No justice in Corzine case

[Geee]

Washington Times:

As the march to the November elections heats up, voters can expect to find fewer and fewer issues that unite Democrats and Republicans.

 

 

Yet one emerging issue appears to be gathering enough steam to produce a rare point of bipartisan agreement: the Justice Department’s unwillingness or inability to charge, prosecute and seek conviction of a single Wall Street executive in the wake of the largest financial collapse in U.S. history.

 

One of the most glaring examples of the cronyism that has ground the process to a halt can be seen in the lack of any real action against former MF Global chief Jon Corzine.

 

 

Sixty-five members of Congress have signed a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. requesting that he appoint a special prosecutor to investigate MF Global’s collapse and the loss of $1.6 billion in customer money. As the New York Times has noted, “Mr. Holder has the ultimate authority to decide whether a special counsel is necessary.”

 

Some contend that the fact that Mr. Holder, Mr. Corzine and Associate Attorney General Tony West all previously served as fundraising “bundlers” for President Obama’s presidential campaign is enough to warrant Mr. Holder’s recusal and the appointment of a special prosecutor. Indeed, a letter signed by 65 members of Congress cites Mr. Corzine’s $500,000 in fundraising for Mr. Obama as one of the reasons a special counsel is needed. A subsequent report by Bloomberg revealed that MF Global had written clauses into bond offerings indicating that Mr. Corzine, a former Democratic U.S. senator and governor of New Jersey, might join a future Obama administration as a Cabinet officer, a revelation that surprised even experienced Wall Street executives.

 

 

However, political connections aside, there are at least three compelling economic and financial reasons why a special prosecutor is essential to avoid the appearance of any potential conflicts of interest.

 

First, the Government Accountability Institute has discovered that prior to going bankrupt, MF Global was a client of Mr. Holder’s former law firm, Covington & Burling. It is unclear how long Covington & Burling represented MF Global. However, records reveal that MF Global owed Covington & Burling $114,275.55 “for services rendered prior to Oct. 31, 2011,” the date MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection. Furthermore, this connection is complicated by the fact that the head of Justice’s criminal division, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, also hailed from Covington & Burling.

 

 

What’s more, Associate Attorney General Tony West, who helped raise an estimated $65 million in his role as the co-chairman of Mr. Obama’s campaign, came to the Department of Justice from Morrison & Foerster. The problem: MF Global’s trustee for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy has retained Morrison & Foerster as its general bankruptcy counsel.