Strike Three...Obama's Third Commerce Secretary Nominee Has Corrupt Ties To Chinagate
By Tom Fitton
March 4, 2009
Page 2 of 4
Federal Government Meddles in Corporate Takeover
Not that there was ever any doubt the federal government has used the financial crisis to interfere in the private sector and expand its power and influence, but new documents uncovered by Judicial Watch illustrate just how meddlesome the feds can be.
According to CNBC:
Negotiations to have JP Morgan take over Bear Stearns in March of 2008 produced an avalanche of emails from government officials.
Worried that the collapse of Bear would trigger a world wide domino effect, the Federal Reserve and Treasury urged JP Morgan to take over Bear. The Fed went on to approve a $30 billion credit line to JPM to make the deal go through. The deal was formally announced on March 17, 2008.
The emails here are correspondence between Fed and Treasury officials over the weekend of March 14 through the 16, 2008. They are a result of a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request by the group Judicial Watch.
Some of the names mentioned in these emails, which can be read their entirety here, include former President George Bush, former Treasury Secretary Paulson and current Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Judicial Watch's main goal with respect to the financial crisis is to make sure all government activities are completely transparent to the American people, especially now that the Obama administration plans to spend trillions more than first estimated on additional bailouts. (Bloomberg puts the total cost of the bailout at $8.5 trillion, which is a far cry from the $250 billion first proposed last fall.)
Of course, government officials would rather we all just go about our business and trust them to preside over the deal-making and fund disbursement. But since they're the ones who helped get us into this mess we think it's wise to keep an eye on them. So instead of looking the other way, we're going to scrap to get our hands on documents related to the government's dealings in the financial crisis.
Along these lines, as I told you few weeks ago, on January 26, 2009, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department, seeking all records related to a meeting Paulson held with top bank officials on October 13, 2008, as the financial crisis was just getting started. During that meeting Paulson reportedly offered bank executives a deal they could not refuse, which certainly raised our eyebrows and our suspicions. We filed a FOIA immediately, and sued when the government stonewalled. Incredibly, the Treasury Department now says there are no responsive documents! One of the most important meetings at Treasury in the past decade and there are no related documents? I simply don't believe it.
Stay tuned. With federal government power over the private sector increasing at an alarming rate, there is great potential for mischief. Judicial Watch will continue to investigate.
California Court Scandal Continues
How's this for irony? California judges angered by a California court ruling in a Judicial Watch lawsuit recently persuaded lawmakers to create a new law that effectively invalidated the ruling! The new deal will allow these judges to accumulate millions of dollars annually in benefits and perks from Los Angeles County that they already receive from the state.
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