ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST :

Corzine tied to stock scheme (Dave Boyer, July 17, 2002, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

Sen. Jon Corzine, whose Wall Street expertise plays a key role in Democrats' strategy on corporate responsibility, led an investment banking firm that is being accused of inflating stock prices in the 1990s and contributing to the market crash.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle lately has kept Mr. Corzine at his side frequently as Democrats call on President Bush to get tougher with corporate executives who fraudulently inflate company earnings to boost stock prices.

"I think he's made a stellar contribution," said Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, Maryland Democrat and author of a bill approved Monday by the Senate that would increase the penalties for corporate wrongdoers.

But Goldman Sachs, the firm that Mr. Corzine left as chairman in May 1999, has been a target of class-action lawsuits and accusations by a former broker who complained to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the investment house engaged in a scheme to force unwitting investors to pay artificially high prices for certain stocks.

Mr. Corzine, New Jersey Democrat, said he knew nothing about such schemes when he ran the firm from 1994 to 1999.

"I don't believe there is ever going to be anything that sticks about us at Goldman Sachs forcing anybody to buy anything," Mr. Corzine said in an interview. "Goldman Sachs never forced anyone to buy anything when I was chairman, I can tell you that."

Several years ago, when the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee were grilling Robert Bork, it was especially maddening because his inquisitors included Joe "Plagiarism" Biden; Ted "Chappaquidick" Kennedy; Dennis "Keating 5" DeConcini; and Howard "The Valet" Metzenbaum. By what right could this collection of criminals and degenerates sit in judgment on a better man's judicial temperament?
Posted by Orrin Judd at July 17, 2002 10:49 AM