Now expected to return to private corporate practice, one more government appointee spinning through the lucrative revolving door between washington and wall street. That door could be a big reason why government treats the banks with kid gloves. A man who once worked for citigroup, jack lew, the president s chief of staff, has been picked to be the new treasury secretary. And Mary Jo White, the newly named head of the securities and exchange commission, is a chief litigator at a top law firm representing big investment banks like morgan stanley. With all this happening, its time to talk with journalist matt taibbi. Youve seen him on our broadcast before. A contributing editor at rolling stone, hes been tracking the high crimes and misdemeanors of wall street and washington for years. Welcome back to the show. Thanks for having me. Youre working on a story right now thatll come out in a couple of weeks on the hsbc settlement. Tell me about that, why it interests you. Well, the hsbc set
Company the rule of law isnt really the rule of law if it doesnt apply equally to everybody. I mean, if youre going to put somebody in jail for having a jot isis pocket, you cant let higher ranking hsbc officials off for laundering 800 million for the worst drug dealers in the entire world. And there is not a country in the world that believes that the u. S. Drone attacks that we are doing on countries that we are not at war with is the right and sustainable solution for us. All we have is the president interpreting his own powers and the limits on his own powers. And that is not the way its supposed to work. We need more oversight. Announcer funding is provided by Carnegie Corporation of new york, celebrating 100 years of philanthropy, d committed to dog real andermane good thworld. The kohlberg foundation. Independent production fund, with support from the partridge foundation, a john and polly guth charitable fund. The clements foundation. Park foundation, dedicated to heightening P
Company the rule of law isnt really the rule of law if it doesnt apply equally to everybody. I mean, if youre going to put somebody in jail for having a joint is his pocket, you cant let higher ranking hsbc officials off for laundering 800 million for the worst drug dealers in the entire world. And there is not a country in the world that believes that the u. S. Drone attacks that we are doing on countries that we are not at war with is the right and sustainable solution for us. All we have is the president interpreting his own powers and the limits on his own powers. And that is not the way its supposed to work. We need more oversight. Announcer funding is provided by Carnegie Corporation of new york, celebrating 100 years of philanthropy, and committed to doing real and permanent good in the world. The kohlberg foundation. Independent production fund, with support from the partridge foundation, a john and polly guth charitable fund. The clements foundation. Park foundation, dedicated
Roiled by frontline, public televisions premier investigative series. The other night, frontline broadcast a report called the untouchables, on how the department of justice allegedly has looked the other way for fear that prosecuting the banks would do even more damage to the american economy. It was a definite sense that justice backed off. Did the government fail . A number of people told us that you didnt make this a top priority. Well, im sorry that they think that because i made it an incredibly top priority. Thats lanny breuer, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division at the Justice Department. A week after the frontline report, he stepped down and is now expected to return to private corporate practice, one more government appointee spinning through the lucrative revolving door between washington and wall street. That door could be a big reason why government treats the banks with kid gloves. A man who once worked for citigroup, jack lew, the president
Well, im sorry that they think that because i made it an incredibly top priority. Thats lanny breuer, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division at the Justice Department. A week after the frontline report, he stepped down and is now expected to return to private corporate practice, one more government appointee spinning through the lucrative revolving door between washington and wall street. That door could be a big reason why government treats the banks with kid gloves. A man who once worked for citigroup, jack lew, the president s chief of staff, has been picked to be the new treasury secretary. And Mary Jo White, the newly named head of the securities and exchange commission, is a chief litigator at a top law firm representing big investment banks like morgan stanley. With all this happening, its time to talk with journalist matt taibbi. Youve seen him on our broadcast before. A contributing editor at rolling stone, hes been tracking the high crimes and misde