs and corporate presidents.

“Clinton’s DOJ prosecuted over 1,800 S&L [savings and loans] executives, senior officials, and directors, and over 1,000 of them were sent to jail,” GAI adds.

But, despite having “promised more of the same,” especially in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Obama administration’s DOJ has not brought criminal charges against a single major Wall Street executive.

The Bush and Clinton administrations’ track records on prosecuting white-collar crime, and the Obama administration’s failure to do so, Schweizer said, is “evidence that this has less to do with some sort of partisan or philosophical issue.”

Quite the contrast between administrations. Obama has turned a blind eye to the crooks...

dailycaller.com... ltdown/2/

We need to join forces to fight against ALL cronyism and political bribes disguised to look like donations.

Center for Corporate Policy and Ralph Nader are good to join up with.

reply to post by jibeho


man I just lit my facebook UP with that scribd report from the G-A-I. I seriously dont see how ANYONE could still support Obama after reading that. I mean it even made Bush and Clinton look incredibly awesome by comparison. I definitely dont see old Willard doing anything different than Obama on this front, so its not like voting for him would change anything.

Why cant the people just stand up and drag these politicians out to the streets, and out of OUR PUBLIC OFFICES, I mean it is our right as written in the Constitution, actually it is our DUTY to do just exactly that. So whats the problem? lets get to it!

This thread has been up all day and nothing but crickets. I can clearly see where the minds are these day. Too focused on distracting tax records and Bain Capital to see the Obama reality.

This administration has not gone after anyone that they were pointing fingers at. Zero Zilch, Nada, Nil. Big talk no action as usual from Obama.

Does anyone give a damn? You'd better start to care before you cast you vote.

Originally posted by jibeho
This thread has been up all day and nothing but crickets. I can clearly see where the minds are these day. Too focused on distracting tax records and Bain Capital to see the Obama reality.

This administration has not gone after anyone that they were pointing fingers at. Zero Zilch, Nada, Nil. Big talk no action as usual from Obama.

Does anyone give a damn? You'd better start to care before you cast you vote.

You obviously haven't looked at Mittens contributors, if you expect anything to change under him, you're the one not paying attention, wake up.

NO JAIL FOR OBAMA, EVEN THOUGH....: www.usnews.com...