Free Republic

In 2004, Paolo Pellegrini was out of a job, living in a one-bedroom apartment in Westchester County, N.Y., with little money in the bank. He soon managed to land a gig working for hedge-fund manager John Paulson. Today, after helping Paulson & Co. score $20 billion with a bet against housing and pocketing about $175 million for himself, Mr. Pellegrini is an unnamed but key character in the government's lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), according to people familiar with the matter. The government alleges the bank deceived investors by selling them mortgage securities that the hedge fund...

The former Senate Majority Leader, now a noted peacemaker, may be tapped to help lead the party's strategy on a new high court nominee The battle on Capitol Hill over filling one, possibly two, U.S. Supreme Court vacancies is heating up fast. Faced with a high-powered lineup of GOP tacticians and advisers, Senate Democrats are now working to assemble their own team. One key person under consideration to lead the effort, several Democratic sources tell BusinessWeek Online, is former Democratic Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine, chairman of the board at Walt Disney (DIS ) and chairman of law...