Pedro da Costa will be pleased [3](as should every other American who actually believes The Fed is NOT above the law) as Rep. Jeb Hensarling unleashes a damning letter to The Fed accusing them of "willful obstruction" in the Congressional leak probe. Hensarling and Duffy demand "immediate compliance" with the subpoena and see "no legal basis to withhold records from Congress." We are sure these 2 gentlemen will not be invited to the FOMC Press Conference either.
- *HENSARLING: NO LEGAL BASIS TO WITHHOLD RECORDS FROM CONGRESS
- *HENSARLING'S PANEL PROBES LEAK OF CONFIDENTIAL FOMC INFORMATION
- *HENSARLING DEMANDS FED'S `IMMEDIATE COMPLIANCE' WITH SUBPOENA
- *HENSARLING, DUFFY MAKE DEMAND IN LETTER ON PROBE OF FED LEAK
- *HENSARLING ACCUSES FED OF `WILLFUL OBSTRUCTION' OF LEAK PROBE
In a letter sent to Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, Hensarling and Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) accused the Fed of an inadequate initial examination, after it was discovered that investment advisers obtained inside Fed information before it was made public. And according to Hensarling, the Fed only reinvigorated that probe after lawmakers began asking, at which point the Fed said it could not hand over documents, lest it compromise that investigation.
The Fed’s Inspector General and the Justice Department are both investigating how the advisory firm Medley Global was able to detail for clients what Fed officials discussed in a private meeting, one day before the minutes of that meeting were made public.
But Hensarling’s panel has attempted to dig into the matter itself, and went so far as to subpoena the Fed in May to compel it to produce documents. But Yellen told Hensarling the Fed would not comply with the subpoena immediately, citing the ongoing investigations.
The fact that the Fed Inspector General briefly examined the matter years ago, and only reopened the investigation after lawmakers began making inquiries, has made Hensarling suspicious, as he accused the Fed of “vigorous and coordinated obstruction.”
“One plausible scenario is that the OIG merely ‘reopened’ the investigation to delay complying with the Committee’s requests,” he wrote. “That too is now the subject of the Committee’s investigation.”
But regardless of how and when other Fed investigations began, Hensarling insisted that Congress has the right to documents above all others. Saying his panel has the “absolute right” to requested records, Hensarling dismissed claims from the Fed’s Inspector General that executive prvilege allows them to not comply.
Rather, Hensarling said executive privilege can only be invoked against Congress by specific presidential request – and one has not been produced in this matter. And even if Prseident Obama did try to invoke executive privilege, Hensarling said his staff would still have the right to documents, because that privilege does not cover matters involving government misconduct.
Having made that argument, Hensarling said he expects nothing less than “full and immediate compliance” from the Fed.
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The much-mentioned Medley Global Advsiors newsletter that the leak went into (via ProPublica)... [5]
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It appears Hensarling did not get the message from Yellen...
