Top official negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has RESIGNED over bribery charges

[Triana]

The TPP was negotiated in secret, and now one of the chief negotiators is accused of taking bribes.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a massive, legally binding deal between 12 countries that was negotiated in complete secrecy by industry lobbyists and government bureaucrats. It has sparked international outcry, and expert's analysis of the text show it poses a grave threat to the economy, the environment, the Internet, national sovereignty, and freedom of expression.

Japan's economic and fiscal policy minister, a top official involved in negotiating the TPP, has been accused of taking major bribes from a Japanese construction company amounting to at least $148,000. It's not clear yet whether the bribe was related to the TPP itself, but it underscores the danger of these shadowy, corrupt, agreements.

THE REST:

https://cms.fightforthefuture.org/japan/

[99th_Monkey]

1. Good! This sham corporate-driven rip-off of American workers needs to die & go away. nt

[Omaha Steve]

4. NAFTA comes to mind passed by the BIG Dog

And now Hillary finally came out very weakly against TPP and won't lobby her friends to vote against it.

[dorkzilla]

9. Her “opposition” is tepid at best. Here’s what she said before she was against it

"So it's fair to say that our economies are entwined, and we need to keep upping our game both bilaterally and with partners across the region through agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. Australia is a critical partner. This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field. And when negotiated, this agreement will cover 40 percent of the world's total trade and build in strong protections for workers and the environment."

So it seems Clinton is saying the TPP does, definitevely set the gold standard -- as opposed to Clinton hoping it will.In other addresses around the same time, she expressed similar assuredness that the TPP would meet a high standard. In November 2012 remarks in Singapore, she encouraged all nations "willing to meet 21st century standards as embodied in the TPP" to join the deal.

"The so-called TPP will lower barriers, raise standards, and drive long-term growth across the region. It will cover 40 percent of the world's total trade and establish strong protections for workers and the environment. Better jobs with higher wages and safer working conditions, including for women, migrant workers and others too often in the past excluded from the formal economy will help build Asia's middle class and rebalance the global economy. Canada and Mexico have already joined the original TPP partners. We continue to consult with Japan. And we are offering to assist with capacity building, so that every country in ASEAN can eventually join. We welcome the interest of any nation willing to meet 21st century standards as embodied in the TPP, including China."

Here are some of the other words Clinton used to describe the TPP before she left the State Department in 2013: "exciting," "innovative," "ambitious," "groundbreaking," "cutting-edge," "high-quality" and "high-standard.”

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/oct/13/hillary-clinton/what-hillary-clinton-really-said-about-tpp-and-gol/

[senz]

56. Good summary, Dorkzilla.

Clinton didn't cool her heels on TPP support until she saw how it affected her candidacy. Quick about face.

And they wonder why we call it Camp Weathervane!

[bvar22]

51. Hillary opposes the TPP just like...

...Obama was going to "immediately re-negotiate NAFTA " to protect American jobs.

How soon they "forget" when their butts hit that chair in the Oval Office.

[pangaia]

13. It's not just American workers.

It's workers of the world.

[99th_Monkey]

20. ... along with American democracy as we know it

where Corporate Tribunals get to dictate to US gov't and local jurisdictions what they
can and can't do, without getting sued for "damages" by corporations claiming that
environmental or other regs "deprive" of their precious profits.

[pangaia]

22. And that also throughout the world.

It is truly frightening....

[Enthusiast]

25. Yes. American democracy has been damaged quite enough as it is.

[senz]

58. A massive corporate coup. Cripples government. Body blow to democracy.

Anyone who backs the TPP is hostile to the Constitution of the United States and the human rights it was designed to secure and protect.

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. You probably should have included that the negotiator in question was a part of the

Japanese team ... not a part of the USTR team.

[Hoyt]

5. That wouldn't fit in with the Obama bashing agenda.

[Lazy Daisy]

12. Please point out

Where in this article/OP President Obama is being bashed?

[Hoyt]

17. How long have you been here? Don't you know Obama is an Establishment con man -- Keystone, TPP,

gonna slash Social Security, conspired with insurance industry to avoid public option, in Wall Street's pocket because he didn't jail anyone, did all this for big speaker fees from our corporatist oligarchs when he retires, want to see the end to the middle class, etc.



That answer your question.

[randys1]

27. I hear he eats puppies late at night when watching Fallon...

[dlwickham]

52. that's Michelle

he goes out drinking with Fallon and pushes him down the stairs

[senz]

62. What a thing to say!

If you think opposition to the TPP = Obama hatred or, for God's sake, Michelle hatred, then you really need to slow down and THINK.

There is so much at stake.

[senz]

60. I oppose the TPP and support Obama.

Try to think for yourself.

[cascadiance]

42. I guess though I criticize him on TPP, my praise for Obama on the Iran deal doesn't fit the bashing.

... agenda either now does it!

We don't like many of his POLICIES! We are bashing FUCKED UP POLICIES like the TPP, not prosecuting banksters with a lame Justice department effort that can't even prosecute as many of them as Reagan did in his time. Yes, I'm going to add explanation points when he fucks up because I care about screwed up policies, not because I'm interested just in "bashing Obama". Yes, that's the way the Republicans play the game, and they make sure they try to make him look bad, but when they can get what they want, like they did wit the TPP, they actually will help him more than the Democrats where many of them have some degree of ethics in not screwing the American people to help corporate America.

[1StrongBlackMan]

47. Okay. You don't like many of his policies, particularly his trade policies; but, tell me ...

not prosecuting banksters with a lame Justice department effort that can't even prosecute as many of them as Reagan did in his time.

Who should his "lame Justice Department" have prosecuted and for what crime(s)? Please note, neither greed, nor stupidity, is a crime in America.

[cascadiance]

53. There's been a lot of outright fraud, like banks falsifying loan documents, etc. for foreclosures

amongst other things. You can't tell me that there was no criminal acts in the meltdown at the end of 2008.

There was a lot of bundling of bad loans and reselling them on Wall Street with misrepresenting their value. There was a documentary that won an Oscar that talked about many of this kind of activity that was UNPROSECUTED!

It's no coincidence in my book that Holder went back to working for the banksters after "serving" as attorney general and doing NOTHING to prosecute that sort of crime.

[1StrongBlackMan]

61. I'll just say ...

There is a reason there is a sports color commentary and political punditry industry ... It gives air to the simplistic, if only, analysis ... completely devoid of, both accountability and reality.

If movie producers (and internet commentators) had to know anything about the law, there would be far fewer "jail the bankers" calls.

[cascadiance]

66. The problem is that so many of the crimes had "deals" cut that exchanged criminal liability...

... for fines, where the amount of the fines with lack of any criminal prosecution of the offenders that would have happened in the Savings and Loan crisis had most of these banks just write off these fines as a cost of doing business, and many of them would continue to just break the law without fear of having anyone going to jail. And of course a lot of cases now have the statue of limitations expired since they let these guys go, so they're getting off scott free. Read more here.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/how-wall-streets-bankers-stayed-out-of-jail/399368/

...
n May 27, in her first major prosecutorial act as the new U.S. attorney general, Loretta Lynch unsealed a 47-count indictment against nine FIFA officials and another five corporate executives. She was passionate about their wrongdoing. “The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States,” she said. “Today’s action makes clear that this Department of Justice intends to end any such corrupt practices, to root out misconduct, and to bring wrongdoers to justice.”

Lost in the hoopla surrounding the event was a depressing fact. Lynch and her predecessor, Eric Holder, appear to have turned the page on a more relevant vein of wrongdoing: the profligate and dishonest behavior of Wall Street bankers, traders, and executives in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. How we arrived at a place where Wall Street misdeeds go virtually unpunished while soccer executives in Switzerland get arrested is murky at best. But the legal window for punishing Wall Street bankers for fraudulent actions that contributed to the 2008 crash has just about closed. It seems an apt time to ask: In the biggest picture, what justice has been achieved?

Since 2009, 49 financial institutions have paid various government entities and private plaintiffs nearly $190 billion in fines and settlements, according to an analysis by the investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. That may seem like a big number, but the money has come from shareholders, not individual bankers. (Settlements were levied on corporations, not specific employees, and paid out as corporate expenses—in some cases, tax-deductible ones.) In early 2014, just weeks after Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, settled out of court with the Justice Department, the bank’s board of directors gave him a 74 percent raise, bringing his salary to $20 million.

The more meaningful number is how many Wall Street executives have gone to jail for playing a part in the crisis. That number is one. (Kareem Serageldin, a senior trader at Credit Suisse, is serving a 30-month sentence for inflating the value of mortgage bonds in his trading portfolio, allowing them to appear more valuable than they really were.) By way of contrast, following the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s, more than 1,000 bankers of all stripes were jailed for their transgressions.
...

[1StrongBlackMan]

74. First...

The more meaningful number is how many Wall Street executives have gone to jail for playing a part in the crisis. That number is one. (Kareem Serageldin, a senior trader at Credit Suisse, is serving a 30-month sentence for inflating the value of mortgage bonds in his trading portfolio, allowing them to appear more valuable than they really were.) By way of contrast, following the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s, more than 1,000 bankers of all stripes were jailed for their transgressions.

This is exactly what I'm talking about ... First, both, the laws and the enforcement mechanisms have changed significantly since the '80s (and except for Dodd-Franks, not towards more enforcement). Comparing the two eras is like comparing liquor arrests in the 20s to those of today.

And of course a lot of cases now have the statue of limitations expired since they let these guys go, so they're getting off scott free

It's hard to argue against this point because you have yet to answer the "Prosecution of Who" and "For What" question; but, you are in good company ... no one has, including this article writer.

The fact is, the civil settlements reflect, not some corruption of law enforcement; but rather, the realities of criminal law enforcement ... in American jurisprudence the burdens of proof are far lower under civil prosecutions than under criminal, with in the latter, there must be specific facts developed against specific individuals. And the corporate structure is designed, exactly, to insulate the top individuals from the facts of the "crimes" that may have been done below.

That said, and after nearly 10 years of looking at this, I could identify only one high profile banker that could possibly be criminally prosecuted ... that would be Jamie Dimon, and for the (relatively) minor crime of knowingly signing an inaccurate corporate governance document required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ... which is/was, only, tangentially related to the melt-down.

On another note, all this "send the bankers to jail" talk betrays a fundamental misunderstanding/ignorance of financial/corporate criminality (that civil penalties recognizes), i.e., the threat of prison is NOT an effective deterrent to financial/corporate crimes ... again, it is the nature of the legal fiction of corporations to survive the death/removal of individuals (i.e., the jailing of individual CEOs/bankers will leave the corporation, wholly, unaffected); whereas, absent a corporate "death penalty" (which is largely non-existent in law), civil penalties do affect the corporations. (Note: While the number reached for the penalties has been/may be too low to have been effective, that is a different discussion.)

[mdbl]

71. As another example

How many people involved in the Enron fraud actually did time? One? Two? There were many known crooks and how many got away with fraud?

[billhicks76]

50. Wake Up

[senz]

59. Not Obama-bashing. TPP bashing.

Huge difference.

[Ed Suspicious]

7. .

"Japan's economic and fiscal policy minister, a top official involved in negotiating the TPP, has been accused of taking major bribes from a Japanese construction company amounting to at least $148,000. It's not clear yet whether the bribe was related to the TPP itself, but it underscores the danger of these shadowy, corrupt, agreements. "

[1StrongBlackMan]

11. Thank you; but, I read the piece ...

That's how I knew the guy was a part of the Japanese team, not the US team.

[a2liberal]

16. It's right in the quote in the OP

I knew this was about the Japanese representative before ever coming to the comments. Not sure what you're complaining about... Do you expect headlines to now include every single fact from an article?

[1StrongBlackMan]

54. What I am "complaining" about ...

if a request for accuracy and clarity, as evidenced by the posts below that just read the title and thought the graft had anything to do with the TPP or America, could possibly be considered a "complaint", as opposed to a recognition that people on message boards respond to titles, and frequently do not read the text.

My post was not a "complaint" but rather a suggestion.

[a2liberal]

65. I see not a single post

before yours that appears to be working under the assumption that the bribed negotiator was American.

I apologize for accidentally mischaracterizing your post.

[1StrongBlackMan]

67. I've been about these parts for many a day ...

I know DU ... and many of its posters; how some react... and how others bring about reaction.

[1StrongBlackMan]

75. It's not whether those that didn't read the piece thought the bribed negotiator was an American ...

but rather, whether those that didn't read the article thought the negotiator's being bribed was at all related to the TPP, or American interests, for that matter.

Those that didn't read the piece, clearly, thought, both.

[NurseJackie]

10. Toward the end: "It's not clear yet whether the bribe was related to the TPP itself..."

[mindwalker_i]

24. Yeah, since the title didn't specifically say

"This is not bashing Obama," the person posting it must be an Obama-Hater (tm).

[pangaia]

14. And this makes a difference... how?

The canary in the coal mine.

[Enthusiast]

26. PLUS ONE, a huge bunch!

[elljay]

28. The U.S. negotiators don't need to take bribes

They just have to wait until the negotiations are over and then get cushy high-paying jobs with a lobbying firm. Totally legal, which is why we need to change things!

[cascadiance]

3. Wish we had a justice department that would actually prosecute bums like this in our country!

When you have someone like Holder looking the other way, it never gets done unfortunately. I wonder how many hints of bribery in our own TPP, etc. negotiations exist and are known about but are ignored here.

[forest444]

8. Exactly.

The second I read "top official in TPP negotiations charged with bribery" I knew it had to be overseas.

We'd never let our bribesters be charged with anything, as long as they're carrying water for the elite.

[1StrongBlackMan]

36. How/why would the DoJ of the US ...

Prosecute a Japanese Trade Minister for receiving a bribe in Japan and from a Japanese builder?

[cascadiance]

38. That's not what I'm asserting. Bums like this in OUR country, NOT Japan!

We aren't immune from having people in power commit acts of bribery, no matter what corporate toadies like Eric Holder and those that put him in power would like you to believe!

[1StrongBlackMan]

57. Oh, I know ...

We, in the US, aren't immune from having people in power commit acts of bribery, and other forms of corruption ... Hell, I spent the better part of my career, addressing just that. However, we differ in what you would have Holder as liking us to believe.

The benefit many enjoy is being able to seat on the judicial/occupational sidelines, Monday Morning quarterbacking what should/could happen, without the benefit/curse of having to act within the law ... as written, rather than the law, as you would suppose it to be.

[WillyT]

6. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[valerief]

15. So the TPP is supposed to work like politics, I guess. Pay to play. nt

[lpbk2713]

18. Hooda guessed it?

All that money at stake and there is more money changing hands under the table?

I'm shocked and appalled.

[GoneFishin]

43. Rich people get a better bang for their buck by corrupting the gatekeepers and keyholders rather

than formulating fair and just policies that are consequently widely accepted by the masses.

Of course these trade representatives are having their palms greased, through whatever channels.

[raouldukelives]

73. The channel is every individual with money in Wall St.

We all get one life to make things better for others or assuredly worse. Wall St investors either don't care what they accomplish, have no clue what they accomplish or prefer easy money to being a decent human being.

Either way, its bad for everyone but them.

The only thing more effective than voting for corporate rule is paying for it. We live in the most progressive change they cannot block.

[Dont call me Shirley]

19. I pray this begins the death spiral of TPP and other treasonous "trade" agreements; nafta, cafta,

shafta.

[jwirr]

32. Yes, one criminal revealed - how many yet to be found.

[Dont call me Shirley]

34. One need only look on the rosters of the secret tpp meetings to discover the treasonous criminals.

[Elwood P Dowd]

21. $148,000 is chump change for the US Wall Street/Corporate crooks that

dreamed up the TPPiss. Not even a good Christmas Bonus. These crooks work for agencies like the USTR a couple of years on these types of projects, then go back to the corporate world rewarded with seven-figure salaries at places like Citigroup. It's a revolving door of corporate cronies and not considered bribery in the good ole' US of A. Japan is behind the times.

[Triana]

72. +1 n/t

[libodem]

23. Go Figure

Greed is a deadly sin.

[elljay]

29. The TPP What?

Sad thing is, the people posting on this thread may be a high percentage of the Americans who've even heard of the TPP. Ask Ed Schultz what happens when you try to talk about it on tv....

[senz]

63. Yep, the media blackout.

Five transnational corporations control the U.S. mass media, and the TPP gives them more money and more power at the expense of working people and the physical environment, so they won't let anyone to know about it.

[AzDar]

30. This abomination needs to be killed WITH FIRE.

[pa28]

31. He should have taken his bribes the legal way like Michael Froman did. Exit bonuses.

Froman is the US government's lead man in negotiating the TPP. He pocketed a million dollars in exit bonuses from CITI contingent on taking the USTR or another senior administration position.

http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/20/obama-admins-tpp-trade-officials-received-hefty-bonuses-from-big-banks/

[Elwood P Dowd]

35. That's how it works with the USTR revolving door of corporate control.

Anybody that supports this fake free trade deal should be called a "free traitor".

[Jack Rabbit]

33. Why am I not surprised?

The goddamned thing was negotiated in secret for the benefit of the oligarchs. It doesn't surprise me that there was some bribery or funny stuff going on in there. The trade negotiators' jobs were to sell out the sovereignty of their respective nations and live the common citizens of each of their nations without political power. The whole think reeks of corruption and treason.

[SusanCalvin]

37. Buying a politician is the best investment you can make.

If you don't get caught.

[cascadiance]

40. Or if your bribing a politician has been made legal by other bribery so that you don't have to worry

... about "getting caught", or that you have those in power that make sure that bribery laws aren't enforced.

[amborin]

39. TPP Consequences Here:

https://www.popularresistance.org/tpp-sotu-the-facts-vs-obama/

[PatrickforO]

41. OF COURSE he has! The whole gosh darned thing is one big huge corporate bribe.

[Bread and Circus]

44. This is the world we live in. Rampant corruption.

[Uponthegears]

45. I am amazed at the skill

of the Third Way sycophants.

A story about a Japanese TPP negotiator taking bribes and STILL they find a way to play the victim.

[Unknown Beatle]

46. Obama is going to sign it into law on Feb. 4.

Only a huge uproar will derail his signing it.

[billhicks76]

48. Good Work Obama!

What happened to no lobbyists promise. Of wait. I forgot we are like the republicans now where the truth doesn't matter. Just gotta have D in front of name. So pathetic people who think politics is a sport where winning is the game.

[TBF]

49. There's a shocker. nt

[mhatrw]

55. Will our corporate media cover this AT ALL? nt

[BeanMusical]

64. Kick and R

[rpannier]

68. Unless his behavior threatens the stability of the government

Abe, Aso and the Party will continue with whatever they were going to do

[blackspade]

69. Oh the surprise....

He is unlikely to be the only one.

[Betty Karlson]

70. Was this guy operating during Clinton's time at the State Department?

How flawed is her judgement not to see this happening right under her nose, while she touted the TPP as a gold standard?

She was wrong on Iraq, and on that guy Bush

She was wrong on interventionism, and on that guy Kissinger

She was wrong on gay marriage

She was wrong on prison industry, and its subsidies

She was wrong on Wall Street, and on those guys who line her pockets

She was wrong on TPP, and on this Japanese politician.

[ish of the hammer]

76. TPP - it's the GOLD standard