Why is no one talking about Stellar Wind and Eliot Spitzer?

[Th1onein]

In June 2013 the Washington Post and the Guardian published an OIG draft report, dated March 2009, leaked by Edward Snowden detailing the Stellar Wind program.

This is the program that snared Eliot Spitzer, who was on the trail of Wall Street criminals. They used this program to bring him down, even though he had done nothing illegal.

And people want to know what's the harm in it? Get real.

[Fawke Em]

1. Um... hiring a prostitute is illegal in New York.

[Th1onein]

2. Um, she wasn't a prostitute.

Even THEY admit that he committed no crime.

Go forth, educate thyself.

[JI7]

15. he was paying for sex, that is illegal

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. Um...you are missing the point!

Cheers!

[mikeysnot]

4. This is what brought him down...

His op ed in the post...

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2008-02-14/opinions/36828502_1_national-banks-occ-consumer-protection

Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.

Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.

In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.

[Th1onein]

5. Yes, but they brought him down by examining his bank account.

Do you know how they got access to his bank records?

[tammywammy]

10. The bank reported suspicious transactions.

He was going to wire above $10k which requires an IRS form. For obvious reasons he wanted to avoid that, so he broke up the wires into smaller amounts. That's when the bank flagged him for suspicious activity.

[Egnever]

13. Well I am sure that fact

Wont stop the woo of it being the all seeing eye that brought him down.

Much easier to believe he was targeted by the spooks.

[Delphinus]

9. That was my thought, too,

back when it happened - he came out against the wrong folks and had to be put back in his place.

[Enthusiast]

12. Appreciated....nt

[BuelahWitch]

6. Kick!

[WillyT]

7. They've Tried...

[AnotherMcIntosh]

8. Bringing down Eliot Spitzer should be remembered and discussed. It's unlikely that he is the only

one.

Just two examples:
1) On the morning after Gov Blagojevich criticized the Bank of America's actions and said that he was using his Administrative powers to order Illinois agencies to stop doing business with the B of A, they arrested him. He was a crook for years. But what Illinois politican and office holder hasn't been? Even prior to the arrest, Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris to be Obama's Senate replacement when the pay-to-play scheme was publicly known. Some Democrats outside of Illinois opposed that, but Obama did not nor did other Illinois Democrats.

2) After Mayor Filner from San Diego criticized the Bank of America's actions in trying to get a sidewalk chalk-writing protestor convicted and sent to jail for years for writing with washable on sidewalks in front of Bank of America branches, there was a major push to get Filner out of office. Some or all of the allegations may be true. But one allegation which was treated as rape, attempted rape, or a subset of that, involved a single pat on the butt of a campaign worker years ago. If there are really terrible things to bring up about Filner that should cause Democrats to reject him in favor of a Republican replacement, why bring that up?

Steller Wind, or anything equivalent to it, can bring down almost any politician. Angels don't run for office. We are lucky when some politicians are on our side.

[JI7]

16. are you seriously defending that sleaze Filner ????????????

i haven't seen the pat on the butt treated as rape. but you are acting as if it was ok because it wasn't rape when it isn't.

[JI7]

17. sexual harassment is ok if the guy doing it is liberal ?

you know most of the women who are accusing him are liberals who supported him and were looking forward to making positive changes. they should put up with his harassment so a republican doesn't get into office ?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

19. Since I did not say "sexual harassment is ok if the guy doing it is liberal," you should re-read the

post. Or not.

But if you choose to not comprehend, please don't waste anyone's time by saying that I said something I did not. My words speak for themselves. They don't need to be re-interpreted by you.

[HiPointDem]

11. +1

[Egnever]

14. Spitzer Fall Began With Bank Reports

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/nyregion/13legal.html?pagewanted=all

Experts who advise banks and individuals on anti-money laundering regulations, said that the two banks were just following the law when they reported the suspicious financial transactions to federal authorities.

These officials said that banks are likely to more closely monitor the transactions of politicians like Mr. Spitzer than those of average customers. In part, that is because of legislation passed after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

As part of the “know your customer” requirements, banks must assess their clients’ financial patterns and set guidelines to ensure that an alarm is sounded if there are unusual transactions, said Bob Serino, a former deputy chief counsel at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency who now advises banks and individuals on anti-money laundering regulations.

“The idea is that if somehow a customer who usually deposits $3,000 a week starts depositing $300,000 into his account daily, that would be kicked out and looked at,” Mr. Serino said. “Banks could certainly decide that a politician’s risk rate is higher and thus have a higher level of due diligence set for someone like Spitzer.”

In addition, banks must exercise an extra level of due diligence for a “politically exposed person.” While the law defines such people as “current or former foreign political figures, their immediate family and their close associates,” several banking officials at major institutions said that as a matter of practice, they extend extra scrutiny to American political figures.

The July Suspicious Activity Report by North Fork that flagged Mr. Spitzer’s transactions picked up three wire transfers totaling roughly $10,000 to QAT International, in what appeared to the bank as a possible attempt to avoid a separate legal requirement that banks notify the Treasury Department of transactions of $10,000 or more, officials involved with the case have said.

Good lord the tinfoil hats here are getting fancy.

[Recursion]

18. Because Stellar Wind only involves bank transfers that are already required to be reported

to the government?

There's nothing particularly sinister about it.