My, my my ......

Goldman Hires Greg Craig, Ex-White House Lawyer, For SEC Defense

Goldman Sachs is launching an aggressive response to its political and legal challenges with an unlikely ally at its side -- President Barack Obama's former White House counsel, Gregory Craig.

The beleaguered Wall Street bank hired Craig -- now in private practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom -- in recent weeks to help in navigate the halls of power in Washington, a source familiar with the firm told POLITICO.

“He is clearly an attorney of eminence and has a deep understanding of the legal process and the world of Washington,” the source said. “And those are important worlds for everybody in finance right now.”

They’re particularly important for Goldman.

On Friday, the SEC charged the firm with securities fraud in a convoluted subprime mortgage deal that took place before the collapse of the housing market. Next week, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein will face questions from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is looking into the causes of the housing meltdown, the source said.

In Craig, Goldman Sachs will have help from a lawyer with deep connections in Democratic circles.

Craig served as White House counsel during the first year of Obama’s presidency, but is seen as having been pushed out for his role in advocating a strict timeline for the closing of the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. His departure frustrated many liberal Obama supporters who saw Craig as a strong advocate for undoing some of what they saw as the worst excesses of the Bush era.

>snip<

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/19/goldman-hires-greg-craig-_n_543735.html

Somehow this comes first to mind ......



I also think we ought to buy him a t-shirt.

Craig was not pushed out because he wanted a timeline on closing Gitmo.

For your information, the Senate blocked funding for transferring prisoners to the Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois as ordered by the President and a Judge overruled the order to move at least one prisoner. Gitmo remains open because of these problems and no one in the Administration was forced out because of it. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp

Unrec all you want. It doesn't change that.

You can argue what's speculative and what isn't. That's fine. But he is now defending Goldman against the people he just worked for.

Sorry, your tangential BULLSHIT argument is a big fat FAIL when weighed against the larger facts.

regardless of who he works for now. This is a failed argument that attempts to tie Goldman's immoral practice with the administration. That's the FAIL argument here.

He worked in the White House, for the administration, where he was the lawyer.

He left.

He now works for Goldman, where he's their lawyer against an administration beef.

Nothing else matters. If the rest of the article says that he flew on a spaceship and implanted electronic chips in the "anal-vaginal area" of a woman from Georgia, it doesn't matter. He worked at the White House and now he works at Goldman.

Succinct and to the point.

.... a dfferent article, in its full, three paragraph entirety:

Former WH Counsel Greg Craig Signs on With Goldman Sachs, May Avoid Ethics Tangle

April 20, 2010 8:53 AM

Compton ABC News' Ann Compton reports: Goldman Sachs has reached into the ranks of the Obama White House alumni for some political protection. Former White House counsel Greg Craig has been hired to advise the Wall Street giant after it was charged by the government last Friday with fraud and misleading its own investors. Politico first broke the story Monday night.

Officials at the White House say Craig did not alert them about his decision to take on Goldman Sachs as a client at the law firm Skadden Arps, where Craig now works.

Federal ethics rules prohibit lobbying, but Craig may have avoided complications. An administration official explains, "a former White House employee cannot appear before any unit of the Executive Office of the President on behalf of any client for 2 years -- one year under federal law and another year under the pledge pursuant to the January 2009 ethics executive order” signed by President Obama. But the Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed the civil lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, is an independent agency and West Wing advisors believe Craig’s work would not run afoul of the rules IF Craig does not contact the White House.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/04/former-wh-counsel-greg-craig-signs-on-with-goldman-sachs-may-avoid-ethics-tangle.html

As I said, he worked for the White House. Now he works for Goldman. Real simple.

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This interchange between this white house and Goldman is THE issue.

that make it mean nothing. If you actually read the original POLITICO article referenced by the HuffPo article, you'd have seen this:



Craig left the administration a year ago. He's a private lawyer. He's hired by Goldman. He can't actually represent them by law, but he can consult on process.

The fact that you want this to mean something says more about your hate for Obama than anything else.

But we are not supposed to notice. Politicians are just for "show." To make us believe that we, the people have a voice. We do NOT!

We have OWNERS. They are the big money interests who have bought off all the politicians.

Good honest hardworking people continue to elect representatives who don't GIVE A DAMN about them.

They've proven that since Saint Reagan: One big corporate right wing duopoly which functions at the will of Big Money Interest.

Because you have a long standing hatred for Obama.

it, even to yourself, during your quiet moments, would be too painful.

Yes, I get it. IMO, you are grasping onto a delusion. Unless you are wealthy, it's a bitter pill to swallow for anyone who is aware of current events and is blessed with an average IQ.

Its all about Obama for you, always.

This is about a PATTERN. A pattern of long standing that is simply unchanged in this administration. S&F is correct in her view. But you can't stand it if anything evens HINTS at Obama criticism.

Man, it sure is fun watching you twist yourself into knots.

Try this on:

IT LOOKS BAD

IT SMELLS BAD

There are a quintillion other lawyers, but they pick Mr. Inside.

Stop it, yer killin' me.

:rofl:

Yeah, yeah ...... no laws were broken in the making of this excuse. Doesn't matter. It LOOKS BAD.

And that's called POLITICS.

Ask me sometime about salt in food. That's an issue I care about and I agree with, but that is WRONG politically.

But you go ahead and parse and ascribe your view of what I'm thinking and accuse me of being a freeper.

:eyes:

But that is TANGENTIAL to the issue.

He worked in the White House and now he's working for Goldman. Per-ee-uhd!

I'm not willing to jump to conclusions.

There may be certain cases he cannot work on.

Think I would want someone competent defending me in this situation.

Don

Boies was the Bush v Gore guy

He worked for Clinton during the impeachment and thats what goofed me up. Sorry about that. 1998 President Clinton appointed Craig as Assistant to the President and Special Counsel in the White House.

Don

I always thought of Craig as a good lawyer. He surely served Clinton well. This thread should not be taken to imply otherwise (such as the handwringing, above).

My beef today is the connection to Goldman. It is as if they have a bus running from there to the White House and it is now operating in two directions. **That** bothers me.

Not transparent, per say, but sorta visible.

Of course, there are plenty of diversion mongers along the route.

not really though.......

Or, there is always another lawyer who will.

there's no point in demanding that lawyers take political stands and refuse to represent certain people, in fact, it boils down to saying some should be shunned and without right to counsel.

Yep, even Wall Street has the right to counsel.

People in high places always have connections, and there is plenty of this happening every day.

Yes, Wall Street seemingly has ALL the rights now in addition to owning our three Branches of Government.

Greed is GOOD if you are part of the blessed upper 1%.

If we could get "a sense of HELL" we'd envision Satan has it staffed with former Wall Street Executives. :grr: :nuke: :grr:

Pointless exercise, but it worked up a good sweat so it was probably healthy for them at least .... :)

Edited to add: Some apologists need lots of exercise; keeps them in shape for running in circles and avoiding facts.

I am not stupid, I see how bad this looks, but this guy was supposedly more liberal than the administration, yet now that he was kicked to the curb by the Obama administration, he's seen as an 'insider'.

See, I get how it looks bad on it's face, but when you use your head to think about it for just one minute, the initial reaction seems to be just plain overly cynical.

I said upthread that I like Craig. i do. he's a good lawyer. But it is beside the point.

Goldman <--> White House <--> Goldman <--> White House <--> Goldman <--> White House <--> Goldman <--> White House <--> Goldman <--> White House <--> Goldman <--> White House <--> Goldman <--> White House for years and years and years. The message is, as has been oft repeated: New Boss Same As Old Boss.

Perception in reality.

I said it twice in my post, in case you missed it ;)

My point was, for those of us on the left who use our brains, it's really not that big of a deal. This is assuming we set aside the right-wing spin machine for a minute - for the sake of argument, of course :)

:)

Weren't they the Bananna Splits?

the more they remain the same. The sad thing is, I'm not even surprised. K&R :kick: