"Non-Prosecution" and the Attorney-General

[bleeding heart]

An old story (in a way, a truly ancient one), but Taibbi makes a good case here.

Unlike the would-be prosecutors, who aren't especially interested.

In the notorious Hudson transaction, for instance, Goldman claimed, in writing, that it was fully "aligned" with the interests of its client, Morgan Stanley, because it owned a $6 million slice of the deal. What Goldman left out is that it had a $2 billion short position against the same deal.

If that isnt fraud, Mr. Holder, just what exactly is fraud?

But heres the thing: most of the crimes Wall Street people commit involve highly specific, highly individualized transactions that wont fit Eric Holders bag of cookie-cutter statutory definitions. That is not the same thing as saying theyre not crimes. They are: the crimes of the crisis period were and are very basic crimes like fraud, theft, perjury, and tax evasion, only theyre dressed up in millions of pages of camouflaging verbiage.

Or, even more often, the crimes have also been sanctified in advance by reputable law and accounting firms, who (for huge fees) offered their clients opinions that, if X and Y are signed in accordance with Z, and A and B are stipulated by the parties, and everyones sitting Indian-style and facing the moon when the deal is agreed to, then its not fucked up and illegal when Goldman Sachs tells you its a co-investor in your deal when its actually got $2 billion bet against you.

You know that look a dog gives you when you show it something confusing, like an electric razor or a lawn sprinkler? Thats the look federal prosecutors give when companies like Goldman wave their attorneys sanctifying opinions at them.

Its political, sure, these decisions not to go after the Goldmans of the world, but more than that what usually rules the day is just pure intellectual fear

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/ag-eric-holder-has-no-balls-20120815

Edited August 15, 2012 by bleeding heart

[GostHacked]

Holder should be locked up for life. Gun running to gangs in Mexico which make their way back across the border is counter productive to securing and keeping the peace in the US.

They say guns are an issue and guys like James Holmes are a problem and used to political gain. But NOTHING is really being done about this Fast and Furious bull.

[kimmy]

More "non-prosecution": http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7418634n

No charges brought against executives at Lehman Brothers, despite proof, from an auditor and a whistleblower Lehman Brothers accountant, that an accounting scam called "repo105" was used to shuffle money off the ledgers to make the balance sheet look better for the purpose of willfully misleading investors.

-k

[cybercoma]

It's not as overt as sticking a gun in someone's face and demanding their wallet. However, the way these criminals have taken advantage of millions of people is disgusting. The insidious nature of the way they're eroding people's financial security from the inside-out is disgusting. Meanwhile, it continues to put a burden on social services, as a growing number of people are living paycheck to paycheck, finding it more difficult to live.

[kimmy]

So why the reluctance?

Are they afraid to "bite the hand that feeds?"

Or are they afraid that they simply can't win these cases?

-k

[bleeding heart]

So why the reluctance?

Are they afraid to "bite the hand that feeds?"

Or are they afraid that they simply can't win these cases?

-k

Maybe it's some sort of combination, I don't know. There's no question that the reluctance exists; and there appears to be a real public appetite for more crackdowns on such behaviour.

[dre]

So why the reluctance?

Are they afraid to "bite the hand that feeds?"

Or are they afraid that they simply can't win these cases?

-k

Because the political class and industrial elites are essentially the same bunch of folks.