Exclusive: Goldman CEO hires high-profile defense attorney

[Roland99]

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/22/us-goldman-blankfein-idUSTRE77L5VK20110822

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein has hired Reid Weingarten, a high-profile Washington defense attorney whose past clients include a former Enron accounting officer, according to a government source familiar with the matter.

Blankfein, 56, is in his sixth year at the helm of the largest U.S. investment bank, which has spent two years dodging accusations of conflicts of interest and fraud.

The move to retain Weingarten comes as investigations of Goldman and its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis continue.

...

"Why do you bring in someone like that?" said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly. "It says one thing: that they're taking it seriously."

Read more: Reuters

[MsLeopard]

1. Oh great

Now our tax dollars can pay for their hefty legal fees..... :crazy:

[banned from Kos]

2. defense for execs at Enron and Worldcom - two big-time losers

with Fastow, Lay, Skilling, Ebbers et. al still sitting in jail or dead.

This is the best you could do, Lloyd?

[Roland99]

4. ha! No kidding, right?

[Po_d Mainiac]

12. The best god could do on short notice n/t

[TacticalPeek]

3. Goldman shares fell sharply shortly after Reuters reported Weingarten's hiring, closing down 4.7 pct

"Goldman shares fell sharply shortly after Reuters reported Weingarten's hiring, closing down 4.7 percent at $106.51, their lowest level since March 2009."


Poor things.

[tpsbmam]

5. Fell even more in after-hours trading:

$104.25

Awwwww.


Oops, forgot the link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/focus-media-results-on-tap-for-after-hours-release-2011-08-22

[Me.]

6. Is This One Of The Investigations The Obama Admin Is Trying To Stop?

[hughee99]

8. It will drag on until after the first Wednesday in November next year.

then will quietly be dismissed.

[lib2DaBone]

7. Obama will cave on any investigation of his Wall Street masters....

[Badsam]

9. I hope the Democratic party is looking for another candidate...

cause there is no way Im voting for Obama again.

[Demeter]

11. Ditto

[TomCADem]

13. Romney, A Former Wall Street Executive, Would Be Tougher? Please

Every Republican candidate has come out against Financial Reform and has openly discussed repealing financial reform.

[Demeter]

10. the Shape of things to come....FINALLY!

The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they are starting to turn...

[sofa king]

14. Notice the timing of the event.

Investigations and trials like these take years. This guy is lawyering up now, suggesting that this time next year, that lawyer will be busy.

A clever President, a really smart one, would be familiar with the pace and timing of federal investigations and prosecutions. A very clever President might guess that even if a guy like this buys the best lawyers he can, the opening phases of a trial still provide an excellent opportunity to advance previously unknown information.

A very, very clever--and also cynical--President might realize that even if the target is sure to eventually walk away scot free in our stacked and totally corrupt justice system, the timing of the investigation and trial can be arranged so that they occur smack in the middle of a general election season, thus allowing even a failed investigative effort to do enormous political damage to the party that backed up and covered up for the accused.

And what do you know? We happen to have such a smart and cynical President in office right now. This President in particular is a master of timing, gaming the tax cut extension in such a way that it will be the most important election issue next year, getting his own plan passed in the debt talks so that half a trillion dollars will be flensed from the Department of Defense without a single Democratic vote (in an election year), and so on.

If you look at virtually every single issue that has potential to damage the Republican Party, then imagine that issue as a vector with a direction and speed, you will see that all those vectors point to Q3/Q4, 2012. That means that someone has been carefully planning for two and a half years to have all those issues come to a boil just in time for the next election.

Or, it could all be a coincidence. You know, like 9/11.

[Roland99]

15. I dunno...that's kind of an optimistic take on the current President's position & expected behavior.

or maybe I'm just too cynical nowadays.

[sofa king]

17. Well, we'll see if the pot boils.

Truth be told, I'm wrong a lot more than I have been right, but this year for some reason I've been able to call it all the way.

Actually, I know the reason for all of my correct guesses, which is that I read the expiration dates in the legislation, while the Republicans apparently didn't. You'll see examples of sunset legislation driving the GOP insane for the next year, and all they can do is take hostages and risk getting "compromised" right in the can again.

This conjecture about this particular investigation-to-be-announced is much less solid and probably much more in keeping with my usual Ueker-level batting average.

[Roland99]

18. I hope you're right, though. and I wish we'd see faster and more aggressive prosecutions

These "white-collar" criminals are the more dangerous type, imo.

[randr]

16. The elephant in the room

If lower taxes for the rich created job growth we would be living in a boom time!