Cuomo’s Letter Today Exposes Paulson And Bernanke’s Blackmail Of Bank of America

Ah, more fun in transparency-land, but this time at the EXPENSE of the unholy troika. Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke forced Bank of America (BAC) to complete its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. B of A chief Ken Lewis was definitely interested in pulling the plug on the Merrill Lynch deal, but he was pressured not to with a threat that he’d be fired and the board would be completely replaced. Sopranos time!

Paulson first blamed Bernanke, then later recanted: CNBC reports that “Hank Paulson has recanted on what he told Andrew Cuomo, which was that Ben Bernanke asked him to threaten to oust Ken Lewis and the Bank of America board if Lewis decided not to go forward with the Merrill deal.” Paulson NOW says his words were his own and that Bernanke did not ask him to convey a specific message to Lewis. Snipe!

New York Attorney General Cuomo exposed the defrauding of the American taxpayers and Bank of America today in the letter below to professional financial fraudsters Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. Merrill Lynch was a huge hot potato, whose massive problems hit B of A’s balance sheet like a mortar round.

This is explosive stuff, guys. If the LAW is enforced, Bank of America should be sued by EVERY SHAREHOLDER for accepting this deal, not disclosing the “material information”, falsely promoting the deal to the public and hiding the truth. The Treasury and the Federal Reserve should be investigated for illegally forcing the merger without any congressional approval or ANY PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. OH how I hope heads will roll over this one.

Cuomo Letter