Bush SEC Holdovers Cite Exec Privilege In Stonewalling Congress About Madoff Scandal

[Joanne98]

At a contentious Financial Services Committee hearing today about the failure of the Securities and Exchange Commission to prevent the Bernie Madoff scandal, the SEC's General Counsel cited executive privilege as reason that he and the SEC's enforcement branch were refusing to answer congressional inquiries. You can watch the video here - the executive privilege issue comes at about 5 minutes and 15 seconds into the clip.

As you'll see, SEC officials refuse to answer the committee's basic questions about the Madoff scandal, and the agency's acting general counsel, Andy Vollmer (a Bush holdover and maxed-out donor to John McCain's presidential campaign) explicitly cites executive privilege as his legal rationale for refusing to provide basic information to federal lawmakers.

Congress has a constitutional obligation to engage in basic fact finding, both in order to legislate reforms at the SEC and to publicly expose how our economy was destroyed by sharks like Madoff. Now, Bush holdovers at the SEC are using executive powers - powers that are now President Obama's - to prevent Democratic lawmakers from doing their job.

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11366

[blogslut]

1. This crap has got to stop

n/t

[tinymontgomery]

2. Fire their asses

get ride of them.

[Lint Head]

3. Executive Privilege?

Are they saying Bush and Cheney are culpable in the Maddoff scandal? More crimes added to the infinite list of criminal activity.
:dem:

[Postman]

4. Does the Committee have subpoena power?

This is the Bush plan for putting a halt to open government....make the Democrats launch expensive, lengthy investigations into all of the Bush Junta's activities. Bypassing needs to solve dire immediate crises....

I say Obama uses Bush's suspension of Habeas Corpus, put under arrest every Bush asshole who won't testify for ANY reason and waterboard them. After all, it's not torture, right?

[lamp_shade]

6. The rep from NY (Maloney?) suggested (threatened?) it at yesterday's hearing.

[fasttense]

5. Obama now has the executive privilege.

So unless Obama authorized it, the guy doesn't have leg to stand on.

I hope Congress challenges his claim. I thought we only had ONE President at a time?

[nc4bo]

7. Are SEC employees guaranteed lifetime employment or something?

Why haven't they been asked told to GTFO?

[nykym]

8. HAve the FBI

Storm the place warrant in hand collect everything and the assholes included. Fire them and appoint new ones this shit has got to stop!!!!

[peacetalksforall]

9. I've only seen the video in the link - he appears to be citing exec priv

as in past tense - that they were given exce privilege from something in 1941 or from Bush?

Was that the entire SEC Comm?

They appear to deserve every harsh question from the NY Comm member.

They were coached by lawyers to avoid questions, obviously.