Posted on 06/14/2005 5:17:17 AM PDT by OESY
In the celebrated case of Eliot Spitzer versus Dick Grasso, Exhibit A is the Webb report. Commissioned by former New York Stock Exchange Chairman John Reed and produced by former federal prosecutor Dan Webb, the report is the basis for the New York Attorney General's claim that Mr. Grasso manipulated the NYSE board into paying him too much money.
Yet when Mr. Spitzer goes to court, he will have to grapple with material that Mr. Webb gathered but never included in his final report that was made public. These are the more than 1,000 pages of interviews that Mr. Webb's law firm conducted with more than 60 former and current NYSE directors and staff, as well as third parties. The Exchange (tacitly backed by Mr. Spitzer) recently lost its legal battle to keep those transcripts confidential. The Wall Street Journal editorial page has reviewed the interviews in full, and it's clear why Mr. Spitzer preferred to keep them under wraps. They go a long way toward undermining his case.
The AG charges in his suit that Mr. Grasso's compensation was not "reasonable"--that directors awarded him money based on "incomplete, inaccurate and misleading" information; and that Mr. Grasso influenced his awards. Mr. Spitzer is also suing former compensation committee head Ken Langone....
But the interviews, with the cream of Wall Street and politics, refute much of this. Key directors admit that they knew exactly what they were doing in paying Mr. Grasso as they did, and continue to defend their actions.
The board, which was often dysfunctional, was stocked with celebrities....
But the interviews also make clear that more astute board members, such as Mr. Langone, ...Karmazin, and ...Komansky, took it upon themselves to understand Mr. Grasso's contract, and offered strong arguments for why they'd paid him as they had....
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
This guy Spitzer is a real piece of work taking on these cases in order to pad his political resume. Kinda like John Kerry in Nam.
If he really wanted to do the people of New York as service, why not go after Steinbrenner for paying Giambi $21 million a year?!
This is all a Spitzer vs. Schumer thing. Schumer gets more $$ from Wall Street than anyone else in Washington.
Spitzer and Schumer. Two peas in a pod. They both are bullies who deserve to have their overly aggressive style nipped in the bud. The support for Schumer is very thin and he could be beaten for re-election if only the New York Republican Party could field a decent candidate. Neither of these oily b***ards has ever had a real smile. They crack sneers.
Grasso is not going to be intimidated, he wants his day in court and he wants to bring Spitzer down.
I think Spitzer won't win against Grasso but he will be governor of NY State.
To put this in perspective, if Spitzer so desired, he could (in theory) take the nominations of the republican party (along with the democratic party).
I.E. Spitzer would even win a GOP primary in NY state against Pataki.
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