by Larry Doyle, Sense on Cents
Are you sick of being lied to?
Seriously.
At what point do we as a nation say ENOUGH to the lies and scandalous practices within and around Washington?
I am referring to the lies – and yes, they are lies – that were put forth by the Attorney General’s office in the investigation of mortgage fraud. If you do not think Eric Holder, Lanny Breuer, and others intentionally misrepresented – er, lied – regarding the efforts of the DOJ to the American public, I beg to differ.
Let’s not give President Obama a pass on this front. Recall that the president formulated a Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in late 2009 to actively and aggressively pursue those involved in mortgage fraud and related activities. What does President Obama have to say about the recent IG report that skewers the DOJ’s pathetic efforts to investigate mortgage fraud on behalf of the American public?
Thankfully, a few members of Congress are willing to call Attorney General Holder on the carpet. Regardless of what people may think of Elizabeth Warren, Maxine Waters, and Elijah Cummings, we owe them a debt of gratitude for calling Holder to account on the charade perpetrated by his office at the behest of President Obama. Where are the Republicans in Congress to join this call?
If anybody wanted further confirmation as to how the Obama administration, Congress, and our major financial regulators are still very much ‘in bed with Wall Street,’ then read on and review the letter released today by the three aforementioned members of Congress that details:
The FBI Criminal Investigative Division ranked Complex Financial Crimes as the lowest of the six ranked criminal threats within its area of responsibility, and ranked mortgage fraud as the lowest subcategory threat within the Complex Financial Crimes category . . .
The Inspector General also reported that the data collected regarding the Department’s mortgage fraud prosecutions were not reliable . . .
The Inspector General also reported that the Department has publicly reported inaccurate and inflated data to the public . . .
The number of Americans who have been the victims of mortgage fraud is unknown and the Inspector General’s report indicates that the Department’s own data are unreliable indicators of the extent of the Department’s efforts to identify and prosecute those responsible for illegal lending schemes. This report calls into question the Department’s commitment to investigate and prosecute crimes such as predatory lending, loan modification scams, and abusive mortgage servicing practices.
Based on this review one might think the DOJ was not really even trying to hold those engaged in mortgage fraud to proper account. Well, that would be accurate. The ineffectual efforts by the DOJ on this front strike me as eerily similar to the ‘all bark no bite’ put forth by the DOJ on other similar fronts including the manipulation of markets, money laundering, investor abuse, and more.
The degradation of the rule of law that stems from the crony capitalism on display here is central to the breakdown of a civil and democratic society.
Are you listening Mr. Holder and Mr. President?
For those who care to read the two page letter signed by Warren, Waters, and Cummings, I welcome sharing it (click on image below to access).
