Posted on 01/03/2006 8:22:23 AM PST by Pyro7480
Examiner Editorial - Twisting in the wind
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has built a national reputation by taking on the biggest Wall Street investment firms, mutual fund brokerages, supermarket chains, Midwestern power plants and even the Mafia on behalf of the "little guys." The aggressive state prosecutor is known for making creative use of New York's strong anti-fraud laws to force changes at the national level.
Opponents say the Princeton and Harvard Law-educated son of a Bronx real estate developer has ulterior motives when he uses media leaks and threats of indictment to go after businesses and strong-arm the "big guys" to the settlement table: contributions to fund his political ambitions.
Spitzer's latest target gives some credence to their criticism. Last month, he subpoenaed four of the world's largest music companies as part of his probe on alleged price-fixing to make up for declining CD sales. But this is hardly a case of cheating elderly retirees or defrauding small investors. The "victims" are people who don't want to pay more than the 99 cents Apple now charges to legally download the latest hit songs to their iPods. Boo-hoo for them, but is this really an indictable offense?
In November, two of the giant music companies under investigation - Warner Music and SonyBMG - agreed to pay a total of $15 million to settle another Spitzer investigation into radio "payola," or bribing radio DJs to play certain songs more frequently on their playlists. While payola is admittedly an underhanded and unethical way to get airtime for their clients, unless these radio stations promised to give every rock group equal time, where's the crime? Who's the victim? Can listeners now claim damages because they didn't get to hear their favorite song as often as they'd like?
The only announced Democratic candidate for the 2006 New York governor's race and the front-runner to replace Republican Gov. George Pataki, Spitzer has more recently been accused of threatening former Goldman Sachs Chairman John Whitehead after Whithead wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in April defending former American International Group Chairman Maurice Greenberg - who was forced out by another Spitzer investigation four decades after building the world's largest property and casualty insurance company. Spitzer filed a civil lawsuit against AIG in May, but no trial has been scheduled and no charges have been filed against Greenberg himself.
Whitehead contends that the New York attorney general is engaged in an "increasingly relentless crusade against boards and senior executives" who often find it easier - and cheaper - to settle than fight back. In December 2002, 10 of Wall Street's biggest investment banks settled out of court after Spitzer's office raised questions about whether their stock analysts were defrauding smaller investors in order to protect their much larger investment banking clients. But if that's what was indeed happening, shouldn't at least some of these crooks be sitting in a jail cell by now?
Ever since he was named Time magazine's 2002 "Crusader of the Year" and likened to Superman by The New York Times, Spitzer's office has collected billions of dollars from thousands of companies that have come under the scrutiny of the 600 lawyers who work for him.
But not everybody backs down. Former Bank of America broker Theodore Sihpol was one of the few to refuse a Spitzer plea bargain, which included jail time, and opted to defend himself against charges that a hedge fund he worked for engaged in illegal "late trading." This June, a jury found Sihpol not guilty on 29 counts and the judge declared a mistrial on four others after a lone juror voted to convict. The director of the Security and Exchange Commission's enforcement division later testified before Congress that placing or confirming mutual fund orders after 4 p.m. - but before the stock price had been recomputed for the day - was accepted practice in the industry, not a criminal conspiracy.
When you've lost your job and have to pay mind-boggling attorney's fees, even vindication can be bitter. But it's a lot better than being left in limbo.
It's naïve to think that there are no other Enrons or WorldComs out there. But whenever prosecutors uncover illegal activity, those involved have the right to a fair and speedy trial. A media announcement of an indictment without a specific trial date soon thereafter unfairly damages a person's reputation when they are least able to defend themselves.
If prosecutors have enough evidence to secure an indictment, they should proceed to trial at once. If they don't, they should keep their mouths shut. Leaving somebody twisting in the cold wind of public opprobrium is cruel and unusual punishment, especially since you're supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
And to prevent even the hint of a conflict of interest, every state should pass a law that bars prosecutors like Spitzer from accepting campaign contributions from the objects of past, present or future investigations. That would have made it illegal for Spitzer to accept much of the nearly $8 million in cash he already has on hand, but would have also greatly clarified his intentions.
And if the New York attorney general bristles at the extortion implications behind that suggestion - without any real proof to back it up - now he knows how Maurice Greenberg and Theodore Sihpol must feel.
Ping!
If Trump runs for Governor in NY as a GOP candidate he will win. I don't agree with what much Trump says but I hate Spitzer. And if Trump were the governor you can bet that Ground Zero would be rebuilt.
He is out of control, powerful, vindictive and possibly mentally ill based on descriptions of his behavior recently. He need to be given a sabatical IMHO.
I'm sorry. But there's no one that can stop Spitzer. So you might as well call him Governor. I know this is scary, But the Republicans have not put up a solid candidate to challenge him.
I'd go one step further. Forbid prosecutors from running for or holding any elective office, local, state or federal, for a period of ten years after they leave their current positions.
If these guys want to be politicians, don't hold an office where they can either ruin people's lives or ignore wrongdoing for political gain. If they want to be law enforcement, remove the political temptations.
Trump has already said he isn't interested.
Trump has been critical of the Freedom Tower and the current plan for rebuilding Ground Zero. There is no market. Seven WTC, the first building rebuilt, is having as much or more trouble getting tenants as the original WTC had. Trump, as governor, would likely not support the current plans for Ground Zero. He would likely throw the rebuilding process back to square one.
Spitzer is a self defined "Howard Dean Democrat". He is much smarter than Howard Dean, and ten times as ruthless.
His ambition knows no bounds, and he is clearly aimed at President of the United States. Nothing stands in his way, most especially mere mortals whose destruction is necessary to further his vast ambition.
He is much smarter than Hillary, and does not have her obvious corruption as baggage. Hillary is more dangerous in the short and medium term, and stands a good chance of being our next President (especially if McCain is her running mate).
However, if Spitzer is elected Governor of New York (quite likely), he has a very good shot to be the Dem nominee for President at some time in the future. He will be VERY hard to beat, and VERY bad for the country.
This guy is pure poison, he's one of the most virulent anti-Second Amendment fanatics around. He wants every form of gun control you can imagine, including a 1,000% tax on bullets.
A great idea which will never happen.
"He is out of control, powerful, vindictive and possibly mentally ill based on descriptions of his behavior recently. He need to be given a sabatical IMHO."
Sounds like Hillary
self ping
Exactly. The plan for Ground Zero as it is now, sucks.
ping
There would appear to be more than one billionare out there who got tripped up by Spitzer...and they have more than just hinted (they told him to his face that they'd make him pay) that they are prepared to throw massive funding against Spitzer...and we aren't talking about $5 or $10 million...we could easily be talking $50 million...to see Spitzer fail. A guy with the right media group and massive "anti" commericals could easily tear Spitzer apart...the guy has too many issues to be crispy clean.
I honestly think the people of New York State do not know how evil this man truly is. Years ago I wrote him a letter because as AG he started an investigation into crisis pregnancy centers in the New York City area. Apparently his pals at Planned Parenthood were upset because a crisis pregnancy center had opened close to their facility and was probably taking away business (yes, God forbid the center would perform a sonogram on pregnant women so they could actually see the life inside of them). His response to my letter was pure evil legal nonsense. Satan surely has a big grip on this creatures soul!
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