THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† Updates To Previous Posts (fourth item, Dems Still Beset By Indecision, Infighting And Intrigue): In a unanimous ruling, the MN Supreme Court denied Democrat Al Franken petition for an election certificate, which would have allowed him to assume the contested Senate seat, reports The Pioneer Press: "We conclude that neither state nor federal law requires issuance of a certificate of election before the election contest is completed." Franken currently has a 225-vote lead over Norm Coleman.
† Updates To Previous Posts (fourth item, Your Bonus: $0. Continued Employment: Priceless.): New York state's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, has subpoenaed Merrill Lynch & Co. executives who received more than $10 million in cash and stock last year, including Andrea Orcel, Thomas Montag and Peter Kraus, reports The Wall Street Journal:
In its waning days as a stand-alone company, Merrill paid out billions of dollars in bonuses, even though it wound up posting a fourth-quarter net loss of $15.84 billion. For all of 2008, the 10 highest-paid Merrill executives got a total of $209 million, and 11 were paid more than $10 million each according to people familiar with the situation. Merrill posted a net loss of $27.6 billion. …
Mr. Cuomo is investigating whether the bonuses violated securities laws. He is concerned that BofA and Merrill didn't disclose, when the takeover deal was reached in September, their agreement to a bonus payout of as much as $5.8 billion, according to people familiar with the investigation. Mr. Cuomo also is scrutinizing the Charlotte, N.C., bank's role in setting bonuses of several Merrill executives.
The executives were named in a Wall Street Journal article on Wednesday about Merrill's highest-paid employees.
† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, Employers Hiring Forged Documented Aliens Are Lawbreakers In Other Ways, Too): Chief Judge Linda Reade rejected a motion to dismiss illegal immigration and bank fraud charges against a kosher meat processor Agriprocessors Inc. and former manager Sholom Rubashkin, reports The Associated Press. Rubashkin’s attorney claimed that grand jury proceedings were tainted by anti-Semitic comments by grand jury witnesses.
† Updates To Previous Posts (second item, Keep Your Friends Close): CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta decided to stick with his high-profile TV gig, and has withdrawn his name from consideration as the nation’s next surgeon general, reports The Washington Post:
Gupta, who had been described as the leading candidate for the public health post, withdrew his name even as President Obama hosted a health-care summit at the White House that Gupta did not attend [contextual links added by The Stiletto]. …
[O]ne source close to him said he was very disheartened by [Tom] Daschle's fate and fearful he was not going to get a prominent role in the health-reform process. Gupta has built a lucrative media empire that includes appearances on CBS as well as CNN and book deals. He had expressed concern to friends about the financial impact on his wife and children.
† Updates To Previous Posts (second item, Never Mind Marxism. Will An Obama Administration Be Totalitarian?): Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (AKA "Joe the Plumber") is suing Helen Jones-Kelley, ex-director of the OH Department of Job and Family Services, and two former assistants, for violating his privacy rights, as well as for harassing and humiliating him and causing emotional distress, reports The Associated Press. Wurzelbacher is seeking unspecified punitive damages.
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