Why is Ghislaine Maxwell’s Lawyer Attacking Antitrust Enforcers?
mattstoller.substack.com
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division has gotten aggressive on white collar crime. So now there’s blowback from the defense bar, including some of the worst people in the world.
Keep putting this out there - the real crime these days is the smokescreen of division and distraction sown by the elites of both right and left trying to use gender and culture to keep people from realizing that the real issue is poverty. If the "poors" decide to focus on what's happened to them and force a reckoning, America will rise again.
Matt, thank you for trying to expose crime at the highest levels. The fish stinks at the head and I don’t know how the average person can be expected to be/do good when the (supposed) leaders are so clearly only in for personal gain. The “anything you can get away with” mentality goes against the way I was raised. So disappointing to see so many people selling their souls….
One comment from The Chickenshit Club always stood out to me; “These are otherwise good people who have done one bad thing”. Wish Jon Kanter was AAG when the Google/Apple/Intel/Adobe no poach scandal broke, things could be so so different now.
Something tells me that while O'Brien may have seen herself as a "tough, but fair" prosecutor, the defense attorneys who went up against her when she was at the DOJ really regarded her as weak. If she wouldn't bring cases where she was less than 50% sure she could get a conviction, then the defense attorneys probably knew that their clients would go scot-free as long as there weren't any blatantly incriminating documents to be unearthed in discovery.
I knew many attorneys in the antitrust division in the mid-2000s. One of them once told me that she thought they only really successfully prosecuted the dumb corporations/executives.
In part this is because (at least back then) the DOJ relied mostly on the amnesty system in order to bring criminal antitrust prosecutions. (For those that aren't aware - the antitrust division has a policy whereby the first member of a cartel to self-report criminal conduct to the division can escape prosecution as long as they cooperate fully with the government. So there's a "race to leniency" that often happens when a conspiracy starts to go south. Sometimes the calls for amnesty come within minutes of one another.) The upshot of relying on the amnesty system is that any antitrust prosecutions brought were either: (a) only uncovered because one party reported it via the amnesty system, or (b) involving conduct so incredibly stupid as to make winning a case easy.
Terrific and important piece. Naming those folks who affect a moral high ground while engaging in self serving defense of profiteers makes a difference. They will rail at being “doxxed” but are unashamed of their servitude.
Thank you for calling out the chickenshits in the Obama and Trump Administration that suppressed all criminal charges against the rich and powerful. This policy is a bigger threat to democracy than 1/6.
"I’m not sure why juries went the way they did, but if I had to guess, it’s probably because cheating has become normalized in American culture, so people have a tough time viewing stealing from your employees as crime."
There it is.... the kleptocracy which has thrust its shoots like kudzu throughout the landscape of the American plutocracy.
You are no chickenshit, Matt. And you are entertaining with your snarky edge - it does take the sting out of, as you brilliantly point out, the realisation that cheating has been normalised. Thank you.
I read the Chickenshit Club, and came away depressed. The 2nd half of the book seemed to be a litany of excuses as to why nothing will change. Seemed very Obama'ish to me. Let's hope they are wrong.
Matt, every day I’m thankful for your reporting. I read all the comments here which are all great and express portions of what I want to say. and I really have nothing to add on top. The way I think I can best help is to buy a gift subscription for a friend. Then maybe another until enough people read your writing and start giving a shit again.
Keep putting this out there - the real crime these days is the smokescreen of division and distraction sown by the elites of both right and left trying to use gender and culture to keep people from realizing that the real issue is poverty. If the "poors" decide to focus on what's happened to them and force a reckoning, America will rise again.
Matt, thank you for trying to expose crime at the highest levels. The fish stinks at the head and I don’t know how the average person can be expected to be/do good when the (supposed) leaders are so clearly only in for personal gain. The “anything you can get away with” mentality goes against the way I was raised. So disappointing to see so many people selling their souls….
One comment from The Chickenshit Club always stood out to me; “These are otherwise good people who have done one bad thing”. Wish Jon Kanter was AAG when the Google/Apple/Intel/Adobe no poach scandal broke, things could be so so different now.
Something tells me that while O'Brien may have seen herself as a "tough, but fair" prosecutor, the defense attorneys who went up against her when she was at the DOJ really regarded her as weak. If she wouldn't bring cases where she was less than 50% sure she could get a conviction, then the defense attorneys probably knew that their clients would go scot-free as long as there weren't any blatantly incriminating documents to be unearthed in discovery.
I knew many attorneys in the antitrust division in the mid-2000s. One of them once told me that she thought they only really successfully prosecuted the dumb corporations/executives.
In part this is because (at least back then) the DOJ relied mostly on the amnesty system in order to bring criminal antitrust prosecutions. (For those that aren't aware - the antitrust division has a policy whereby the first member of a cartel to self-report criminal conduct to the division can escape prosecution as long as they cooperate fully with the government. So there's a "race to leniency" that often happens when a conspiracy starts to go south. Sometimes the calls for amnesty come within minutes of one another.) The upshot of relying on the amnesty system is that any antitrust prosecutions brought were either: (a) only uncovered because one party reported it via the amnesty system, or (b) involving conduct so incredibly stupid as to make winning a case easy.
Terrific and important piece. Naming those folks who affect a moral high ground while engaging in self serving defense of profiteers makes a difference. They will rail at being “doxxed” but are unashamed of their servitude.
Thank you for calling out the chickenshits in the Obama and Trump Administration that suppressed all criminal charges against the rich and powerful. This policy is a bigger threat to democracy than 1/6.
I mean, getting two hung Juries doesn't sound like "less than 50%" to me.
" ... some of my proudest moments were exercising prosecutorial discretion to close investigations ..."
Yup - maybe like George Washington saying "Some of my proudest moments were running away when it looked like we couldn't win"
"I’m not sure why juries went the way they did, but if I had to guess, it’s probably because cheating has become normalized in American culture, so people have a tough time viewing stealing from your employees as crime."
There it is.... the kleptocracy which has thrust its shoots like kudzu throughout the landscape of the American plutocracy.
You are no chickenshit, Matt. And you are entertaining with your snarky edge - it does take the sting out of, as you brilliantly point out, the realisation that cheating has been normalised. Thank you.
Thanks for providing this behind the scenes view on systemic corruption. Trust in government is at historic lows https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/05/17/public-trust-in-government-1958-2021/ at times where so many important problems need collective action. Addressing systemic corruption should be of highest priority.
I read the Chickenshit Club, and came away depressed. The 2nd half of the book seemed to be a litany of excuses as to why nothing will change. Seemed very Obama'ish to me. Let's hope they are wrong.
Matt, every day I’m thankful for your reporting. I read all the comments here which are all great and express portions of what I want to say. and I really have nothing to add on top. The way I think I can best help is to buy a gift subscription for a friend. Then maybe another until enough people read your writing and start giving a shit again.
Thanks Matt
Thanks, Matt. Great article, enlightening
Fun fact: DaVita is a "certified Freedom-Centered Organization" https://www.worldblu.com/davita