04/01/10 YOU WONT READ THIS IN THE GREENWICH TIME: Greenwich Democratic Senate Candidate Lee Whitnum Calls For The Resignation Of Richard Blumenthal

Democratic candidate Lee Whitnum calls for the resignation of Richard Blumenthal as Attorney General and as a Democratic candidate for the US Senate.

Candidate Whitnum will meet press members:

4/1/10 8:00 – 8:30 pm and 4/2/10 7:30 – 8:00 am in the lobby of her residence
2 Homestead Lane, Greenwich, CT 06831. Please buzz unit 305.

Democratic Senate candidate Lee Whitnum called for the resignation of Richard Blumenthal today as the Attorney General and as the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. “He’s not fit,” said Whitnum. “He should have been protecting us, the people of Connecticut and the people of the United States. He should have installed the Martin Act the first year he was in office. The entire AIG FP fiasco could have been prevented. He didn’t do his job and as a result, the greatest financial debacle and bailout in this recession took place right here in Wilton, Connecticut.”

AIG Financial Products Division (AIG FP) in Wilton, Connecticut, is the branch of AIG responsible for guaranteeing the subprime loans and the office responsible for the biggest losses in Wall Street history since the Great Depression. According to the Hartford Current, “FP’s share of the AIG bonuses, combined with its central role in the meltdown that led to $170 billion of taxpayer bailouts, has incited politicians of every stripe, from President Barack Obama to state lawmakers, to decry AIG and its FP unit as “the great villains of this recession.”

“AIG FP the biggest villain of this recession, and it happened right here in Wilton! Why? Because Richard Blumenthal didn’t do his job. Our country will now have to pay for that bailout for years to come,” said Whitnum. “He needs to resign. He should have barged into the Wilton office and cracked heads Elliot Spitzer style. He didn’t. He’ll say his hands were tied – well he should have installed the Martin Act.”

As Attorney General, Elliot Spitzer used the Martin Act to crack down on abuse. The 1921 Martin Act grants extraordinary powers to an attorney general when fighting financial fraud. According to Nicholas Thompson in Legal Affairs (http://www.legalaffairs.org/Library/sub_pop_032003.html) an attorney general can “subpoena any document he wants from anyone doing business in the state,” make investigations secret or public at his whim, and “choose between filing civil or criminal charges whenever he wants. …”people called in for questioning during Martin Act investigations do not have a right to counsel or a right against self-incrimination. Combined, the act’s powers exceed those given any regulator in any other state.”

“The Martin Act gave Elliot Spitzer the power to crack heads and everyone in Wall Street knew it,” said Whitnum. “Never once did I hear a Wall Streeter express any fear for our Attorney General. Connecticut was lawless land for these guys.” Whitnum claimed. “Conversely, fear and disdain for Spitzer was expressed all the time. To his credit, Spitzer had the power and the knowledge and used it.”

“None of the Connecticut General Statutes grant the power of the New York Martin Act and Donnelly Acts, but Blumenthal failed us either way, if he had the power and didn’t act he failed us, and if he didn’t have the power he should have anticipated their need and made sure he got it,” said Whitnum. “As Wall Street offices migrated up here to get away from Spitzer and the power of the Martin Act, why didn’t Blumenthal take the necessary legal steps to install the Martin Act in Connecticut? Why didn’t he protect us? It was his responsibility. Common sense should have dictated that,” said Whitnum. “So Blumenthal literally drove past the AIG FP Wilton office every day to work in Hartford. If he had the power of the Martin Act, Blumenthal could have stopped in at any time. Did he even know they were there? It was his job; he failed us and his country.”

“A failure at such a cataclysmic level should not go rewarded. It’s bad enough that he hasn’t resigned as Attorney General, it is morally wrong to reward a man by making him the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate,” said Whitnum. “In his own words Blumenthal called the AIG FP meltdown ‘financial failure and economic destruction at the outrageous expense of taxpayers.’

“Well Mr. Blumenthal should look no further than his own mirror when assigning blame,” said Whitnum pointing out that Blumenthal also stated that he would prevent the AIG FP office from getting bonuses this year and failed.

“A year ago, Blumenthal said that he would stop the bonuses to the AIG FP office. He didn’t. Bonuses to the very people responsible! It’s outrageous!” said Whitnum. “If he’d had the Martin Act he could have filed civil or criminal charges. Even if he didn’t have the Martin Act, he could have modified any cause of action – being creative – anything to prevent those bonuses with taxpayer money – instead he failed and gave us excuses.”

Whitnum is referring to Blumenthal’s statement in March of 2009, “We should use any and every well-founded legal weapon to recapture these baseless bonuses at AIG — rewards for financial failure and economic destruction at the outrageous expense of taxpayers. My office will carefully investigate the merits of AIG’s claims under the Connecticut Wage Act, and will take every step necessary to fight this gross misuse of taxpayer money. Corporate collapse demands accountability — not windfall payments.”

“Blumenthal is all talk and no follow-through,” said Whitnum who claims she called AIG FP and they did indeed get bonuses in March of this year. “He could have stretched some cause of action to prevent those guys from getting their bonuses. Did Mr. Blumenthal even try to stop them?” Asked Whitnum. “I doubt it.”

Whitnum claims she got an email on March 18, 2010 from Mark Herr of AIG and they recently paid, ‘sharply reduced retention payments to employees of AIG FP”. In other words, they got bonuses this year. “This Attorney General did not do what he said he would!” said Whitnum. “Why do we keep rewarding those most responsible for the complete financial meltdown of our country – including Richard Blumenthal?” asked Whitnum. “Blumenthal has proven he’s reactive not proactive. We don’t need that in the Senate – there are enough go-along-to-get-along-types there already.”

Whitnum added, “Now Blumenthal is going after the rating agency Moody’s like he’s some sort of maverick. It wasn’t even his idea – the attorney general in Ohio did it first. Blumenthal has proven he is no star. It’s all about headlines.” said Whitnum. “We needed someone with an intellect that anticipates and the moral outrage to fight.”

Whitnum contrast him to Elliot Spitzer who as attorney general according the New York Times, ‘ridiculed regulators for not cracking down enough.’ “He was like the naysayer at the party, and he was mocked for it, who’s laughing now,” said Whitnum. “You’ve got to admire a guy who is a purist and a fighter,” laughs Whitnum referring to Elliot Spitzer Time 3/15/10 Magazine article. “Spitzer on his Utah ski vacation, stripped of power, and he’s still fighting, having words with the “Wall Street guys” at the bar for what they did to their country. If we’d had an Attorney General with a half of Spitzer’s fire perhaps AIG FP financial melt-down could have been prevented. Here’s another example…,” said Whitnum.

“In the September 16, of 2005 Greenwich Time Blumenthal said he had “..plans to lead a task force to explore reforming the industry,” the hedge fund industry. “Like the AIG FP bonuses, Blumenthal grabs headlines at what he is going to do and then he drops the ball – and this is just the public stuff. Makes you wonder if anyone is watching his legal work. Blumenthal has to go.

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