One day after hedge funds decided to pull out excess capital stored at Deutsche Bank, a late morning rumor involving the Department of Justice negotiating down a planned fine on the German bank boosted the stock markets and brought about a ‘false calm’ to Wall Street. However, just as the Federal Reserve uses regional Presidents to go on stage and jawbone rhetoric that they never intend to fulfill, today’s ‘rumor’ does little to stem the flow of blood that is hemorrhaging from Deutsche Bank.
In fact, all it really does is validate how much the DOJ is in bed with the banks, and that they are willing to forego justice to save criminal enterprises from being punished.
Deutsche Bank AG is nearing an agreement with US officials to pay $5.4 billion to settle charges related to its sale of toxic mortgage bonds before the financial crisis, AFP reported on Friday, citing sources. Germany’s largest lender said about two weeks ago it would fight a $14 billion demand from the US Department of Justice to settle claims it missold the securities. An agreement could be announced in the next couple of days. - Russia Today
For the past eight years the Department of Justice has been a subsidiary of the Wall Street firm Covington and Burling, with former Attorney General Eric Holder, former Asst. A.G. Lanny Breuer, and current A.G. Loretta Lynch all working for, or having ties to the ‘Banker’s Law Firm’. And it should be no surprise that under these two heads of the DOJ no criminal charges have ever been filed against individual bankers for fraud and corruption, and in fact they have aided and abetted such actions through a policy of ‘too big to jail’.
The crime that Deutsche Bank is being accused of by the DOJ is mortgage fraud from the period that led to the 2008 financial collapse. And for the amount of money that DB earned through this fraud, the intended fine of $14 billion is but a drop in the bucket. However, in light of the fact that DB appeared ready to implode from insolvency over the past week, a ‘negotiated’ settlement that ‘suddenly’ appears to be for barely a third of the original fine shows just how complicit the U.S. Justice system is in protecting the big banks.
For years now the American people have come to believe that there are two sets of laws in the criminal justice system… one for them, which usually metes out maximum penalties, and ones for Wall Street, politicians like Hillary Clinton, and the oligarchy that rules over the U.S. with a corrupt and iron fist. And until a few banks and corporations are allowed to fail, and more than a few criminal politicians are sentenced to prison, the cycle will continue to go on, and the Department of Justice will be right there protecting them from what is their due.
Kenneth Schortgen Jr is a writer for Secretsofthefed.com, Roguemoney.net, and To the Death Media, and hosts the popular web blog, The Daily Economist. Ken can also be heard Wednesday afternoons giving an weekly economic report on the Angel Clark radio show.
