Now That Jim Johnson Has Resigned, Will Obama Match Rhetoric With Action?______________________________________________________________________
During His Presidential Campaign, Obama Made Promises To Clean Up "Special-Interest-Driven" Politics:
Obama: "I'm not in this race to continue the special-interest-driven politics of the last eight years. I'm in this race to end it. I've been taking on lobbyists throughout my career in Illinois." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Town Hall Meeting, Billings, MT, 5/19/08)
Obama: "[T]he more transparency we can bring to Washington, the less likely it is that Washington will be run by lobbyists and special interests." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Town Hall Meeting, Billings, MT, 5/19/08)
Eric Holder, A Member Of Obama's Vice Presidential Vetting Team, Was Involved In Sweetheart Deal Which Granted Fugitive Marc Rich A Controversial Pardon From Outgoing President Bill Clinton:
Eric Holder Is Another Member Of Obama's Vice Presidential Vetting Committee. "But Johnson is not the only member of Obama's vice presidential vetting committee that Republicans have targeted. They also are preparing a case against former deputy attorney general Eric Holder for his role in the granting of a pardon to fugitive financier Marc Rich in the last days of the Clinton White House." (Jonathan Weisman and David S. Hilzenrath, "Obama's Choice Of Insider Draws Fire," The Washington Post, 6/11/08)
"As Deputy Attorney General, Holder Was The Key Person Who Made The Pardon Of Marc Rich Possible In The Final Hours Of The Clinton Presidency." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
Rich Was Under Charges Of Wire Fraud, Tax Fraud, And Illegal Trading With Iran. "[M]arc Rich, the fugitive billionaire who renounced his U.S. citizenship and moved to Switzerland to avoid prosecution for racketeering, wire fraud, 51 counts of tax fraud, evading $48 million in taxes, and engaging in illegal trades with Iran in violation of the U.S. embargo following the 1979-80 hostage crisis." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
To Obtain A Pardon, Rich Retained Former White House Counsel Jack Quinn, Who Circumvented Formal Pardon Application Procedures. "[R]ich wanted a pardon and he retained Jack Quinn, former counsel to the president, to lobby his old boss. ... From the start, the Rich lawyers ignored the government's established rules for pardon applications. Instead of making a formal application to the Office of Pardons in the Justice Department, Quinn sent the application directly to the White House in late December of 2007." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
Documents Emerged Which Indicated That Holder Had Recommended Quinn, And "Gave Substantive Advice To Quinn Along The Way." "Two days later, documents in support of the pardon were sent by Jack Quinn to Eric Holder. It was Holder who had originally recommended Quinn to one of Rich's advisers, although he claims that he did not know the identity of the client. And he gave substantive advice to Quinn along the way. According to Quinn's notes that were produced to Congress, Holder told Quinn to take the pardon application 'straight to the White House' because 'the timing is good.' ... When Holder received the Rich materials, he did no independent research to determine their veracity and appears to have barely reviewed them." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama 's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
Holder Conducted No Independent Research To Scrutinize Quinn's Request On Behalf Of Rich. "When Holder received the Rich materials, he did no independent research to determine their veracity and appears to have barely reviewed them. ... [H]e never took the time to check anything and simply told the White House that he was 'neutral to positive' on the pardons." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
"Neither Clinton Nor Holder Ever Consulted With The Pardon Attorney." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
"Officials At The U.S. Attorney's Office In New York Were Understandably Infuriated When They Learned About The Pardon And Accused Rich Of Deliberating Bypassing Their Office." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
"In 2002, A Congressional Committee Reported That Holder Was A 'Willing Participant In The Plan To Keep The Justice Department From Knowing About And Opposing' The Rich Pardon." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
Holder Also Oversaw Clinton Clemency Process And Defended The Administration's Pardon Of Sixteen Terrorists:
As Deputy Attorney General, Holder Oversaw The Pardon Process. "But Eric H. Holder Jr., the deputy attorney general who oversees the clemency process, said the Justice Department complied with its regulations." (Michael Remez, "Clemency Leaves Feelings Of Betrayal," Hartford Courant, 12/23/99)
"Reno's Top Deputy At The Justice Department, Eric H. Holder Jr., Defended The Clinton Administration's Handling Of The Controversial Puerto Rican Clemencies In The Face Of Relentless Challenges From Republicans On The Panel." (Eric Lichtblau, "Freed Radicals Didn't Aid Fugitive Hunt, Senators Told," Los Angeles Times, 10/21/99)
"In August [1999], Clinton Made Clemency Offers To 16 People With Ties To The FALN, A Chicago-Based Organization That Conducted Bombings In The 1970s And 1980s That Caused Six Deaths. None Of Those Released By Clinton Was Convicted Of Any Violent Act." (Tamara Lytle, "President Rejected Advice On Militants," The Orlando Sentinel, 10/21/99)
A Subsequent Clinton Administration Justice Department Report Identified The Group As An "Ongoing Threat." "The Puerto Rican nationalist group FALN, 16 of whose members were pardoned by President Clinton in August, poses an 'ongoing threat' to national security, according to a September report by Attorney General Janet Reno released yesterday during a combative Senate hearing on the clemency decision." (David A. Vise and Lorraine Adams, "FALN A Threat, Reno Says," The Washington Post, 10/21/99)
Penny Pritzker, Obama's National Finance Chair And Campaign Bundler, Owned A Failed Bank That Specialized In Subprime Lending:
Penny Pritzker Is The National Finance Chairman For Barack Obama. "And Penny Pritzker, a Chicago philanthropist, serves as Mr. Obama's national finance chairman even as her brother, Jay Robert, holds fund-raisers across town for Mrs. Clinton." (Jodi Kantor, "In Democratic Families, Politics Makes For Estranged Bedfellows," The New York Times, 2/4/08)
Pritzker Is A Bundler For Obama's Presidential Campaign And Has Committed To Raising Over $200,000. (Obama For America Website,
The Pritzker Family Co-Owned Superior Bank FSB. "Ms. Pritzker, who declined to be interviewed, has confronted other challenges, including the 2001 collapse of Superior Bank FSB, which the Pritzker family co-owned, resulting in a $460-million payment to federal regulators, and a rift over family assets that settled out of court in 2005. She oversees the Pritzker family's non-hotel real estate interests and chairs its TransUnion LLC credit bureau." (Steven R. Strahler, "Penny Pritzker," Chicago Crain's Business, 5/7/07)
"Penny Pritzker Served As Head Of The Board From 1991-94 And Is A Director Of The Bank's Parent Holding Company, Coast To Coast Financial Corp." (Melissa Allison and William Neikirk, "Bank Closes As Pritzkers Back Out Of Bailout Plan," Chicago Tribune, 7/28/01)
"Superior Bank Specialized In 'Sub-Prime Lending,' Which Is Making Loans To Underserved Borrowers, Who Are Often Poor Minorities." (Kathleen Day, "Regulators Probe Bank Loan To Co-Owner," The Washington Post, 7/31/01)
Superior Bank Was A "Subprime Lender That Made Risky Mortgage And Auto Loans To People With Poor Credit Histories." "Auditors Ernst & Young ... agreed to pay the FDIC $40 million in restitution in connection with the collapse of the bank, a subprime lender that made risky mortgage and auto loans to people with poor credit histories. It had about $2 billion in assets when it was shuttered." (Kathy Bergen, "Millions For Pritzkers In Settlement," Chicago Tribune, 12/28/04)
In July 2001, Superior Bank Failed. "While customers of the failed Superior Bank FSB lined up to ask questions and withdraw money ... fingerpointing began among the bank's investors and regulators over why it failed. The multibillionaire Pritzker family, which had owned half of Oakbrook Terrace-based Superior, says a plan announced in May to salvage the bank collapsed after the family learned it would cost significantly more than members expected, and more than they could even predict. Sources close to the Pritzkers said the family offered other deals to regulators, but members were told to stick to the first plan." (Melissa Allison, "Blame Flies Over Demise Of Superior," Chicago Tribune, 7/31/01)
Federal Regulators Closed Superior Bank Due To "Poor Oversight By Its Board" Among Others Reasons. "Regulators, who say they requested and never received a formal revised plan, closed the institution late ... saying it was critically undercapitalized, suffering from loan losses, accounting problems and poor oversight by its board." (Melissa Allison, "Blame Flies Over Demise Of Superior," Chicago Tribune, 7/31/01)
After Superior Bank Failed, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Took Control Of The Bank. "The bank reopened...as Superior Federal FSB under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which is looking to sell the bank." (Melissa Allison, "Blame Flies Over Demise Of Superior," Chicago Tribune, 7/31/01)
"Superior Bank's Failure Cost The FDIC About $700 Million, Making It Then One Of The Largest Federally Insured Financial Institutions To Fail In A Decade." ("Pritzkers To Get Millions From Superior Bank Failure Settlement," The Associated Press, 12/28/04)
In 2001, The Pritzkers Agreed To A $460 Million Settlement As Part Of The Bank's Failure, Which Cleared Them From Action By The Federal Government. "The Pritzkers agreed to a $460 million voluntary settlement in 2001 that barred government action against the owners. The owners admitted no liability. In exchange, the family would receive 25 percent of anything the FDIC recovered from Ernst & Young, and 50 percent of any punitive damages." ("Pritzkers To Get Millions From Superior Bank Failure Settlement," The Associated Press, 12/28/04)
In 2004, The Pritzker Family Received Millions In A Settlement With Federal Regulators Even Though 1,400 Uninsured Depositors Lost $24.7 Million. "Chicago's Pritzker family, which co-owned a controversial bank that failed three years ago amid allegations of mismanagement, stands to reap millions of dollars through a highly unusual settlement crafted with federal regulators. The payment is being directed to one of Chicago's wealthiest families even though some 1,400 underinsured depositors have yet to recover the $24.7 million of losses they sustained in the collapse of Superior Bank FSB." (Kathy Bergen, "Millions For Pritzkers In Settlement," Chicago Tribune, 12/28/04)
"Critics Said Some Of Superior's 1,400 Uninsured Depositors Should Receive Money Before It Is Distributed To Any Other Parties." ("Pritzkers To Get Millions From Superior Bank Failure Settlem ent," The Associated Press, 12/28/04)
No comments:
Post a Comment