Banking Law

The Good News

There was great news today for two of Bank Lawyer's Blog's favorite public servants. First, Eliot (Mess) Spitzer beat the rap on a Mann Act violation, not because he didn't violate the Mann Act, but because the "Justice" Department says that it doesn't prosecute the "Johns." Just the "Jills," we presume. Or, perhaps, just the Johns who aren't among the rich and the powerful.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia said today that his office had uncovered no evidence that Spitzer used public or campaign funds in a series of payments to a shell company, QAT Consulting.

"We have determined that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against Mr. Spitzer for any offense relating to the withdrawal of funds for, and his payments to, the Emperors Club VIP," Garcia said in a prepared statement.

Justice Department policy generally discourages bringing criminal charges against customers who purchase the services of prostitutes or transport them across state lines. Lawyers for Spitzer had argued that prosecutors would need to indict all of the services' clients, not just Spitzer, to prove they were not singling out the controversial New York Democrat.

We're not sure why they couldn't "single out" Spitzer. If there ever was a punk who deserved to be singled out for a sound public thrashing, "The Spitz" filled the bill. He abused his public authority every chance he got, and behaved like a bully with a publicity fetish. Well, that just goes to show you that good things happen to bad people.

More good news came the way of our favorite bank regulator, Sheila ("Bear") Bair. The press has been floating names of possible Secretary of the Treasury under an Obama regime, and Bair's buddy Barney Frank is pushing hard for one of his girl-crushes.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair should play a prominent role in Barack Obama's administration as the president-elect starts assembling his team.

``I think very highly of her,'' Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said yesterday in a telephone interview from New York. ``I think she should play a role.''

Frank has advocated giving Bair, a Republican, greater responsibility in managing the government's response to the mortgage and foreclosure crisis.

The "role" we'd like to see her play is Desdemona in Shakespeare's "Othello." We'd cast Pac-Man Jones as Othello and would especially enjoy the scene where Othello chokes the living stuffing out of her. Pac-Man can't stay out of trouble long enough to play football, so we ought to at least get some use out of him.

We can't decide whether getting Bair out of the FDIC and into the Treasury would cause more harm than just having her continue her efforts at the FDIC to turn it into a consumer advocacy special interest group. We remain hopeful that Dennis Kucinich will use his tin foil hat to communicate with his space alien friends and have her beamed aboard the mother-ship for a few years of "probing." That may be unrealistic, but hope springs eternal.

Full post as published by Bank Lawyers Blog on November 06, 2008 (boomark / email).