FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Max Moran, [email protected]
In response to Neil H. MacBride’s nomination as the General Counsel of the Treasury Department, Jeff Hauser, Executive Director of the Revolving Door Project, issued the following statement:
“It’s hard to imagine a lawyer more conflicted on so much of the Treasury’s issue portfolio, and for such egregious reasons. A quick glance at MacBride’s own page on Davis Polk’s website is all it takes to see he cannot be trusted to act in the public’s interest. This is especially dangerous right now, as our crisis of economic inequality is exacerbated by white-collar crime and rampant financial speculation exacerbated by charismatic hucksters.”
“MacBride has made a career out of keeping corporate executives out of jail for ‘financial fraud, anti-corruption, money laundering, economic sanctions, False Claims Act violations, securities enforcement, and procurement and tax fraud.’ Don’t take my word for it, that’s how MacBride describes it himself on his profile page.”
“The cases which MacBride openly brags about include suing the Treasury Department on behalf of ExxonMobil to overturn a sanctions notice levied against it for violations of the Constitution. We opposed ExxonMobil lawyer Alex Oh receiving an SEC appointment, and we certainly oppose MacBride receiving a Treasury appointment. Alex Oh lasted six days at the SEC days; we hope this nomination lasts no longer than that.”
“President Biden and Secretary Yellen have threatened the public trust in making this nomination. The fact that MacBride worked for Biden for years in the Senate obviously does not, and cannot, wash MacBride’s hands of his involvement in the DC back-scratching corruption which millions of Americans reject.”
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MacBride’s professional history includes:
- Suing the Treasury Department on behalf of ExxonMobil to overturn an economic sanctions notice levied for violations of the US Constitution and Administrative Procedures Act
- Overseeing criminal charges against whistleblower Edward Snowden
- Overseeing investigation into whistleblower Chelsea Manning
- Defending pharmaceutical corporation AstraZeneca against alleged terrorist financing
- Representing megabank Morgan Stanley in settling cases regarding its mortgage-backed securities with the Justice Department and several states
- Representing rating agency S&P regarding their ratings of mortgage-backed securities (which were heavily inflated, and a major contributor to the 2008 financial crisis) in cases with the Justice Department, SEC, and several state attorneys general
IMAGE: “Joe Biden” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0