Is There A Bigger Story Behind Spitzer's Downfall?
By Susie Madrak Tuesday Dec 16, 2008 9:00amVia Skimble, a most interesting theory:
I have yet to see this reported anywhere, but an anonymous commenter named trademonster on an investment forum said this (notice the dates):
01-09-06 06:49 AM
I've heard that SEC is going to shut down Madoff financial and all of their hedge funds for SEC violations. Can anyone confirm this?And this:
01-14-06 02:52 PM
I actually got some update and found out that it's Spitzer's office doing the investigation not SEC. But I don't know what the scope of the investigation is.Suddenly Spitzer's dalliances with a hooker don't seem quite as fundmentally important to the financial health of this country.
We need people who understand the system to police it. No matter how sanctimonious or egomaniacal you may find him, Spitzer understands the financial system. If these posts are true, somebody in power was more interested in the the details of Eliot Spitzer's transactions than Bernard L. Madoff's. They were obviously more interested in killing the watchdog than in catching the billionaire burglar.
And via Corrente, something even more interesting from Michael Isikoff's Newsweek story about the FISA whistleblower:
[Under the secret and illegal "Stellar Wind" program of domestic warrantless surveillance,] NSA was also able to access, for the first time, massive volumes of personal financial records—such as credit-card transactions, wire transfers and bank withdrawals—that were being reported to the Treasury Department by financial institutions. These included millions of "suspicious-activity reports," or SARS, according to two former Treasury officials who declined to be identified talking about sensitive programs. (It was one such report that tipped FBI agents to former New York governor Eliot Spitzer's use of prostitutes.) These records were fed into NSA supercomputers for the purpose of "data mining"—looking for links or patterns that might (or might not) suggest terrorist activity.
Lambert asks an important question: How did the suspicious activity report on Spitzer's financial transaction get from the NSA to the FBI?
He also notes the convenient timing, because Spitzer at the time was looking into the monoline insurance companies - another important piece of the Wall St. crash.
Was the Bush administration using illegally obtained information to take down political enemies? Oh, I think it's a safe bet. And do you suppose they were deliberately trying to keep Spitzer from exposing extensive Wall St. fraud?
What do you think?
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I stated this when the story broke. It was quite obvious at the time. I think I posted my theory over at the Cunning Realist blogsite.
The Clintons!
Spitzer didn't die.
Many of us knew Spitzer was getting the Plame treatment.
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/ar...
That, and the fact the "Patriot Act" was used to go after prostitution instead of it's intended goal of terrorism which pisses me off too.
spitzer being a prosecutor knew that doing your job as prosecutor means chasing down crimes that harm people. he did not realize what we are learning about this WH, it is against the public interest and will not serve it. they do go after enemies with any dirt they can get.
also, there are no treasury securities.
http://cabdrollery.blogspot.com/
http://www.gregpalast.com/elliot-spitzer-gets...
Then this is some great reporting. Now the question, The REALLY big question is, will the Media slide this behind some file cabinet?
It's obvious by this news that the Financial World of Madoff was tuning in and figured they needed to find Dirt on Spitzer so they could get him out of office. We as a people need to get over this stupidity about what kind of Sex-Life our Politicians have. Stop obsessing about other people private sex lives, especially when someone like Spitzer, who was a good watchdog, get thrown out because of a minor thing like Sex, while sniffing out the wrongdoings of someone who is Stealing/Bilking millions of Americans out of $50 Billion Dollars.
More, typical apologist crap. Spitzer got busted, fair and square and everybody knows it. It doesn't matter what he had been investigating; the people tasked with upholding the law of the land aren't above it. If Madoff was worthy of investigation and it wasn't followed up by Spitzer's replacement, then shame on the replacement.
To suggest this is some nefarious plot whose grand scope somehow absolves appropriate sanctioning of Spitzer is simply ridiculous.
There probably is nothing at all behind all this speculation. People have overactive imaginations. Next thing we'll hear someone asking how all those White House emails could disappear while the NSA was accessing everyone else's emails without problem.
Spitzer was Governor of NY State. And no longer the NYS AG. Any case against Madoff would be by Cuomo the Younger.
Besides, it sounds like Spitzer was spending too much time figuring out his next 'date'.
Spitzer made big enemies who (surprise) happened to be very well connected. His investigations and the negative publicity cost these guys BILLIONS.
http://www.slate.com/id/2108509/
As such, there was no shortage of exceedingly well-heeled people just waiting for an opportunity to take him down. Since Wall Street and Washington are joined at the hip, it is quite logical that Spitzer's impropriety was used against him.
Funny how the U.S. Attorney's Office is not pursuing charges against him. Flimsy case? No. Maybe it just calls too much attention to how it all came about ...
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/artic...
Yet when your heroes, Mark Foley and Larry Craig are accused of impropriety, they fight tooth and nail to stay in office.
It's not hypocrisy - it's republican!
When we instantly know the answer to an event or topic of accusation, my question is, what do we do with the rest of our time. Sex, so what?
As with just about every topic of spin over the last 9 years we know instantly what is going on and essentialy have nowhere to go with that.
What's left is a cool sort of boredom with all of it.
These to had one thing in common attacking Banks.
Attorney General Spitzer Sued Banks and was investigating Wall Street over lending practices and as Governor gained more Power. He had to fall.
Blagojevich although under investigation for years was not touched until he prevented State agencies from doing business with Bank of America.
It doesn't pay to fool with Republican Bosses!
He'd been under investigation for some time, though. His BofA action was not necessarily directly tied to that; I believe it was more an effort to draw Obama into some sort of scandal. It remains to be seen if Rahm is caught in this net.
According to Palast, BoA was going to be the fall guy with countrywide in Spitzers deal....boom!
Blago gets busted for doing nothing more than being stupid and opening his big mouth, doing what pols do, all of a sudden he shuts down business with BoA in Illinois...boom!
I love coincidences
"And do you suppose they were deliberately trying to keep Spitzer from exposing extensive Wall St. fraud?"
Is a pig's pecker pork?
(One of my East Texas cotton-chopper husband's idioms. He's got lots of 'em and they all make me laugh.)
Elliot Ness had a reputation of never committing any sort of crime or behavior by which he could be compromised. He lived through a lot that way (if it was indeed true.) That's the real meaning of "untouchable" in his case.
Spitzer was not. Prostitution, although I have always advocated that it be legal, is not legal where Spitzer was involved. He gave his enemies rope with which to hang him. This is not about whether he should have been taken out in this way, but is a sad acknowledgement that he was unfortunately NOT untouchable. Think of what he could have accomplished if he'd only kept his private life clean!
"Was the Bush administration using illegally obtained information to take down political enemies?"
Well, duh.
http://onlysayin.com/?p=32
Thugs always seem to require sexual victims, hundreds of crimes involving children. Yet they retain office and write laws and bring down those engaged in victimless "crime" with 9 year old boys chained under their desks to suck them off while they pass out souvenier pens.
You're absolutely correct. This is the true nature of the beast... their energy is gained and maintained by the absolute and utter terror of their victims. A word used for this energy is "loosh". I have heard for years that approximately 2000 children disappear in America every... week? month?... and most of them are used in this way. Think Bohemian Grove, child prostitution rings, and ritual sacrifice.
They are being sent to Denver Airport that serves as a cover for an intergalactic space port located underground. Our reptilian overlords use the small children as food.
(end sarcasm)
Why the sarcasm? This is a battle that is very similar to The Matrix and Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and High Noon: a classic, epic tale of monstrous villians and heroes striving ceaselessly against overwhelming odds.
Which side are you on?
And are you an impeccable warrior? Spitzer is just as dirty as those he fought against; think Boromir.
I thought you were being sarcastic too. My bad.
I do think it's (chaining kids under a desk for BJs) a bit over the top.
Boromir?
metaphorical. I thought that was obvious.
...now you're making me nervous. Unnecessary to take it to the dungeon's weeping walls. Reality is dumb enough.
If we're talking about it we think we're doing something about it. Anything but admit all we can do is stand by and watch one outrage after another unfold and hope it all self-destructs.
I never presume "ignorance" or any other mundane explanation if, on the same evidence, I might deduce "malfeasance."
Especially when what we're talking about, basically, is all the money in the fucking world...
There needs to be a Truth and Reconciliation for the entire political establishment. Politicians must take into account the possibility that the NSA knows all. There is no one in this world that cannot be humiliated by something they do or have done. Is this why they have been so timid?
They used to have to collect evidence the old-fashioned way, with private eyes and set-ups. Not any more...
he got set up in the investigative sting BECAUSE he was exposing the SEC's support of massive banking fraud that was starting to happen in 2006, getting ready for the end of the presidential cycle.
these bastards took billions of dollars, enron style, and put them into swiss banks.
if I think that much of this financial "brouhaha" is one last attempt by the wealthy and their interests to commit financial rape and pillage on the world economy before some semblence of the rule of law return then the answer is "yes."
I found some really good added detail on the Spitzer/Madoff/"Stellar Wind" nexis here:
(Following a quote)
Good question.
They didn't steal the 2000 election for nothing. These guys have a plan and are sticking to it. Many people think day to day or even week to week, these political monsters think decade to decade and even century long. Project for a New American Century, etc. You think greed for money is addictive. The greatest greed is for power. These people are sick. We are allowing them to get away with it. Don't underestimate their depravity. It's an unfortunate way to live life, I'd rather live thinking everything is okay and getting better all the time, but that's how monsters get away with it. Think Dahmer. Think molesting priests, think ted bundy. They got away because people didn't believe they could be that monstrous. We are up against worthy opponents. What do we have to add to the fight?
Let's see. Non-compliance and going off the grid.
at this point in human history, we all have a moral obligation to fight corporatism in any way we can... start your own non-profit, grow your own food, spend as little money as possible within the system... we need to make the corporate state whither and die a la Grover Norquist's infamous quote about government.
when was the last time the feds got involved in a prostitution bust?
nuff said
Load this video: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/291.html
And you can read along: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...
Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime
How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers
By Eliot Spitzer - Thursday, February 14, 2008
What do you think?
I want to see Spitzer write more articles and come out of the shadows with two loaded six-guns.
Edwards too. Swords have two edges.
From Project Censored:
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/ar...
I don't doubt it, and I smelled something funny the second it happened. When word got out that the same guy who was responsible for leaving threatening messages on Spitzer's dad's phone during the gubernatorial campaign, had his hand in this, it was pretty clear there was a Siegelmanesque quality to this, and as much as Blagojevich is a horrible force, I wonder if there's something funny about that as well (destabilizing a sure Democratic Senate seat, anyone?), but maybe that's too paranoid.
What isn't too paranoid however, is Paul Krugman's claim over two or three years ago, that the real reason behind the Iraq War and stirring up irrational fear of terrorism among the US citizenry, resulting in a further strengthening of the military complex, is political; to not only put into place means in which to track one's ideological enemies in brutal fashion, but also, to distract us from the forced implementation of policies which do not benefit in any way, the vast majority of us.
I keep asking my foreign fiancee for her objective (non-MSM skewed) opinion on this, and she says wiretaps, blind accusations of terrorist inclinations and anti-Americanism, renditions, etc, are all signs of an ideology disparate to keep hold of power at any cost, and that the real benefit of all these new "tools" (thanks to a deconstruction of the Constitution), is for the GOP to wield unquestionable power over the Democrats. And by the way, when she refers to "the GOP" and "Democrats", although she holds some of my more progressive views, she is speaking purely in terms of the powers in play right now, and not skewing her assessment based on her own political views. Her cynical view can be attributed to her upbringing in an undisclosed Asian country rife with political fervor and in lack of any political heroes, so really, she has no reason to hold much faith in the Democrats either, but at the same time, simply cannot fathom how much the GOP has been able to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people for so damn long.
I promise this is the last point in my long diatribe! The last argument is that the real goal of PNAC, is not Iraq for Iraq's sake. It is not for "freedom", "democracy", what have you. It is about doing whatever it takes (through war, lies, propaganda, etc) to ensure US prominence over China, Russia, and whoever else may emerge, for the foreseeable future. And to do this, they wanted to entrench the US in a forward base from which to launch major operations if the need were to arise to do so, to defend the oil fields of the Middle East, and that forward base is the U.S. Embassy of Iraq.
about Blago... what exactly is it that he did that was so wrong? I'm serious and I mean in the sense of how everything works in our political system. It's pretty much all pay-to-play and legalized bribery, so I wonder why so many people are up in arms over this small little piece of it.
we all know it isn't the first seat or position sold
no kidding?!
And to do this, they wanted to entrench the US in a forward base from which to launch major operations if the need were to arise to do so, to defend the oil fields of the Middle East, and that forward base is the U.S. Embassy of Iraq.
It's called geopolitics, and we've talked about that here often.
Between fart jokes, anyway.
calling it the endgame in the PNAC global scheme, how its the Stalingrad turning point in the American 'empire'.
"Was the Bush administration using illegally obtained information to take down political enemies?"
I'd be surprised if they weren't. But how can anyone expose their corrupt asses? That's what having power is all about for Team Bush -- freedom to abuse their authority and face no accountability. It's what they pursued with single minded focus.
Josh Marshall asks, "what's the gravitational force that appears to have kept the SEC from giving Madoff a good hard look."
these assholes for their war/$ crimes. And give awards to all the marginalized of the last 9 years.
Otherwise we're totally screwed by what is not addressed.
And notice that Madoff made some statement about the remaining 200-300 million, paying it to family and friends...
I seriously doubt that Bernie was the only one who knew his scam was a scam, his sons and others, plus the auditors must have known and gone along with this.
I suspect there will be some serious blood spilling over the Madoff thefts, not just in the legal sense but vicious mafia style.
Someone mentioned Obama dare not prosecute him. I believe his administration will throw the book at him.
Obama voted for domestic surveillance and feels it is an important tool on the war on terror. How could he not prosecute the guy that exposed the program?
Its a cesspool in Washington.
to know Obama might really believe in the boogeyman. We're lost if that's the case.
I keep hoping Obama will peel off his mask on January 21 and say, look, I had to say what was politically expedient. I was lying about new wars in Afghantistan and Pakistan, Homeland Security is now what it's always been, National Security and spying on citizens is again against the laws of our foundational constitutional concepts. Cops can go back to being cops, mercenary armies banned and posse comitatus rules. I was just kidding about the death penalty, etc. etc. et-cetera.
than a Democratic politician charging his credit card for a prostitute?
We sure got a lot of cleaning up to do in the spook agencies... [Did you get that, boys?]
Speaking of which, when will The Boys in the Van release their debut album, "Listening to Your Love?"
"We are seeing the beginning of the end of the American empire," said Howard Zinn, author of "A People's History of the United States."
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/id...
NYTimes printed Spitzer's op-ed outlineing the crimes committed by Wall Street, Subprime and the White House. After the article appeared which I see no one read, the White House moved fast to get him out. All the names you hear today and some you haven't heard were robbing the Taxpayers from the inside of the Wall Steet Stocks and the US Treasury. It was smart for the White House to use Spitzer's personal life and lie that he used campaign funds. They knew Spitzer is a billaire. Now what was a shock is Americans welcomeed back Senate Vitter's who used campaign funds for prostitutes and still does. Senator Craig looking for sex in the men's room no problem. Pelosi and Feinstein got kick backs from the White House no problem. But Spitzer was about the stop the Wall Street Crash and Americans wanted him out. Even ABC helped by first making Ashley a victim then a celebrity. Even the Emperors Club is still in business overseas so the US clients, former UK Prime Minister, Duke of England and even Caryle Group's memebers plus Executives from Time Warner can still pay for sex. Yes again the Bush Administration stopped a Govenor who only wanted to stop US Taxpayers from losing their life saving but Americans didn't wont that. They wanted him out and followed the corrupt White House to our current status of a RECESSION. If Americans had only read the Spitzer OP-ED.
...and maybe read the previous comments: LINK
of any wrongdoing.
A friend of mine who works high up in the financial industry of another country (ya' all jes gonna' have to take my word on this), said that many people around him thought the prostitution issue was brought up to prevent his office from looking into the insurance and SEC issues.
This may or may not be true, but it does further make this case more important than another corrupt Chicagoian. We needed a person with the ego to take on the powers that be. Unfortunately, he needed what all us men need whether we admit it or not - young women. I would trade allowing sexy women to sell their ... assets ... for breaking corrupt men in stealing ours.
Eliot Spitzer was on the verge of gaining control of the New York State Senate for Democrats. His takedown effectively ended that process. The Republican Party was on its deathbed in New York. In a special election to replace a retiring Republican State Senator, Democrat Darrel Aubertien, a upstate dairy farmer, beat his Republican opponent.
That made the make up of the NY Senate 32 Republicans to 30 Democrats. Spitzer had launched an effort to pursuade at least one Republican to switch parties. That would create a 31-31 tie in the Senate. In the case of a tie, the deciding vote would be cast by the Lt. Governor David Paterson, Spitzer's running mate when he was elected in 2006. With Spitzer gone, Paterson becomes Governor. New York has no provision for replacing a Lt. Governor. Guess who is the tie breaker when there is no Lt. Governor? Yup, the Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. Spitzer's take down kept the New York State Senate safely in Republican control.
This was the political reason for targeting Spitzer. But politics is just the visible part of the class war. When the news hit the wires that Spitzer had been caught paying for sex, the New York Stock exchange basically stopped trading for about 30 minutes while floor traders celebrated. I saw it. Every day I am knocked over the head with more and more proof that the equity markets are a rigged game run by insiders. Watching the tape come to a halt while the NYSE celebrated the downfall of their state governor was pretty stark.
I was trading that day and it was ridiculous watching the market, and cnbc's reaction. There was a small rally because the cop who came to clean up wall street had been caught.
explanation of the contours surrounding this exponential shitpile.
Yet we keep doing what we've always done, which is to do nothing to empower ourselves. Does our discussion generate concrete acts to stop them, no. Which is why they carry on in broad daylight where it's safe.
Spitzer pays for a prostitute with a credit card. I am so calling BULLSHIT on that one. NOBODY who supposedly regulary visits prostitues would EVER in a million years be DUMB enough to actually give a credit number to a prostitute. Sorry, it just doesn't happen in the real World. NO prostitute would EVER in a million years accept payment with a credit card. It so has vice-cop written all over it that vice-cops are even smart enough not to try and pay a prostitute with a credit card. Paying for a prostitute is just not physically possible. It would be like trying to buy a dime bag of crack with a credit card. Occassionally someone is dumb enough to fall a sleep with a prostitute and they wake up to stolen credit cards; but, the idea that Spitzer was paying to play with plastic is just retarted.
Somebody hacked into this guys bank account and created a bunch of bogus transaction to a bogus account and claimed he was paying with a charge card.
This doesn't mean that he wasn't using prostitutes. All I am saying is that ALL of the evidence against him was complete fabricated by someone.
This smells of a political assasination.
that offers you cash back and buyer protection on prostitution services. They'll even replace her if you break her.
Credit cards are used to purchase pussy every day of the week. Duhhhhh
;)
if you're going after anyone, especially the Cons, you beeter keep your nose (or any other body parts) clean! Spitzer brought his downfall upon himself.
tell us that comment is a joke. In any case, it is. Stultifying.
Because I think if you're going to be throwing stones, you better make your house isn't made of extremely brittle glass? The guy knew he had a huge bullseye on his chest and he started renting a hooker? Please. That makes him more than an idiot. It makes him a hypocritical idiot. We're better off without his kind. If he had gone any higher up the political ladder, he would have ended up like LIEbermann.
The only person that made himself look foolish was Spitzer when he decided he just had to hump a hooker, especially after going after prostitution. Well, him and anyone who thinks he's a victim. The only thing he's a victim of is his own stupidity.
Answer me this question, would you still feel this way if he were a Con. Talk about stultifying.
You're an idiot.
...I might conclude the ultimate drift of these stories as saying maybe someone wanted the economy to completely fail? But that doesn't make any sense... who would gain? *Don't think about the 2 trillion the Fed disbursed in emergency funds yet won't reveal to who the money went to*
Wow, maybe the whole Bush admin was one giant Ocean's Eleven type robbery scam? From Fla 2k to now it all kinda fits.
Independent and biased watchdogs claim $8.5 trillion, Bloomberg.com state this now too, so pretty officialish.
The whole agenda of the bush administration seems to have been to rob America blind so yeah I've no doubt whatsoever that they wanted that robbing to stay hidden for as long as they could.
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/ar...
The BushCo/CheneyDyne mob wanted to keep the economic collapse at bay until AFTER they were gone and private citizens again, then they could blame it all on the "Democraps".
Too bad for them, in spite of taking down Spitzer, their house o' cards came down early. Just shows you how precarious the whole deal is.
As an aside, I'm happy to see these financial posts from Susie, I think it's very important that people start paying attention to this stuff. I know I am...now.
I wrote an editorial on Spitzer back in March.
Spitzer was about to expose a whole lotta mess and so the easiest and fastest means of getting him gone was to reveal what he (and how many other lobbyists, politicians, priests, etc., etc.) was up to in his private life.
READ MY Editorial HERE:
http://stupid-files.blogspot.com/2008/03/200-...
was very lucky that he only had to "resign" from his very promising political career. Kinda like the way Ted Kennedy was kinda eased out of thinking about running for president by a little accident. The Big Boys don't like it when folks go agin' 'em.
Oh fuck yeah. Exposure at the time Spitzer was onto them would have made the election route even worse for rethugs. Since the Justus Dept isn't interested in prosecuting crime anymore, I wonder if folks who lost money in Madoff's Ponzi scheme can seek relief in Civil Court from the people who obstructed the investigation, GDubya and company?
Of that Governor that Rove had put in prison?
Sound familiar?
Eureka!
Don Siegleman
Does a frog bump his ass when he hops?
Does a penguin freeze his balls in the snow?
those dates don't match up at all. Spitzer went down this past spring, these dates are from January 2006. What am I missing here?
Likewise revenge or counter attacks take time too, esp when they get wind of whats going down, its in the timing.
Does a penguin freeze his balls in the snow?
In the case of Eliot Spitzer your comment is more about Americans losing their jobs, homes and life saving in the freeze as it all melts way.
From John.....Was the Bush administration using illegally obtained information to take down political enemies? Oh, I think it's a safe bet. And do you suppose they were deliberately trying to keep Spitzer from exposing extensive Wall St. fraud?
What do you think?
John, is the Pope Catholic?
Kinda strange that these sophisticated financial investigators can catch a guy screwing a hooker and completely over look a hedgefund operator screwing everybody else.
would not have a made a ripple on any impartial financial datamining system, only if 'enemies of the state' were on the watch list would they have made the top 10.
The man was railroaded because he had dirt on some of these bastards...
http://harbingerofdoomblog.blogspot.com/2008/...
http://harbingerofdoomblog.blogspot.com/
yes, yes, i knew it all along. Cheney, the villain. That crooked smile, that snarl..yes ..I just knew Cheney loves torture. No heart, no soul.
You betcha!
Absolutely!
BAC
Wins a coconut, they had to protect the banksters and their leetle burglarizing friends.
A house of cards with various shades of illegality from the ponzi pond scum all the way up to the oh so respectable big names.
If they were looking specifically for ways to bring down their enemies, that's hardly data-mining, that's looking at the records of certain indviduals... wonder how Spitzer's activities fit the terrorism profile? If paying a hooker is terrorism, there must be a lot of terrorists in Washington DC.
"Was the Bush administration using illegally obtained information to take down political enemies?"
Of course they were. The whole idea was to spy on Americans! It's any politician's power-hungry wet dream. They just need an excuse to do it. I'm sure they do it anyway, but it's easier to hide behind a war.
A version of this story was carried a few weeks agon on Mike's blog Round-up under the heading of the top 25 stories of 2008 that the MSM never reported. I found it very informative and credible.
Account cancellation
In response to approximately 300 consumer complaints, then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office began an inquiry of AOL’s customer service policies. The investigation revealed that the company had an elaborate scheme for rewarding employees who purported to retain or "save" subscribers who had called to cancel their Internet service. In many instances, such retention was done against subscribers’ wishes, or without their consent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL
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