Subpoenas Issued to Financial Firms in Expanded Probe

[Hissyspit]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE80Q27U20120127?irpc=932

Subpoenas issued to financial firms in expanded probe

By Aruna Viswanatha and James Vicini
WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 27, 2012 5:49pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department issued civil subpoenas to 11 financial institutions as part of a new effort to investigate misconduct in the packaging and sale of home loans to investors, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday.

Holder declined to provide specifics, including the names of the firms.

"We are wasting no time in aggressively pursuing any and all leads," Holder said at a news conference announcing details of a new working group to investigate misconduct in the residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market, "you can expect more to follow."

President Barack Obama said he directed Holder to create the new unit in his State of the Union speech late Tuesday, saying it was needed to "help turn the page on an era of recklessness."

[DJ13]

1. "civil subpoenas"

More hand slaps and fines.

sigh

[barbtries]

3. oops

missed the "civil" part.
i want to see consequences for these criminals.

[alfredo]

4. Civil is easier to prove than criminal.

[bigtree]

6. and I don't think they preclude criminal prosecutions

[alfredo]

8. The states can still act against them.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12. If the legal theory is Civil RICO, the staute of limitations is four years.

If the statute of limitations has not already run for filing a civil RICO lawsuit, it is close to running.

When civil subpoenas are issued, the recipients can seek to stall and delay on a number of grounds. One of which is that they anticipate being the targets of criminal prosecutions. They can assert Sixth and Fifth Amendment privileges. If their attorneys fail to assert such privileges and cause the civil subpoenas to be quashed or at least held in abeyance until after the conclusion of criminal prosecutions, they could legitimately thereafter raise the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel when defending against criminal charges, if any.

In the State of the Union Address, we were clearly given the impression that President Obama was interested in criminal prosecutions. Holder's action of holding a press conference and referring to civil subpoenas, while knowing that some people would mistakenly confuse such subpoenas with criminal prosecutions, seems to be a departure from the impression that Obama gave to many of us.

We can still hope for the best and hope that this is not Kabuki theatre. Time, of course, will tell.

[alfredo]

14. What about the states?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

15. That's a good research question.

[barbtries]

2. well if they're serious,

and i sure as hell hope they are, indictments hopefully will be coming down the pike. and things might change at least a little, to be more on the side of the average american. good news.

[nanabugg]

5. Go Obama. It still won't be enough for the "Progressives." But go for it anyway!!

Civil is certainly easier to get convictions than criminal charges. Think OJ. I would love to see the banksters depart with a huge sum of their ill-gotten gain.

[Tx4obama]

7. Bravo !!!

[lunatica]

9. Is that a drip drip I hear?

I hope so. Start with little baby steps if you must. Just start investigating.

[CountAllVotes]

10. The banks involved in the discussions include ...

>>The banks involved in the discussions include Bank of America, Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and Ally Financial Inc.

Why am I not surprised and why does this country continue to support any of these crooks?

[sendero]

11. "wasting no time"

... what has the last 3+ years been then?

None of the big boys are going to be forced to account for their behavior, you can bet that.

And isn't it strange that this shit starts popping up in campaign season when there was plenty of time to look at it before.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

13. You are absolutely right. But you may be attacked for making the observation.

In the-emperor-has-no-clothes story, they never tell us what the noisy adulators said after someone spoke the truth and said "The Emperor has no clothes." Did they hold their heads in shame? Or did they attack the truth teller?

[Moosepoop]

16. Actually, they do (or rather, Hans Christian Anderson does).

You should try reading the story.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

17. So the story, like the William Tell story, has a moral? I.e., not everyone likes truth tellers.

[Moosepoop]

19. Like I said...

Try reading the story before you expound on what is or isn't in it.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

20. Now I understand what you were saying.

Initially, I thought that you were adding a comment just to be adding a comment. That's done from time to time. Although unnecessary, it's not unusual for people to do that.

Now I see that you were just being a rude jerk.

One of the best things that Skinner did with DU3 was to include an ignore feature. If you don't know where it is, try clicking on the screen name and you will see it to your right. Since you are being a jerk and have nothing meaningful to add, I'm now selecting it for your posts. Bye.

[Moosepoop]

21. Marvelous!

My very first time being put on ignore (as far as I know, anyway)! I don't have anyone on ignore, but... oh wait, why I am replying to you? You can't see this anyway, right? OK, bye!!

[Hotler]

18. +1 n/t