Frontline Gets Its Man: Lanny Breuer Leaves DOJ After Exposé

by Mary Bottari — January 24, 2013 - 2:55pm

Topics: Campaign Finance

Projects: Real Economy Project

In a testament to the power of independent media, the award-winning public television show Frontline this week helped push a top Department of Justice (DOJ) official out the door.
 

 

On Tuesday, Frontline aired a report called "The Untouchables" detailing the DOJ's failure to prosecute the big banks for the 2008 financial meltdown and zeroing in on Lanny Breuer, the former White House legal counsel for Clinton who headed the DOJ's criminal division under Obama.
On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that Breuer was stepping down.

Breuer's Legacy: Enshrining "Too Big to Jail" as Legal Precedent

Many had criticized Attorney General Eric Holder and Breuer for failing to take action against the mega banks on Wall Street, and watched with disbelief last December as the DOJ decided to pass on criminal penalties against HSBC for laundering drug money and helping to finance terrorists. The behemoth bank was ordered to pay a record civil fine, but no criminal charges were lodged against any HSBC official. A New York Times editorial called the decision a "dark day for the rule of law."
But this time around, the Frontline crew had unparalleled access to Breuer which generated a number of key revelations:
Frontline documented that Breuer/Holder failed to use the tools available to them to really dig.
 

Too Big to Jail: Big Banks Can Finance Terrorists and Walk Away Scot-Free

Asia-focused bank HSBC said on Tuesday it would
pay US authorities a record $1.92 billion to settle
allegations of money laundering that were said to
have helped Mexican drug cartels, terrorists and Iran.

HSBC receives get-out-of-jail-free card in a real-life game of Monopoly.

December 12, 2012

The New York Times reports this week that megabank HSBC has escaped criminal prosecution for money laundering that probably funded terrorists and narcotics traffickers. Why? Because regulators and prosecutors were petrified that an indictment would undermine the entire financial system. The Times quotes anonymous government sources who confessed fears about bringing formal charges because doing so would be a "death sentence" for the bank. So they let it off the hook.

That’s right, HSBC is officially above the law. Too-big-to-fail has become too-big-to-prosecute. 

A year-long investigation found that the British banking giant had blown right past federal laws by laundering billions of dollars from Mexican drug trafficking and processing banned transactions on behalf of Iran, Libya, Sudan and Burma. A Wednesday Times article serves up vivid passages about the shady goings-on, including HSBC officials working closely with Saudi Arabian banks linked to terrorist organizations.    READ MORE