More evidence points to fed prosecutorial abuse of S&P over downgrade of federal debt rating

American Thinker ^ | 08/17/2014 | Thomas Lifson

[SeekAndFind]

If the Obama administration used federal prosecutors to exact vengeance on Standard and Poor’s for downgrading the rating of federal debt, that would be a serious crime, an impeachable offense if it could be traced to the Attorney General or the President (not that anyone other than Democrats is interested in impeachment).  It would be evidence of thug government, where the rule of law has been replaced with the law of the jungle, using prosecutorial power as an instrument of political intimidation, as in Travis County, Texas.

That’s why a recent court filing by Standard and Poor’s may lead to evidence developing that, if not a smoking gun, at least carries a whiff of cordite. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Standard & Poor's claims in a new court filing that it has documents showing that government lawyers who have targeted the firm over its flawed ratings on mortgage bonds also had "intense interest in and engagement regarding S&P's downgrade of the United States."

The Department of Justice sued S&P last year for an eye-catching $5 billion, and S&P has argued that it was singled out for payback because it was the only major ratings agency that stripped Uncle Sam of its triple-A credit rating following Washington's 2011 debt-limit brawl. Somehow competitors Moody's and Fitch, which issued equally flawed opinions about mortgage risks before the credit crisis, got a pass. They didn't downgrade U.S. debt.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

This administration is all about “paybacks.”