Free Republic

Reporting from Sacramento — The name of Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, a billionaire who has been defending her ties to embattled investment banking giant Goldman Sachs throughout her campaign, appears in the federal investigation of another Wall Street firm tarnished by scandal. Court documents filed by prosecutors in the aftermath of the dot-com bust show Whitman, then chief executive of EBay, listed among about 200 executives who were to receive gifts of deeply discounted stock from Frank Quattrone, then a banker at Credit Suisse First Boston. A star dealmaker during the late 1990s, Quattrone was twice indicted on obstruction-of-justice...

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. federal prosecutors in New York have begun investigating Goldman Sachs Group Inc, raising the possibility of criminal charges against the company or its employees, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Goldman, the world's most powerful investment bank, said it was not surprised at the news. "Given the recent focus on the firm, we are not surprised by the report of an inquiry," a Goldman spokesman said. "We would fully cooperate with any requests for information." The investigation from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office ramps up pressure on Goldman less than two weeks...

Former Senate Leader Don Perata filed a formal request with the U.S. Justice Department Wednesday for an investigation into the conduct of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Sacramento, who he contends abused their authority by resurrecting a lengthy ethics investigation of Perata. The request was submitted by George O’Connell, Perata’s lawyer and a former U.S. Attorney in Sacramento, with the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The office, among other things, conducts investigations into complaints against Justice Department personnel, including FBI personnel. The request was filed with Inspector General Glen Fine. O’Connell’s action stems from the...

As the federal probe into Gov. Rod Blagojevich intensified in recent weeks, editors and reporters at the Chicago Tribune balanced a competitive story with a rare request from U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald's office: To hold off on what they uncovered until a key phase in the investigation could be carried out . . . Since October, the Tribune has broken several stories on the Blagojevich probe, but in some cases withheld information because of the government's request.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal grand jury is investigating whether San Francisco's policy of offering sanctuary to undocumented immigrants violates U.S. laws against harboring people who are in the country illegally, city officials say. City Attorney Dennis Herrera said his office has hired a criminal defense lawyer to represent employees who might be questioned or asked for documents. He and Mayor Gavin Newsom said they would cooperate with the investigation. San Francisco, like about 80 other U.S. cities and five states, has a law prohibiting the use of its funds to help enforce federal immigration law or to question individuals...

July 20, 2007 -- THE FBI is investigating an NBA referee who allegedly was betting on basketball games - including ones he was officiating during the past two seasons - as part of an organized-crime probe in the Big Apple, The Post has learned. The investigation, which began more than a year ago, is zeroing in on blockbuster allegations that the referee was making calls that affected the point spread to guarantee that he -- and the hoods who had their hooks in him -- cashed in on large bets. A law enforcement official told the AP on the condition...

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department ordered House officials to "preserve all records" related to disgraced Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s electronic correspondence with teenagers, intensifying an investigation into a scandal rocking Republicans five weeks before midterm elections. The development came as a congressional aide who counseled Foley to resign last week submitted his own resignation Wednesday. "I never attempted to prevent any inquiries or investigation," Kirk Fordham said in a statement. Fordham was once Foley's chief of staff. At the time of his resignation he had been serving in the same capacity for Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., a...

WASHINGTON - The independent counsel who investigated former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros charged in his final report Thursday that the Clinton administration thwarted his work, drawing the curtain on the longest-ever probe under a post-Watergate era reform law. Officials who worked in the Clinton administration flatly deny the allegations by prosecutor David M. Barrett, who closed a decade-long probe with a report detailing a behind-the-scenes battle inside the government as he tried to look into possible tax violations by Cisneros. Cisneros, who was housing secretary during the Clinton administration, pleaded guilty in 1999 to a misdemeanor of lying to the...

Federal authorities confirmed yesterday that they are investigating prominent Republican donor Thomas W. Noe, who was President Bush’s re-election chairman in northwestern Ohio and has given tens of thousands to GOP candidates. U.S. Attorney Gregory A. White in Cleveland said the investigation of Noe, of Maumee, is related to campaign contributions. He declined to elaborate. "We are publicly acknowledging there is an investigation," White said. "It is ongoing." He said the investigation has been proceeding "for several months" but that there’s no date for completing it. Sources said a federal search warrant of Noe’s River Road home was executed last...

Over the past decade, state Senator Don Perata has come to be known as "The Teflon Don," based upon his ability to weather criticism of questionable financial transactions without anything sticking to him. Time after time, Perata has emerged from controversy stronger than ever. He is the unquestioned leader of Oakland's Democratic political machine, and is weeks away from taking over as president of the California Senate. But now, sources say, the Teflon may be starting to show some deep scratches. The FBI is reportedly targeting Perata in a federal grand jury investigation that focuses on an influential Oakland lobbyist...

<p>SACRAMENTO - California Republicans stepped up their attacks Wednesday on Gov. Gray Davis by calling on Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate persistent allegations that Davis has blurred the line between politics and policy.</p> <p>Standing outside the federal courthouse, Secretary of State Bill Jones called Davis' aggressive fundraising tactics ``shocking, embarrassing and unacceptable.''</p>