Holder on banks: ‘Too big to jail’ doesn’t apply

” To be clear: No individual or company, no matter how large or how profitable, is above the law. When the Department of Justice conducts investigations, we will always follow the law and the facts wherever they lead.”  Except, of course,  when the Justice Department doesn’t want to do it’s job because it is investigating itself…..

 

 

 

Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY 11:01 a.m. EDT May 5, 2014

(Photo: Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Foreshadowing possible criminal charges against banking giants Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas, Attorney General Eric Holder offered an ominous warning Monday, saying, “There is no such thing as too big to jail.”

“Some have used that phrase to describe the theory that certain financial institutions, even if they engage in criminal misconduct, should be considered immune from prosecution due to their sheer size and their influence on the economy,” Holder said during a weekly video message posted on the Justice Department website.

“That view is mistaken. And it is a view that has been rejected by the Department of Justice. To be clear: No individual or company, no matter how large or how profitable, is above the law. When the Department of Justice conducts investigations, we will always follow the law and the facts wherever they lead.”

Holder did not identify the targets of the inquiries by name, but a Justice official confirmed that federal prosecutors are close to wrapping up investigations involving the two banks and will likely be announcing criminal charges in the coming weeks. The official is not authorized to comment publicly on the pending criminal investigations.

Federal prosecutors have been investigating BNP for alleged violations of U.S. sanctions lodged against countries, including Iran and Sudan. Credit Suisse, meanwhile, is being targeted for allegedly providing illegal tax shelters for Americans.

The criminal inquiries have been proceeding as prosecutors and regulators attempt to resolve the matters without creating havoc in the larger financial system.

“It is true that criminal charges involving a financial institution can sometimes trigger serious follow-on actions by that company’s financial regulators,” Holder said Monday “In some cases, it may even trigger the loss of the institution’s charter.”

The attorney general said it would be “irresponsible not to consider” such damaging results.

“But rather than wall off banks from prosecution, the potential for such severe consequences simply means that federal prosecutors conducting these investigations must go the extra mile to coordinate closely with the regulators that oversee these institutions’ day-to-day operations,” Holder said.

“So long as this coordination occurs, it is fully possible to criminally sanction companies that have broken the law, no matter their size.”

Holder said the “cooperation will prove key in the coming weeks and months as the Justice Department continues to pursue several important investigations.”

“While I will not specify any particular targets, I will say this: I am personally monitoring the status of these ongoing investigations, I am resolved to seeing them through, and in doing so, I intend to reaffirm the principle that no individual or entity that does harm to our economy is ever above the law.”

“Phony, Fake Scandals” sound byte

New White House Strategy is aimed at the Washington Press Corps in the hope that the Press will simply declare all the scandals over with and done so Obama can continue tearing down the country.

 

 

Media Alert: Eric Holder to speak on Zimmerman

Breaking news; Attorney General is going to speak shortly about Zimmerman.  He will be speaking at a Voting Rights event shortly.  Note that the FBI has already stated that there are NO charges to be brought against Zimmerman in regards to civil rights violations.  Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges Friday evening after a 16 hour jury deliberation.

NSA snoops, IRS dupes, Holder Loops and Obama Poops

After thirty seven years of working in, around and for the government I’ve decided that this is NOT what I signed up for.

 

We have Eric Holder lying to the public and Congress.

We have the National Security Agency spying on not just bad guys, but all of our emails, pictures, calls, or whatever other data you put out there.  That’s great perhaps they will read THIS message.

We have the IRS preventing, in a most political manner, Conservative groups from getting their tax exempt status to PREVENT them from fighting the powers that be.

We have Obama.  Need I say more?

 

Americans, it is time to STOP this intrusion into our privacy, it’s time to stop Obama from becoming a third world dictator, it’s time to stop the IRS and the Justice Department from over reaching, over arching and from being the “police arm” of the United States Government.

Now I know that there is one and only one job our government is SUPPOSED to be doing, and that is protecting this country from outside enemies and they AREN’T EVEN DOING THAT right.  The military has been cut drastically (which China, Russia have grown, Iran is producing nuclear weapons, DPRK is producing nukes and the Muslim world is coddled).  Our injured and wounded are treated like crap when they come back from “Fighting for Freedom”.  That’s another joke.

They aren’t fighting for OUR freedoms any more, they are fighting (without their knowledge) for the Freedom of Big Government to continue it’s oppression of the people of the United States of the America.  WE THE PEOPLE.

We are the people who OWN this country.  The Government doesn’t “own” anything.

Get ON the phone with your Congress people and tell them to STOP THIS CRAP NOW or the American people will stop it.

This is NOT a police state, we do not live in 1960s Soviet Union – this is the United States of America.

To all you so-called Liberals out there;  don’t sit on your asses any longer and whine about “Republicans” and “Tea Party”.  We’re all the same.  This is NOT a “Progressive” country (and Progressive is a Code Word for Communist) so get off your asses and get into this and STOP IT.

You Liberals seems to think your precious Freedom of Speech is protected while my Right to keep and bear arms is not.  We’ve said over and over without the Second, you don’t get to keep the First.  Are you starting to GRASP this yet?  If you’re not, shut up, don’t vote, and don’t talk; go sit in your living room and watch television so you can be further brain washed.

If We the People ALLOW this to go any further you can kiss your precious Bill of Rights good bye completely.

Now, in case you really just don’t get this, let me explain something.

Pulling phone and data records (by the NSA) for basically EVERYONE in America is wrong on many, many levels.  In the USA you are INNOCENT until proved Guilt.

Thus if they THINK you are guilty, great they can look at your stuff to prove your guilt.

They CAN NOT under any circumstances look at everyone’s records and dig through them until they FIND something that MIGHT be a pointer to guild.  This is the Thought Police on a scale you can’t imagine.

 

Essentially what is happening here with the Justice Department (with the phone records) and the NSA (with all the other stuff) is that they are digging through every record looking for ANYTHING that might be “bad” (What ever their idea of “bad” is – and keep this part in mind).  When they find something “bad” they connect some links, look at other records and make a “tree” of who is connected to whom, where they live, who they are, how much they make, what they look at on the Internet, who they call, what they buy and where they go for vacation.

There are those who would say “I’m not doing anything wrong, why should *I* care?” – and in truth in a perfect world with a perfect government and perfect people this would be right.  But it’s blatantly obvious to anyone who hasn’t been living in a cave in the lower Himalayas that OUR government is less than perfect.

If on the other hand you’re like me, and millions of others and like “guns” and are a “conservative” and believe in smaller government, certain principles and just want to be left alone we become “targets” for an oppressive government looking at everything we do; and while what we do isn’t wrong, it could be considered “bad” by this particular Administration and obviously HAS been considered so.  Look at all the groups shut down by the IRS because they were doing nothing more than what the Liberal groups were doing…. but were CONSERVATIVE, or TEA PARTY, or for LIBERTY, or SMALLER GOVERNMENT.

If 100% of the people out there are completely outraged over all of this, then the small percentage NOT outraged must be part of the problem.

It’s time for them to go.  It’s time for Congressmen and women, President, Justice Department officials, IRS officials and anyone else who seems to think they “Control America” to get OUT of Office and be put in prison.

I’m calling for the arrest of all of those people.  There are still a few good men and women in Congress and in the Government.  They need to stand up, be heard and shut down the corruption and oppression in America.

This is NOT Russia.  This is NOT China.  Big Government is BAD, VERY VERY BAD.  This has to stop.