Martin Feldman sourcewatch
EXCERPT:
ional Security
Judge Feldman was recently chosen by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which handles national security cases including the controversial changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2008 that permitted increased warrantless surveillance of Americans' electronic conversations and communications. Roberts has chosen almost exclusively Republican judicial appointees for this specialized court.

Federalist Society
Judge Feldman has been involved with the Federalist Society, a group of right-wing lawyers and judges.

Judicial ethics in the gulf Judge Felman's conflicts and DOJ malpractice
EXCERPT:
No single institution has more money riding on BP than BlackRock, the money management firm that is BP’s largest shareholder.

Well that certainly sounds like reason to pause, eh? There are two sources of guidance for federal judges such as Feldman in instances like this, the statutory guidance of 28 USC 455 and the Code of Conduct for United States Judges contained within the Guide to Judiciary Policy of the US Courts. Both sets of provisions yield the same guidance, so I will focus on the statutory provision as it is more specific and would appear to take precedence; 28 USC 455 provides inter alia:

(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances:
(1) Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;
oes about you who voted for him — or about the clients your corporation serves who voted for him.

BlackRock bids for PPIP video

PPIP Banks making a killing
EXCERPT:
Remember the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP)? The Treasury Department unveiled the program in March and intended it as a way to help banks unload hard-to-sell (read: often toxic) mortgage securities. In short, private investors partnered with the government to get bad loans off the banks' books -- and everyone, including taxpayers, was supposed to come out ahead on the proceeds of the asset sales.

But, as Bloomberg reports this morning, some of the nation's largest banks have actually bought more risky home loans instead of getting them off their balance sheets.

Judge who lifted moratorium and OIL
Judge Who Lifted Moratorium Tied To Offshore Drilling Companies
First Posted: 06-22-10 05:02 PM | Updated: 06-22-10 05:33 PM

The federal judge who lifted Obama's six-month drilling moratorium had interests in Transocean and a number of other offshore energy companies, according to financial disclosure forms from 2008.

Martin Feldman, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, held energy stocks in Transocean and Halliburton, as well as two of BP's largest U.S. private shareholders -- BlackRock and JP Morgan Chase. The law Feldman overturned would have halted the approval of any new permits and suspended deepwater drilling at 33 existing exploratory wells in the Gulf, four of which are BP rigs.

"It's pretty damning," said Kate Gordon, Vice President for Energy Policy at American Progress. "Transocean is the world's largest offshore drilling company. It holds most of the offshore drilling rigs in the world. So this is... a clear conflict of interest. I think folks should have known because of the history this region has of having conflicts of interests with judges on this issue. The region has got to have a list of judges that have these conflicts because this comes up all the time."

Thirty-seven of the 64 active or senior judges in key Gulf Coast districts in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have links to oil, gas and related energy industries, including some who own stocks or bonds in BP PLC, Halliburton or Transocean, according to the Associated Press. Industry ties among federal judges are so widespread that they are jeopardizing the courts' ability to do routine business. Last month, for instance, so many members of the staunchly conservative Fifth Circuit were forced to excuse themselves from an appeal against various energy companies because there weren't enough untainted judges left to allow the court to hear the case.

It's unclear whether Feldman still owns the stocks but his comments during his ruling today were telling, "Oil and gas production is quite simply elemental to Gulf communities."

Gordon responds: "I think the whole things points to a bigger problem which is the dependence of this region on oil and gas. We have to start thinking about some kind of a long-term plan to lead this region into more energy and diversity because it's like a petro-state right now."

Below is a list of stocks from Feldman's portfolio. Income not specified is under $1,000:

JP Morgan Chase, BlackRock ($12,000 - $36,000)
Also Ocean Energy ($1,000 - $2,500)
NGP Capital Resources ($1,000 - $2,500)
Quicksilver Resources ($5,000 - $15,000)
Hercules Offshore ($6,000 - $17,500)
Provident Energy
Peabody Energy
PenGrowth Energy
RPC Inc
Atlas Energy Resources
Parker Drilling
TXCO Resources
EV Energy Partners
Rowan Companies
BPZ Resources
El Paso Corp
KBR Inc
Chesapeake Energy
ATP Oil & Gas

Rachel Maddow speaks about Martin Feldman
should be impeached...

Judicial Conflict-of-Interest as Grounds for Impeachment

As observed in a 1995 University of California, Hastings Law Review article:

Although the Constitution limits removal by impeachment to actions of "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors," scholars have noted that impeachment proceedings may be instituted for offenses outside the criminal realm. Such offenses include acts that undermine public confidence in the judiciary or compromise the integrity of the judicial branch. Thus, one aim of impeachment proceedings is to shield the judiciary from any appearance of impropriety.
Even though, in "Citizens United: A Case Which Will Live in Infamy," I conceded that the decision by the five-member Republican Supreme Court majority to extend to corporations so-called "free speech rights" at the expense of the "free press" rights of our republic's human citizens may well have been tantamount to "treason," I argued that the call made by the activist group, The Pen, to initiate impeachment proceedings against those five "radicals-in-robes" was fraught with the risk that impeachment "could be perverted into a dangerous precedent for impeaching jurists whenever they make a decision that is unpopular."

But this current case arises from something more than the Federalist Society's usual affinity for, and defense of, corporate wealth and power. Judge "Feldman has extensive stock holdings in energy companies, including Transocean, which owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig where the explosion occurred, and Halliburton, which also performed work at the site. Feldman also owns stock in two of BP’s largest shareholders, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase."

Rachel Maddow video below..........

Biggest Shareholder is JP Morgan Chase
Who Owns BP? Biggest Shareholder is JPMorgan Chase
Saturday, June 12, 2010
In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP’s stock value has plummeted, prompting news stories identifying the company’s largest investors. Oddly enough, some media outlets have failed to identify the largest BP shareholder: the U.S. investment firm JPMorgan Chase.

According to the European financial database Amadeus, JPMorgan Chase is the No. 1 holder of stock in BP. That distinction also has earned the Wall Street bank the title of “Global Ultimate Owner” of the oil giant, as it owns 28.34% of BP. Next, at 7.99%, is Legal and General Group, a British-based financial services company with assets of more than $350 billion. Another U.S. investment firm, BlackRock Inc., owns 7.1% of BP. Other owners include the governments of Kuwait, Norway, Singapore and China.
Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

BlackRock
EXCERPT:
As several placement agents were charged with getting kickbacks from money managers in return for getting them mandates from big pension funds, the whole manager hiring structure came under heavy scrutiny from regulators and legislators alike. The Securities and Exchange Commission even got involved. Clearly, this story is not over.

Second on the editors' Top 10 list is BlackRock Inc.'s $13.5 billion acquisition of index titan Barclays Global Investors, the world's largest money manager, with more than $3 trillion in assets under management. The deal was unprecedented in both scale and scope.

BlackRock snares BGI in 135 Billion deal
EXCERPT:
By John Letzing and Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- BlackRock Inc. late Thursday agreed to buy Barclays Global Investors in a $13.5 billion cash-and-shares deal that will create the world's largest asset manager.

Under the terms of the deal, BlackRock /quotes/comstock/13*!blk/quotes/nls/blk (BLK 164.90, +5.35, +3.35%) will acquire BGI from U.K. lender Barclays /quotes/comstock/23s!a:barc (UK:BARC 316.75, 0.00, 0.00%) /quotes/comstock/13*!bcs/quotes/nls/bcs (BCS 19.94, -0.15, -0.75%) in exchange for 37.8 million shares and $6.6 billion in cash.

The deal trumps an earlier agreement for Barclays to sell just the iShares exchange-traded-funds business of BGI to private equity group CVC Capital and will give the U.K. bank a 19.9% stake in the enlarged business, to be called BlackRock Global Investors.

Blackros Novick goes to Washington as asset managers step up lobbying
EXCERPT:
The acquisition of Barclays Global Investors on Dec. 1 had made BlackRock the world’s biggest asset-management firm. With $3.4 trillion client assets held in investment vehicles ranging from money-market funds to hedge funds, Fink realized he couldn’t rely on industry groups or outside lobbyists as lawmakers discussed the biggest regulatory overhaul since the 1930s. Novick, one of the firm’s eight founders, accepted.

Treasury picks nine firms for toxic securities plan
EXCERPTs:
1) Yet the program is undeniably different from what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner first mentioned this year; for one, it’s much smaller than his projection of $1 trillion. Because banks’ financial health appears to have improved, at least based on the second-quarter earnings statements, many had questioned whether the P.P.I.P. would still work. Banks would most likely have to record a loss if they sold securities at lower prices than they’re marked at on their books.

The government has already said that the planned twin arm of the Legacy Securities program, the Legacy Loans program, has been shelved indefinitely.

2) Treasury Picks Nine Managers for P.P.I.P.
July 8, 2009, 4:52 pm
After months of anticipation — and hand-wringing that it’s no longer needed — the Public-Private Investment Partnership has finally been introduced.

In a joint statement, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced more details of the program, which was announced this spring as the government’s way to remove bad securities from banks’ balance sheets. Nine firms, including BlackRock Global Investors and Invesco, were named as the initial qualified managers.

Funds scandal hits Invesco and founder of strong
EXCERPT:
Funds Scandal Hits Invesco And Founder Of Strong
By RIVA D. ATLAS and DAVID BARBOZA
Published: December 3, 2003

Richard S. Strong gave up control yesterday of the mutual fund company he founded, and regulators filed suits accusing the Invesco Funds Group and its chief executive of securities fraud in the rapidly expanding investigation of improper trading.

Mr. Strong is under tremendous pressure from the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, who has said that he intends to file suit against Mr. Strong for trading in and out of funds for his own profit. Mr. Strong, 61, resigned yesterday as chairman and chief executive of Strong Financial, the fund management company, having stepped down last month as chairman of the board at Strong Mutual Funds.