Per commentor Argive, the Guardian reports that “Goldman Sachs [is] braced for legal battles over financial crisis“:
Goldman Sachs, the embattled investment bank, will face an array of legal claims focusing on its conduct during the financial crisis, one of Wall Street’s most feared lawyers warned last night.
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The prediction of an escalation in cases is being made by Jake Zamansky, the US attorney nicknamed “Jaws” who spearheaded the successful pursuit of the investment banks after the dotcom crash. It follows a move by Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, to hire Reid Weingarten, one of America’s top criminal defence lawyers, to help him address claims that the bank misled clients in the run-up to the financial crisis and, afterwards, Congress.
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“I consider this to be a very significant event. For Lloyd Blankfein to be hiring a top criminal lawyer indicates that there may be allegations of wrongdoing forthcoming from the Department of Justice [DoJ],” Zamansky said. “Investors are asking why there have been no criminal cases against Goldman Sachs or any investment bank arising from the financial crisis. This may be a sign of more cases to come. It may be the beginning of a series of cases against Wall Street firms”. […] __
Shares in Goldman fell in late trading on Monday after Weingarten’s appointment emerged – shedding 4.7% to $104.25, their lowest level since April 2009.They had dropped again on Tuesday.
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Blankfein turned to the high profile lawyer after the DoJ began investigating the way Goldman sold subprime mortgages – the toxic investments that triggered the credit crunch. The banker has also been accused of misleading a Senate committee – a claim that is emphatically denied by Goldman. Blankfein has not been charged with any offence. Goldman itself was charged in April 2010 with defrauding investors of more than $1bn (£606m), and later paid a $550m fine. In June, the bank was served with a subpoena by the Manhattan prosecutor…
NYMag takes the blog equivalent of a victory lap:
“Nervous? What would I be nervous about?” Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein echoed in June, when we asked him if he was worried about the possibility that his firm might face criminal charges for its mortgage-backed securities activities. “I’m not worried that there’s any criminal activity,” said Blankfein. Nor was he concerned that he, personally, would be sent to “pound me in the ass prison,” as a source of Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi colorfully put it. “Do I think I’m going to be convicted of a crime? No,” he continued, a bit crossly. “I don’t think anyone really thinks I missold CDOs in mortgage desk and picked up the phone and called people and did that, so.” But it was such an odd time, we said to him. People were so angry. Wasn’t he worried about being made an example of?
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“No,” he said again. “If I were that cynical about America, then I’d feel nervous,” he continued. “Do you think that could happen? You think you could be innocent and victimized for nothing? Well that’s a sad statement. You should check yourself, then.” (Yes, he said “check yourself.” Remember, Blankfein is one with the pop culture.)
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But as it turns out, at the time of our interview Blankfein may have already retained criminal-defense attorney Reid Weingarten, after the Senate referred Carl Levin’s report on the financial crisis to the Justice Department. When the news broke on Monday evening that Blankfein had hired Weingarten, who previously defended the embattled executives of WorldCom, Tyco, and Enron, Goldman shares plunged more than 5 percent….
In related NYMag news, there’s this guy, and his proud Transylvanian heritage:
A staffer for California’s Republican congressman Darrell Issa, who used to work for Goldman Sachs, changed his name before taking a job with the politician, and now lobbies Congress to go easier on big banks. Yesterday, we noted Matt Taibbi’s new Rolling Stone piece, in which he slams the “revolving-door dynamic” between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the financial institutions they’re supposed to regulate. Peter Haller, also known as Peter Simonyi, seems to be the perfect example. Not only did he make the Goldman-to-government jump (after switching to his mother’s maiden name), but he previously worked at the SEC, as well. Now he’s employed by Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee…
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Update: Haller has provided an extremely reasonable explanation for the name-change to Talking Points Memo. It wasn’t about hiding at all, he says. It was about family:“As my sister and I became adults, at some point discussions began that we should carry on the name of my mother’s family, which had lived in Transylvania, up until it was granted to Romania under the Treaty of Trianon after World War I,” Haller said.
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“During a period of unemployment following my time at Goldman Sachs, I found the time to proceed with the name change, as did my sister,” Haller said. “Please note my father and mother remain happily married to this day.”
Ergo, it would be technically incorrect to refer to him as a bastard, I suppose. It’s those little details that add life to an otherwise flat and unconvincing narrative…
Yutsano
But not a basta. Which is much worse.
Mark S.
Breakin’ rocks in the hot sun
I suppose that’s too much to hope . . .
Comrade Kevin
What was wrong with the name Lannister?
TenguPhule
Forget Prison. We’ve reached “Sacrifice their hearts on the Wall Street Bull to the Aztec Gods” time.
Thoroughly Pizzled
@TenguPhule: Alternatively…
RossinDetroit
I’m surprised. I hadn’t expected any prosecutions at all. I wonder if this is setting up an October Surprise for 2012. Not that everything has to be political, but the timing…
TheMightyTrowel
@Comrade Kevin: maybe it has something to do with that ‘always pays his debts’ motto….
Odie Hugh Manatee
Matt Taibbi would have been hide-rated out of existence at the GOS for saying “pound me in the ass prison”…lol! Playing endless games of Hide-The-Salami with murderers and rapists is too cushy for these assholes.
Guillotines, it’s time for a haircut.
Greyjoy
I love that a Congressional aide used a “pound-me-in-the-ass prison” reference in a serious discussion with a journalist about the mortgage industry implosion.
WereBear
White collar criminals don’t go to those kinds of prisons; only people who steal far lesser amounts get to choose between solitary and assault.
Rihilism
But, if we subject Blankie to extensive ass play, who will do God’s work?…
harlana
It’s not “healthy” to ask the super-rich to just pay their fair share after almost a decade of tax cuts. Damn Obama to hell for saying this! Bastard man!! Fee fees have been hurt. My heart bleeds and alligator tears flow for these long-suffering types. Not . . . sure . . . will . . . ever . . . recover ((clutches heart)), the agony, the AGOENEEZ!! This has fucking ruined my day!
:: sobs hysterically ::
burnspbesq
Not to be all Debbie Downer or anything, but I would remind the Cult of the Prematurely Gleeful that no one at Goldman has been indicted yet (not even Fabrice Tourre), and it is entirely possible that no one will be.
bob h
We can all be confident that his punishment will not even rise to the level of the London looters.
A Mom Anon
I wonder,often,if it ends up costing these companies more to hire attorneys,PR firms,make ads,pay off corrupt officiaks at all levels and all the other crap they do than it would to just do the right thing in the first damned place.
I can’t remember who said it(Red Cloud maybe?)but the saying goes something like:
Only when the last tree is felled and the last water is fouled will they then realize that you can’t eat money.
I seriously don’t understand how you could ever need more than a few million dollars in your entire lifetime. These people are a combo of psycho and sociopathic.
Rommie
@A Mom Anon: Yeah, I agree with your first and last sentences. I wonder if they’ll eventually land at the “too big to prosecute” defense – back off Johnny Law, or we’ll have to shut down and take the economy with us.
Cheryl from Maryland
@Comrade Kevin: You win the intertubes.
jwest
Conservatives couldn’t be happier that Blankfein (a lifelong democrat supporter and contributor) and Goldman Sachs (Obama’s number 1 corporate contributor) are finally being investigated and hopefully prosecuted.
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/20/obama.goldman.donations/
EconWatcher
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Sorry, but there’s really nothing funny about prison rape. If we think it’s wrong to torture terror detainees, do we think it’s right that ordinary convicts often face the most degrading tortures imaginable, sometimes multiple times a day for years on end?
arguingwithsignposts
@jwest: Guess GS likes to back winners instead of insane people who hate America, eh, jwest?
Emma
@EconWatcher: Thank you. I was throwing up in my mouth a little as I read all the comments.
dr. bloor
…although “asshole” would be entirely accurate.
If Blankfein does time, I’ll personally change Tunch’s litterbox and take the girls out for their morning constitutional for a year. I don’t think I’m going to need any pooper scoopers or old newspaper anytime soon.
Villago Delenda Est
Here’s the thing:
The mechanisms that allow for the accumulation of wealth…a legal system, accounting systems, the stability of society that allows, psychologically, the savings of earnings to take place…all that…costs something.
The rich don’t want to pay their share. They think they’re exempt.
They bitch about the young bucks, but the true freeloaders are at the top.
jwest
This brings us one step closer to the eventual imprisonment of the Criminal Soros.
When large men with facial tattoos are tying pink ribbons in his hair and using him two at a time as a receptacle for seminal fluids, you will know justice has been served.
Villago Delenda Est
@jwest:
Again, jwest exhibits his utterly mindless recitation of Rethug talking points. Soros and Buffet are two guys who UNDERSTAND that they have talents that can only be utilized in an environment where they’ve got a great deal of support from others. For that, they are vilified.
Meanwhile, vampires like the Koch brothers are praised.
Villago Delenda Est
@jwest:
Again, jwest exhibits his utterly mindless recitation of Rethug talking points. Soros and Buffet are two guys who UNDERSTAND that they have talents that can only be utilized in an environment where they’ve got a great deal of support from others. For that, they are vilified.
Meanwhile, vampires like the Koch brothers are praised.
terraformer
@Comrade Kevin:
I saw what you did there.
Maybe Dimon needs “a crown for a King” if you know what I mean…
terraformer
@burnspbesq:
Yeah, but we mere serfs can dance around our cookfires at the mere prospect, can’t we?
Paul in KY
@Comrade Kevin: I’ve heard they always pay their debts ;-)
arguingwithsignposts
@jwest: If we give you the Criminal Soros (bwahaha) will you give us the Criminals Bush, Cheney, Yoo, Feith, Wolfowitz, etc.?
Paul in KY
@burnspbesq: This: ‘Cult of the Prematurely Gleeful’ should be a tag.
Paul in KY
@jwest: I’m sure Mr. Blankfein has never, ever given to Republican candidates.
Never.
John Puma
Obama is simultaneously pressuring the NY AG to drop his efforts “to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing in a variety of areas, including the bundling of loans in mortgage securities.”
http://tinyurl.com/3kez2hj
As soon as the NY investigation is stopped, Holder will announce that the DOJ preliminary investigation has cleared Blankfein and GS – whose campaign contributions will be sought for the re-election campaign.
Paul in KY
@EconWatcher: For these types of criminals, I think it is vitally important that they experience prison in all its glory. If they know they’ll do 10 years in a cushy prison, they will consider that the cost of doing ‘business’ & just think about their ill-gotten wealth gathering interest & waiting for them to come out.
These people must be disuaded from doing these crimes. Spending your time in Marion or a prison like that is (IMO) about the only thing that will make them think twice (given the huge monetary rewards their criminal behavoir can bring).
El Cid
@burnspbesq:
Also, there could be an interesting game in which people predict which individuals get grilled for, maybe even indicted for, the most minor charges possible and regarding which nothing serious ever happens, including fines well below what was made in a year’s bonus.
Dennis SGMM
@burnspbesq:
Considering that many of the transactions that led to the crash were of Byzantine complexity most juries of our peers would have a hard time understanding the evidence against any accused. Even if someone is indicted and even if they are convicted they have the resources to appeal it all the way to SCOTUS and we know the attitude of that court’s majority toward the corps.
Continental Op
Nor was he concerned that he, personally, would be sent to “pound me in the ass prison,” as a source of Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi colorfully put it.
Why are references to prison rape an acceptable form of revenge humor, even for liberals? Prison rape is a horrible, gruesome problem. Maybe 50,000 prisoners are raped a year. Maybe 200,000. It’s not funny.
DZ
@ #34 Paul in KY:
That’s disgusting. I was sent to maximum security prison in 1969 for refusing to server in the military – couldn’t qualify for CO status because my pacifism was not as is not based on religion.
For 10 months, I got raped endlessly, had all my teeth kicked out and I have 27 cigarette and cigar burn scars from that experience. Nothing justifies that.
BTW, the portion of the law that denied my CO status was declared unconstitutional one year later.
Mnemosyne
@John Puma:
I see that, as usual, you prefer to go with the completely speculative article and not, you know, actual reality when reality doesn’t allow you to blame Obama.
Because it’s not like it could possibly be a genuine dispute between the different attorneys general — no, it can only be All Obama’s Fault! The Iowa attorney general is doing Obama’s dirty work for him!
Paul in KY
@DZ: I’m sorry that happened to you. Personally, I wouldn’t be sorry if it happened to those bastards that financially raped all of us.
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne: Maybe the Iowa attorney general can crack down on those tar sands protesters too. That guy is a Darth Vader-level enforcer.
FlipYrWhig
@Paul in KY: I really regret that “rape” started to become an all-purpose word for “symbolically humiliate and demonstrate dominance upon.” I’d prefer that it be used to refer to, you know, actual sex crimes.
burnspbesq
@terraformer:
“Yeah, but we mere serfs can dance around our cookfires at the mere prospect, can’t we?”
Knock yourselves out. It’s harmless fun, I guess.
Brian
Just to make a record of it, I put the Jake Zamansky “scandal” that ruins his career over/under at 8 months. I’m betting “over.” Hey, I can’t leave all the paranoia to Ron Paul supporters.
Paul in KY
@FlipYrWhig: I put the word ‘financially’ in front of it. Should have put air quotes around ‘rape’ too.
My bad.
JC
These Tabibi articles are depressing. It’s so obvious that these bankster guys get away with everything. It’s all rigged in their favor.
How come people don’t take them on? How come there is no moral outrage, of someone at a high level? We’ve got Bernie Sanders, that is about it.
Everyone else – EVERYONE ELSE – goes along to get along.
Epicurus
That would be a nice Christmas present, to see Blankfein and Mozillo in the dock. BTW, nice article, but I must take issue with your closing sentence. The original reads, in part, “Merely corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative.” I only brought this up because it was so well-featured in Topsy Turvy, the rehearsal scene where Gilbert was directing. Carry on….
John Puma
@Mnemosyne:
So the Obama’s getting someone ELSE to do his dirty work means Obama is NOT doing dirty work?
Is this a kind of “I’m innocent because I’m only giving orders” argument.
Thanks again for some superior commentary.
jefft452
TenguPhule
shared sacrifice
jefft452
FlipYrWhig
Didn’t the word “rape” originally mean physically “humiliate and demonstrate dominance upon.” And only got applied to sex crimes later?
As in rape and pillage, the rape of Magdeburg, the rape of the Sabines, etc
Anna in PDX
It’s weird that no one gives the credit (such as it is, I agree that prison rape is not funny) for the “pound me in the ass prison” line where it belongs, which is the brilliant movie “Office Space” which is obviously where Matt, may he live a long and blessed life, got the phrase. Oh well.