WikiLeaks' Next: A Major US Bank.

[cyint]

I'm guessing Goldman Sachs.

Could be any of them. Why do you lean Goldman Sachs?

 

[georgephillip]

"He's been relentlessly revealing some of the US government's most deeply held secrets, but for his next act, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says he will expose the corruption of a major American bank.

"In an interview with Andy Greenberg of Forbes earlier this month, Assange said his whistleblower website possesses and intends to disclose tens of thousands of secret documents from a major US financial institution early next year.

"It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume," Assange said."

No further details were provided; however, Assange predicted the impact of these disclosures could rival the Enron emails, "which revealed the corruption of the Houston-based energy company and led to its demise in 2001."

WikiLeaks' Next:

The GOP will never let this happen.

If the Pentagon and Department of State are unable to prevent embarrassing disclosures, how would the Republicans stop such revelations?

 

[georgephillip]

"He's been relentlessly revealing some of the US government's most deeply held secrets, but for his next act, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says he will expose the corruption of a major American bank.

"In an interview with Andy Greenberg of Forbes earlier this month, Assange said his whistleblower website possesses and intends to disclose tens of thousands of secret documents from a major US financial institution early next year.

"It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume," Assange said."

No further details were provided; however, Assange predicted the impact of these disclosures could rival the Enron emails, "which revealed the corruption of the Houston-based energy company and led to its demise in 2001."

WikiLeaks' Next:

That first line is overblown and false.

I agree so far there's been no information released by WikiLeaks that could topple Administrations or put Dick Cheney in prison; however, it's rumored Assange has a cyber- Life Insurance policy consisting of megabytes of details that would automatically post all over the internet in the event of Julian's demise.

Some of this information is alleged to be among the most damning he has yet uncovered.

 

[JiggsCasey]

It will be interesting to see what financial institution is exposed. More importantly, will we learn anything that many haven't already assumed about the banks?

Two guesses:

Bank of America and/or Citibank.

As for learning, anyone paying attention is well aware. But greater exposure can never hurt, especially for those in complete denial, insisting U.S. banks never do anything wrong.

 

[georgephillip]

"He's been relentlessly revealing some of the US government's most deeply held secrets, but for his next act, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says he will expose the corruption of a major American bank.

"In an interview with Andy Greenberg of Forbes earlier this month, Assange said his whistleblower website possesses and intends to disclose tens of thousands of secret documents from a major US financial institution early next year.

"It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume," Assange said."

No further details were provided; however, Assange predicted the impact of these disclosures could rival the Enron emails, "which revealed the corruption of the Houston-based energy company and led to its demise in 2001."

WikiLeaks' Next:

That first line is overblown and false.

Good point. As far as I can tell the only substantive thing exposed is that we keep far, far too much secret. It's almost as if everything at State or DoD is presumed secret unless vetted otherwise.

I haven't spent hours pouring over all the cables. The most significant information I've seen so far relates to the coup in Honduras during June of 2009:

"By July 24, 2009, the U.S. government was totally clear about the basic facts of what took place in Honduras on June 28, 2009.

"The U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa sent a cable to Washington with subject: 'Open and Shut: The Case of the Honduran Coup,' asserting that 'there is no doubt' that the events of June 28 'constituted an illegal and unconstitutional coup.'

"The Embassy listed arguments being made by supporters of the coup to claim its legality, and dismissed them thus: 'none ... has any substantive validity under the Honduran constitution.'

"The Honduran military clearly had no legal authority to remove President Zelaya from office or from Honduras, the Embassy said, and their action - the Embassy described it as an 'abduction' and 'kidnapping' - was clearly unconstitutional."

Remembering how Hillary and Obama and others tap danced around the word "coup" in its immediate aftermath and the way corporate tools in congress made clear their support for Zelaya's unconstitutional removal, this disclosure would have been far more useful had it happened 18 months ago.

Wikileaks Honduras

 

[georgephillip]

Unfortunately this one wont be very surprising to me. Just read some reports today that the Fed has aggressively secretly bailed out numerous European Banks as well. The Fed is a secret organization that definitely needs to be exposed more. These Bank leaks should be interesting but not very surprising.

Don't forget McDonalds and Harley Davidson...

"NEW YORK -- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday reluctantly opened the books on its monumental campaign to save the financial system in the midst of the recent crisis, revealing how it distributed some $3.3 trillion in relief.

"The data revealed that the Fed's aid was scattered much more widely than previously understood...

"The data revealed that the Fed's aid was scattered much more widely than previously understood. Two European megabanks -- Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse -- were the largest beneficiaries of the Fed's purchase of mortgage-backed securities.

"The Fed's dollars also flowed to major American companies that are not financial players, including McDonald's and Harley-Davidson, through unsecured short-term loans.

The Fed proved once again it serves bankers and bondholders at the expense of debtors:

"The mortgage purchase program has come under withering criticism by economists and financial experts who believe the Fed's initiative has unnecessarily inflated the housing market, and prevented the cleansing that pretty much all experts believe is necessary for a full economic rebound.

"However, the program has also been heavily praised for preventing an Armegedon-type situation in which mortgage costs could have skyrocketed, collapsing the housing market and leading to even more foreclosures."

Fed Opens Books

 

[georgephillip]

It will be interesting to see what financial institution is exposed. More importantly, will we learn anything that many haven't already assumed about the banks?

Two guesses:

Bank of America and/or Citibank.

As for learning, anyone paying attention is well aware. But greater exposure can never hurt, especially for those in complete denial, insisting U.S. banks never do anything wrong.

After the Savings and Loan scandals in the 80s between 1000 and 1500 bankers went to prison for economic crimes orders of magnitude smaller that our current looting.

With the exception of Bernie Madoff, 0 bankers have even been charged with any form of fraud.

If Assange can provide smoking guns, maybe Wall Street's luck will finally run out.

 

[Synthaholic]

This will make Dylan Ratigan's Christmas the best Christmas ever!!!

 

[georgephillip]

"So far, WikiLeaks have concentrated their efforts on U.S. foreign policy, from wars to diplomacy. Though little concrete action appears to have been taken in response to the leaks, their next target may spark a different reaction.

Bank of America shares fell 3 percent on Tuesday after Julian Assange hinted that he had as much as 5 GB worth of their documents revealing some shady behavior.

'We know they've made horrific acquisitions... taken massive write-downs... if they actually had to report that, they're probably technically insolvent,' financial blogger Barry Ritholtz told cable news."

Wiki: Economic Warfare

 

[georgephillip]

I'm guessing Goldman Sachs.

If you're right and the details released next year have the same impact as the Enron emails had, do you think the US (global?) economy survives the demise of Goldman Sachs without another Great Depression?

What about the Republican AND Democratic Parties?