Free Republic

Congressman Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee, is initiating an investigation into the timing of the Security and Exchange Commission's fraud suit against Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs. "The events of the past five days have fueled legitimate suspicion on the part of the American people that the Commission has attempted to assist the White House, the Democratic Party, and Congressional Democrats by timing this suit to coincide with the Senate's consideration of financial regulatory legislation," Issa says. Issa's staff tells CBS News that they currently have no hard evidence that the SEC violated federal law...

The Securities and Exchange Commission decided to sue Goldman Sachs Group Inc. over the objections of two Republican commissioners, suggesting an unusual split at the agency that could politicize one of its most prominent cases in years. People familiar with the matter said the five-member commission held a lengthy meeting Wednesday to debate the civil-fraud charges against Goldman, and ultimately voted 3-2 in favor of pushing forward. The charges were filed Friday. Normally the agency prefers to have unanimous support when bringing enforcement actions against the firms it regulates. Word of the SEC split could exacerbate partisan tensions in Washington...

The billionaire hedge fund manager at the center of an alleged fraud hatched at Goldman Sachs, a leading investment bank, has given tens of thousands of dollars to both parties. Campaign fundraising records show that John A. Paulson, founder and chairman of the hedge fund Paulson & Co., gave $30,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in June, qualifying him as a major Democratic donor. He also gave $2,300 to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) reelection campaign in February of last year and $4,800 to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) last April, according to records filed at...

When you type “Goldman Sachs SEC” into Google, the results include an ad for Wall Street reform, paid for by the Democratic National Committee. . . (Snip) (DNC Communications Director Brad)Woodhouse said the ad is part of an online campaign that began about two weeks ago , and has included such Google search terms as “Goldman,” “Wall Street” and “Bank of America. . ."