**** KD..that was fast

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Can you claim you have grounds for something when you don't?

Karl, as usual agree with everything. BUT, I know for a fact this is something practiced by police officers during interrogations to induce a confession (without attorney present - not stupid enough to try it with one in the room). It is also practiced by district attorneys, but generally done in the form of a question when they are getting someone to plea. "What if we told you there was a tape of the <crime>?"

Over all.....excellent ticker and keep it up. I think we are finally getting htem on the run.

Yep - the question is whether lying in this circumstance is criminal.

In general lying is not, of course.

Karl, I'm not so sanguine that new statutes prohibiting bail-outs would be any more effective than current laws that TPTB have simply ignored (as the Fed taking junk at its auction windows attests). I have more faith in the shareholder lawsuit. Judges generally favor lawful behavior over illegal behavior. Given the corporate capture of the other two branches of the U.S. Government, the courts are our last defense against the rascals. No doubt this testimony will have an impact in that case - and Lewis could be found personally liable. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Ken's biggest problem? No Ivy League pedigree. He's going to twist in the wind.

Sounds like Ken Lewis was trying to get the best deal he could. I'd be blaming Hank and Ben for giving him the money. I'm not saying that Lewis is innocent by any means, but there's two bigger criminals named in this post

" Can you claim you have grounds for something when you don't?"

Heck, I do it in my line of business. The key for me is the threat preceeded by the word, "may". For example, "I may shove it up your..ummm....nose." I'm not saying I'm going to do it only that the action is a choice not yet taken.

I applaud Lewis as a businessman/negotiator in this instance. But that's it. Becuase the MER deal was one of the worst all time.

This week treasury auctions $111B and next week $180B. So it comes to more than a quarter of a Trillion dollars in just two weeks. Look at Auction Results and Upcoming Auctions.

How far and for how long this insanity will continue?

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/RT/RTGatew....

So Lewis is either a good businessman protecting his shareholders or a criminal blackmailing the FED. Tough decision.

Completely off topic.....Solnow....never change your icon!

What Arw said. Not to mention that if you subscribe to the belief that Ken was himself being strong-armed by Hank and Ben, it is all the more reasonable that he might attempt to respond in kind.

so Ken strong armed Ben and Hank???

I think it started with Hank & Ben pushing Ken to close the deal, and then Ken essentially flipping them off as he did it by threatening to use the MAC. I can't say I would have done any different, but dealing with the government does seem to make this a problem.

Truth is,if Lewis gets indicted at any level,Hank & Ben would have to go down with him in subsequent trials as Lewis can always claim he was strong armed 1st and was only doing his job by looking out for the shareholders.
Either way,the taxpayers are just ****ed or ****ed again.

Looks like the lying was intended to induce a contract (and its terms) with the government, and that the government relied on what Lewis said. That sounds like misrepresentation or fraud.

But to drag Lewis, his gang, and Bank of America Corp into court, DOJ has got to file a criminal complaint, or some one has got to sue.

Much of the truth will come out but by then only a few will care. For Example, only a feww people know about Milken and Boesky's gang of 23 (insider-trading and junk bonds).

Type Milken into google search, but do not hit the return key. Just look at the google suggestions. All of them give him a positive image. What a wonderful man. Infact, he is a slimy crook who pays google (that's their business) to make positive "suggestions."

Let this ****ing thing go to court. That will bring everything and everyone including Bernanke and Paulson out in the open. In the process it will expose the inner workings and frauds going at both the FED and the US Treasury that American public never knows about. Ken Lewis will fight this thing to death. After all he was the CEO and Chairman of BoA and I don't think that he has any public history of bad records in the past. And remember that BoA was a much better bank compared to other banks before the acquistions of CFC and MER. BoA used to bounce pretty hard showing institutional interest on rallies even before the acquisition of MER.

It might be possible that Paulson and Bernanke could have coerced or offered some concessions to Ken Lewis for buying CountryWide Financial. Otherwise who would have touched that piece of MBS **** even with a 10 foot pole ? Paulson and Ben could have thought that we need to find a better bank like BAC to handle this junky MBS CFC. How come no one is talking about that ?

The more I think about it the more I think that Ken Lewis is being set up as a scapegoat or a fall guy. I am not saying that he is a saint or comparable to John Chambers. But to put him in the category of a crook CEO is rather going over board.

Yes. Much better KD. Not sure if the law was broken. That's the way to put it. Suggest it. Let lawyers make the call. Put up the evidence. That's the best way. Politics first....that includes being a policeman on the beat, a prosceutor, a judge. That's reality. If the evidence is strong, the more likely to find a committed prosecutor. One that will stay the course before jumping to private industry or higher public office. Very cool man.

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Karl, as usual agree with everything. BUT, I know for a fact this is something practiced by police officers during interrogations to induce a confession

Deception is unethical & immoral. Period.

It should also be illegal in any type of legal/financial/public situation - imo.

When as a society we say this kind of deception is OK, and this one is not - why are we surprised when the result is crooks running the show.

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It might be possible that Paulson and Bernanke could have coerced or offered some concessions to Ken Lewis for buying CountryWide Financial. Otherwise who would have touched that piece of MBS **** even with a 10 foot pole ? Paulson and Ben could have thought that we need to find a better bank like BAC to handle this junky MBS CFC. How come no one is talking about that ?

From this confidential letter BAC was forced by congress to provide, we know BEYOND ANY DOUBT Bernanke provided concessions to Ken Lewis for the Countrywide transaction...

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Ben reiterated that we had stepped up in the past including in the Countrywide transaction, a change in tone from our earlier discussions.

BAC-ML-HOGR-502-00000957




http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/1....

We also know BEYOND ANY DOUBT Hank indicated the board would be removed if they did not accept the MER deal. The note was HAND WRITTEN, marked with a large X, AND highlighted with a yellow marker! (possibly hand written by BAC's own Brian T Moynihan!)

"Tres & Fed - remove board & mgt"

HOGR-00471694 as written on a Renaissance Charlotte Suites Hotel memo pad.