Here’s a reminder that the IRS scandal was not an isolated event…
Floyd Abrams, Standard and Poor’s lead attorney, told CNBC in February that the Obama Administration ramped up its investigation into the ratings agency after S&P downgraded the U.S. government’s credit rating in 2011.
Standard and Poor’s downgraded the US economy in August 2011.
The Huffington Post reported:
The lawyer representing Standard and Poor’s claims the U.S. government ramped up its investigation into the ratings agency after S&P downgraded the U.S. government’s credit rating in 2011.
“Is it true that after the downgrade the intensity of this investigation significantly increased? Yea,” Floyd Abrams, S&P’s lead attorney, told CNBC in an interview Tuesday. “We don’t know why.”
The most prominent First Amendment lawyer in the country, Abrams told CNBC he “doesn’t think anyone knows” whether the government filed a lawsuit against S&P as payback for downgrading America’s credit rating.
The Justice Department sued S&P late Monday night, claiming the ratings agency knowingly gave some mortgage bonds higher ratings than they deserved in an aim to boost profits. The bonds ultimately went sour during the financial crisis.
Tony West, acting associate attorney general, said during a press conference Tuesday that the investigation began in November 2009, before the S&P downgrade.
S&P downgraded America’s top-notch credit rating for the first time ever in 2011 during the debt ceiling standoff.