To defend himself against today’s civil fraud charges, former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis plans to call Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke to the stand, reports Charles Gasparino.
Ken Lewis' defense team is led by the revolving door opportunist, the former US Attorney, Mary Joe White. According to Gasparino, White hopes to get Paulson and Bernanke to reveal that Lewis did not mislead the government about BofA's deteriorating financial condition in the aftermath of its Merrill Lynch deal.
In a statement, White said that Lewis is being "public vilified by the political search for accountability for the financial meltdown."
Of all the crooks involved in all the shady deals surrounding the bailouts, it is remarkable that Lewis ends up as the fall guy for having made the error of making a bid to buy Merrill Lynch, which he tried to back out of, but was muscled by Paulson and Bernanke into continuing with the acquisition.
Of course, the charges against Lewis, by New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo, are all about politics and Cuomo setting up a resume for future political runs that may include a run for New York state governor and eventually the White House. His modus operandi, as is that of most attorney generals, is to charge the highest ranking person surrounding a scam that does not have strong political connections.
In a serious trial, which Cuomo has no interest in conducting, Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke would be frogged marched through the streets of Manhattan on their way to trial.
Ken Lewis' defense team is led by the revolving door opportunist, the former US Attorney, Mary Joe White. According to Gasparino, White hopes to get Paulson and Bernanke to reveal that Lewis did not mislead the government about BofA's deteriorating financial condition in the aftermath of its Merrill Lynch deal.
In a statement, White said that Lewis is being "public vilified by the political search for accountability for the financial meltdown."
Of all the crooks involved in all the shady deals surrounding the bailouts, it is remarkable that Lewis ends up as the fall guy for having made the error of making a bid to buy Merrill Lynch, which he tried to back out of, but was muscled by Paulson and Bernanke into continuing with the acquisition.
Of course, the charges against Lewis, by New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo, are all about politics and Cuomo setting up a resume for future political runs that may include a run for New York state governor and eventually the White House. His modus operandi, as is that of most attorney generals, is to charge the highest ranking person surrounding a scam that does not have strong political connections.
In a serious trial, which Cuomo has no interest in conducting, Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke would be frogged marched through the streets of Manhattan on their way to trial.
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