Did Delaware’s Colm Connolly Run Interference For Romney and Bain Illegalities?
8-Ball sez: “Signs Point to Yes”.
Now pay attention, kids, this is complicated, as many crimes involving money, corporatese, and coverups are.
First, read this article by DailyKos’ Stephen Laser Haas. In it, he lays out the massive fraud that Bain got entangled in during 2001. Massive fraud that Romney’s law firm at the time, the New York-based law firm, Traub, Bonacquist & Fox, has now admitted guilt for. As most of you know, there is always a Delaware-based law firm engaged in any Delaware litigation. That law firm in the Bain/e-toys matter was Morris, Nichols, Arsht and Tunnell.
What does this have to do with Colm Connolly and Mitt Romney, you might ask. Everything, that’s what, especially including why Mitt Romney is trying so hard to claim that he left Bain in 1999, and not 2001. BTW, please read the linked MNAT deposition from Morris, Nichols, Arsht and Tunnell in Haas article. It’s a PDF file, but it’s one of the worst lawyerly attempts at obfuscation you’ll ever find. Now here’s where Connolly comes in. Romney officially resigned from Bain Capital in August of 2001. And, on August 2, 2001, Colm Connolly, one of the partners in the law firm representing Mitt Romney, was appointed by George W. Bush to become the Delaware United States Attorney. In other words, the person who would be responsible for prosecuting precisely the sort of fraud that Bain Capital committed while being represented by Connolly’s law firm.
Romney and his henchmen were so confident that this fraud would never see the light of day under a Bush Justice Department that:
…Mitt Romney’s attorney (R Bradford Malt) was able to confidently make the remark that Mitt Romney was Bain Capital’s CEO until August 2001. They believed they had gotten away with it all and there was nothing to worry about.
Lest there be any doubt that Connolly was indeed with Morris, Nichols at the time the fraud was perpetrated and misrepresented by Romney’s legal team, here is Connolly’s resume.
So, what Romney is trying to do is, in essence, backdate his exit from Bain to protect himself from the massive fraud that was perpetrated by Bain and not pursued by a sympathetic Federal prosecutor with a blatant conflict-of-interest, and, of course, to try to avoid blame for the job outsourcing issues plaguing his campaign.
To which, I can only quote the Poopetrator himself:
“I was the owner of an entity that is filing that information.”
Sounds to me like he did have some sort of ‘controlling legal authority’ after all. Also seems to me like Connolly’s got some ‘spainin’ to do.
And, if there are any reporters left, the News-Journal has some reporting to do.
I don’t doubt the truth of all that, but after reading all the links, doesn’t the wronged party’s DK diary sound more than a little like Jon Moseley talking about his suit against Christine O’Donnell?
I understand why it was a big deal to him — he was bilked out of several million dollars. But “massive fraud”? And isn’t the timing more likely coincidence than evidence of conspiracy, or am I supposed to believe that the Bush administration was so invested in Bain’s success that it would take part in the scheme?
As far as Connolly’s involvement, there’s no allegation or evidence presented that he ever worked on the Bain case. Unless I’m reading it wrong, Connolly’s appointment simply meant he couldn’t prosecute Bain because he would have to recuse himself. If that’s what happened, Connolly didn’t even have to know what was up — his appointment got Bain what it wanted whether Connolly knew about the scheme or not.
If the News Journal is going to stick a probe up the US Attorney’s office, I’d rather it find out why Oberly can’t wrap up an investigation into the Minner administration despite having the details gift-wrapped for him by Chris Tigani.
Connolly has a lot of splanin to do. He destroyed the reputation of a highly decorated Police Chief and most successful County Exec we ever had – Gordon.
No, Gordon did that himself. Not a single factual claim in the indictment has ever been disproved or even disputed by Gordon.
By the way, “highly decorated police chief”? Is there a police chief anywhere in the country who isn’t “highly decorated”?
No Geez, there was NEVER a finding of fact.There was a dismissal. Thus the man you love to hate was under NO obligation to put himself on trial to satisfy you or anybody else. Colm Connoly is vengeful, vindictive self serving POS. Perhaps you 2 should have lunch:)
You are talking about the legal disposition of the case. I’m talking about what Tom Gordon did. If you want to hide behind that, fine, but I”m under no obligation to do so.
You are in no position to decide who is a vengeful, vindictive, self-serving POS. The fact that you can’t answer the allegations without injecting your biased opinion of Connolly, and me, and our supposed motivations shows basically that you can’t answer the allegations. One needs no motivation other than wanting good government practices followed to call foul on Tom Gordon.
And neither can Gordon address the allegations, because he knows they’re all true. The tapes wouldn’t have been put under seal if they were filled with lies.
I don’t care a fig about whether his behavior was criminal. It was wrong.
And you have shown no bias towards me in the past few days, so i am soooo sorry, but your own wirds make the case that you love to hate him. And whle we have had our pissing contest here there was none of that in these posts. As to Connelly i will amend that it is my OPINION that he is a vengeful, vindicitve, self serving POS 🙂 If I have no basis to ascribe motivation then it would follow that you have no basis to assume what is in sealed material.
I’m chuckling because the type of whisper campaign that is effective in backrooms and pegging people in the hall, appears kind of ludicrous when attempted in a blog forum.
I can’t help but notice that it looks really silly actually, when done on the internet where it lasts forever. In fact, I would bet that after Clark’s admonishment of bloggers and Nancy in particular last night, a lightbulb went off in someones head that said,…. we need to slam Clark on blogs…
Of course I could be wrong, but the comedy of the coincidence is soooo worth putting it out there anyways… 🙂 lol
Please show me the words that prove I love to “hate” him.
I am not assuming what is in sealed material. Many parts were included in court transcripts. Others were determined in further reporting. I do not know what is in all the sealed material, only what I have read in those transcripts and what people who were on tape told me years later. I also base what I know of actions that weren’t on the tapes based on years of contact with people who worked in the Gordon administration — the sort journalists call “sources.”
There is no hatred in what I write. Tom Gordon can be a swell guy to have lunch or a beer with, and I have, many times (lunch, not beers). He is personable, has a big heart and a modicum of charisma. He’s also a terrific administrator, and was the best county exec ever because he knew when to delegate and when to deal directly with problems.
Seriously, Joe. If it weren’t for his childish and ultimately harmful actions, I’d be his biggest fan. And if he would swear off the old-style political crap he engaged in — admit it, swear he learned his lesson and won’t do it again — I’d vote for him without holding my nose.
kavips: More power to them. The best way to defeat Paul Clark is simply to let the public see a lot of him. He has the commanding public presence and speaking ability you’d expect from a department store manager.
C’mon Geezer. Gordon is a good man. He has helped so many people in the County. Other than Connolly’s charges, he had a perfect career. All of those charges were thrown out. He plead to a $250 fine for something far less than Clark has admitted to in his ethics complaints.
You are a good reporter. You can’t possibly be this angry that you can’t be objective.
Show me the words that indicate anger. This is a meme being peddled by Gordon supporters that won’t stand up to any scrutiny at all. Would someone “angry” with Gordon give him the above review? I simply won’t let someone pretend to be what he is not.
How a man reacts to adversity says a lot about him. Tom Gordon reacted very badly indeed, failing to offer his constituents any explanation for the charges outlined in the indictment, let alone many more that deserved an explanation. Yet he acknowledged to me that what he did in staffing the phone bank should have been overlooked because lots of other politicians had done the same thing.
To that I offer the same explanation I have from the first: That’s like getting pulled over for speeding and then whining that the cop didn’t pull over the other speeding drivers.
Whining is not a pretty sight, and whining has been what Tom Gordon has done every time someone has dared criticize him, myself included.
I will vote for him only if he stops pretending he did nothing wrong. I know that he did very little that was found illegal (throwing out charges is not the same as finding them false), but he knows all the things he did that were not on the up-and-up, and to this day he defends them on the grounds that “everyone does it.”
Whenever good government supporters attempt to rein in officeholders like Gordon, they are accused of “trying to criminalize politics,” or more accurately standard political behavior.
To which I say yes — yes we are.
@Geezer, I think that’s the fairest assessment I’ve heard you say on Gordon thus far. He should have made a statement regarding the court case rather than ignore, which looks bad.
You’re not so bad after all lol
You should know I don’t respond to “show me” demands this is an opinion frum and thats my opinion. You have,yourself, made a case because it is a fact the Gordon is The most highly qualified with the best past record. You are down to accusing him of whining. I don’t agree but I do think you are being petulent. You are like the kid who wants a strawberry ic cream cone and is angry because it is in a sugar instead of a cake cone:).
anony000: And Clark is no prize either. I defer to Nancy on detailing his crimes and slimy acts during his time in office. After birddogging Gordonberry for six years, I had no desire or energy left for digging in to Clark. Nancy has done an excellent job of it, and people should check out the Any1 But Clark blog.
No, Joe, I’m like the kid who keeps pestering the adults after they’ve decided to ignore Uncle Arnie hugging and kissing little Sally. Lots of people want to say it’s innocent because the alternative is unpleasant.
The whining is an example of what I’d call a “character issue.” Until the indictment came out, I had no evidence of the stories I had heard from sources. There were a couple of items in there that I hadn’t heard, but several I had. Those were added to a number of sketchy things the Gordon administration had done previously — things that weren’t criminal but certainly didn’t adhere to good government standards (remember, Gordon came to office promising reform; shame on me to think that meant good government principles).
I was much further troubled by Gordon’s position in the Delaware Way establishment, to the point that when word of the harassment complaint against Roberts reached Larry Sullivan, Sullivan took it not to the County Council president but to Gordon, with the explanation that “he’s still the top police official in the county.” I would hope it goes without saying that he shouldn’t have been, especially after a taxpayer-funded but never-released report on the county police called it the most political force they’d ever assessed.
I know you won’t believe me, but had the Republican (I don’t even remember who) beaten Gordon the first time he ran and then behaved exactly the same way in office, I would have done everything exactly the same — it was my job.
I’ll tell you this much — it’s much better for my day job if Gordon wins, because it will be a national story when he does.
Every fucking thread? really?
Colm Connolly is one of the most honorable guys in public service today. He was the only US Attorney to prosecute public corruption in county government and he actually got convictions in the end of both Tom Gordon and Sherry Freeberry.
Geezer is right: Where are the prosecutions of Minner for the crooked DelDot insider land deals which have already been exposed through Tigani trial??
Someone needs to remind Charlie Oberly that ustice delayed is justice denied…maybe Louis Freeh’s boys should just do the investigation and end the stonewalling, I mean, specultaion.
Wow!
Well JJ we disagree. Connolly got a solid base hit out of the box in his career and has been milking it ever since. for the amount of resources and man power expended in NCC he got diddly shit. Now he is kissing Willards ass for a do over in the US Attorney’s office.
And back to to the original post–I’m with Geezer @ 11:39
Jason330 is right. This is not a thread about Gordon and Clark. This is not even a thread about Connolly’s entire career. Hell, I don’t know if I’ve ever appreciated a lawyer’s work more than what Connolly did in taking down Tom Capano.
If you bleeping whack jobs insist on turning everything into Gordon vs. Clark, your crap is goinggoinggone.
My point is that not even Connolly should be sacrosanct, and, while I fully expected people to give him the benefit of the doubt, as they have, there’s a lot in that piece that points to Connolly’s law firm and, to my mind, raises questions as to whether Bain was ‘off-limits’ during his time as Delaware’s federal prosecutor.
Sure seems to me worthy of discussion on a DL blog, regardless of how one comes down on the issue. As opposed to the kindergarten food fight being waged by the usual suspects on behalf of Tom Gordon. FWIW, my position on this is clear, and I stated it on Al’s show. I’m not voting for either of them b/c I just can’t choose between death by hanging or by lethal injection.
Your buddy geez must be the wack job he has 7 of his 8 posts here including Gordon but related to Connolly I have 3 and the rest , so the guy that says he is being silenced now wants to silenced wants to since how a thread on an issue is referenced. My thought has been that mr Connolly is a third rate bully and a punk who has gotten where he is through political persecution. I gave him his due for his first big case but he is now sucking Willard ass for another shot at us attorney and you el are not the arbiter of how Connolly’ s ashollery is defined or linked.
Breaking news, president obamas special committee on elvis sitings has just testified under oath that they constantly saw mitt romney at bain capital dozens of times between feb 1999, and the end of 2002. The comittee further testified that during those 1000 days that romney was at the olimpics turning it around, that it really was an imposter at the olimpics, and everyone in the world is wrong about romney being there. And, further more, this committee said four or five times romney was seen at that time at bain capital singing and playing guitars with elvis himself. And, ps, paul mccartney is really an imposter
Now it makes sense. A very well informed rumor has it that then Senator Biden wasn’t responsible for connoly not being a federal judge. The Bush whitehouse drug its feet on sending up the nomination and vice president Chaney let it be known that he wasn;t a priority. A Romney connection particularly one this sleezy would explain a lot. While taking the point that this is not a gordon-clark thread, I still would like to take the opportunity to commend Geezer for restating his concerns with Gordon without disparaging the job he did as County executive or Chief of Police
who ya tryin to convince rusty?
Totally agree, Geezer @ 11:39.
“for the amount of resources and man power expended in NCC he got diddly shit.”
Please detail the amount of resources and manpower he expended in his investigation. Otherwise this is just another bit of pro-Gordon boilerplate that I’m pretty sure I heard every other day from Ron Williams.
the cost of all those boxes of paper you have in your basement is in there The investigative budget of the US attorneys office is prodigious perhaps you can do a foia and count the exact number of beans. I will go with he spent a lotta fuckin money:)
For which, as with all your allegations, you have no evidence that you can produce.
“My thought has been that mr Connolly is a third rate bully and a punk who has gotten where he is through political persecution.”
Such insightful commentary. Again, nothing with a shred of evidence, just your opinion based, apparently, on nothing beyond your emotions.
I would, once again, point out that this is exactly the way Tom Gordon operated — demonizing such nefarious villains as the Friends of Rockwood and the folks who operated the horse-riding concession at Carousel with dark hints of skulduggery and off-the-record claims of incompetence.
It’s not how honorable people operate.
I have opinions you have opinions You did not support your last paragraph with facts and that’s ok, that’s your opinion. I disagree with it as you so clearly disagree with mine. This is an OPINION based forum not a scientific journal. You are entitled to your opinion and you have every right to be wrong:)
I disagree. No one is entitled to an opinion, at least in a public forum like this. These pages are reserved for facts. That way, if you have facts, put them up, and maybe, maybe, maybe, they will sway other people’s opinions. As for opinions, if that is all they are, they should be kept silently to yourself.
(Addendum; Opinions are something that if ever shared, should be uttered in strict confidence, inspired by copious amounts of alcohol.)
This forum would be a much shorter read if that were the case;)
Let it be known, that I have testified to these facts under Penalty of Perjury – that Bain Capital perpetrated “massive” federal frauds.
Also, let it be known that I have also testified – Under Penalty of Perjury to federal officials (as recently as last week) – that Colm Connolly’s United States Attorneys office had the entire package of evidences sent to his office many, many times (Fedex & Document server receipts cemented in stone).
It was another abused party, like Tom Gordon, a federal agent – who provided us with the irrefutable Colm Connolly resume documenting his Betrayal of Public Trust (& Oath) – for failing (miserably) to disclose his connections to his former firm & clients he was being asked to prosecute.
To both the writer of this article and this website;
I applaud your temerity & tenacity in putting forth the truth.
Please take note – when the inflexible sword of truth is so powerful;
The bad faith parties MUST destroy the messengers & The Message.
We are in a civil war here – simply for seeking an honorable inquest!
“I have opinions you have opinions”
Mine are expressed with information that explains the opinion. Yours are expressed with nothing but vitriol and insults. I like to keep you talking, though, because you constantly undermine your goal. Every empty comment illustrates the sort of mentality attracted to this campaign you support.
So let’s see: According to the obviously well-hinged Mr. Haas, we have Colm Connolly accused of not telling Mr. Haas that he had a conflict of interest and either could or would not prosecute Bain Capital at his request — or, from the sound of it, his insistence. Because, you know, the US Attorneys Office is under a legal obligation to take up every request it receives for an investigation.
If I received missives like the two above, complete with references to the “inflexible sword of truth,” I’d put it right on top of the slush pile of letters sent by those with mental problems. It’s a tall pile.
On the other hand, I used to think Jon Moseley was the most off-kilter commenter in the Delaware blogosphere. I stand corrected.
If I gave enough of a shit I could cut and past page after page of the same vitriol that you condemn. You need a set of accuracy goggles:)
I don’t condemn the vitriol. I’m pointing out that it’s unaccompanied by anything else.
Asked to give us a defense of Karen Weldin Stewart’s years in office or a reason to give her a second term — you, IIRC, claimed she deserved one based on her accomplishments — you declined to do so, giving some lame reason about one of her detractors “stalking” you or something.
Asked to explain Tom Gordon’s bad behavior in office, you retreat behind what was proved in court.
And so on.
Haas’ being on the shitty end of a bad, corrupt deal that’s he’s tried to expose for a decade may have added to his eccentricity but he’s pretty well hinged IMO. It is sickening to be subject to these levels of corruption. It is hard to believe unless you’ve been there.
It is a really interesting set of facts and all seem to be tightly corroborated.
“It is a really interesting set of facts and all seem to be tightly corroborated.”
Yet Connolly’s role doesn’t seem to extend beyond ignoring Haas’ call for investigation.
An investigation, which, if initiated, would have entangled the law firm that Connolly had just left b/c it was ROMNEY’S AND BAIN’S law firm.
If Connolly recused himself and handed off the investigation to someone else, then fine. I just want to know that that was the case. If he, and he alone, decided that this wasn’t worth investigating, then it seems to me that we have a conflict-of-interest here.
“It is sickening to be subject to these levels of corruption. It is hard to believe unless you’ve been there.”
I agree. Although, by some people’s standards, this couldn’t be corruption because Connolly didn’t steal any money.
El Som, I see your point, but I don’t know what the standard of professional conduct would be. Someone should take it to the Delaware Bar.
Geezer, and others, I recommend that you go back to the original Haas story, and click the link for that deposition from Morris, Nichols, Etc. That’s not Haas talking, that’s someone from Morris, Nichols.
If that isn’t one of the worst (or best) examples of lawyers trying to cover their asses, I don’t know what is. And it should raise alarms about why this wasn’t pursued by Connolly, who had been a partner at Morris, Nichols at the time.
It is a fact that MNAT handled the Romney/ Bain associated parties merger of The Learning Company with Mattel (corroboration SEC Info)
Thus, MNAT has a relationship with Bain & Mattel
It is Also a Fact that MNAT represents Goldman Sachs
(found this one out by accidently hitting the wrong number
eToys case is 01-706 and Finova case filed by Goldman Sachs attorney at MNAT is 01-705)
MNAT has confessed in the deposition at the court house that they lied 15 times over several years about its relationships to Goldman Sachs.
If MNAT had legitimately disclosed its relationship to Goldman Sachs – it would have been forbidden to be the court approved attorney for eToys and me.
Because Goldman Sachs took eToys public in 1999.
Goldman Sachs was sued by eToys in the NY Supreme Court case of eToys (ebc1) vs Goldman Sachs (case # 601805/2002)
Because = when eToys went public the stock (estimated to be $18 or $20) zoomed to above $78.
But eToys only received $16.50
Where did the rest of the money go?
that is why eToys sued Goldman Sachs.
Now, compound that issue even further with;
The fact that I can tell you as the court appointed fiduciary;
everyone worked very hard at hiding the books & records from me.
Because I discovered the fact that it was an intentional plan to make eToys appear bankrupt – when they were in fact – Solvent.
To stop my investigations (as my fiduciary duty to preserve the estate and maximize returns with minimum of expense)
MNAT (while lying about their associations) – asked for & received
Permission to Destroy the Books & Records of eToys;
at the very beginning of the case.
Never letting me know of that scheme & artifice to destroy evidence.
http://petters-fraud.com/MNAT_Motion_Destruction_Books_n_Records.pdf
This is Obstruction of Justice by Collusion & Perjury
Geezer
I did take it to the Delaware BAR Association
Mrs. Littleworth
The problem is – MNAT Associates were President of the DE Bankruptcy BAR Association.
In Bankruptcy anyone who is going to be involved in matters that are not the regular part of business
(such as Attorney, Accountants, Auctioneers, Wind Down Coordinators)
MUST apply by a Section 327(a) Appplication of Professional Person
Stating by a Rule 2014 Affidavit (Under Penalty of Perjury)
That they are a Disinterested Person as per Section 101(14)
MNAT has confessed that it lied in their Rule 2014 (and subsequent 2016) Affidavits at least 15 times over 4 years.
By LAW the Chief Justice was required to disqualify (fire) MNAT
(Plus Paul Traub & Barry Gold)
Also by Law (18 U.S.C. § 3057(a)) – the Chief Justice was required to forward the acts of admitted Perjury violations to the U.S. Attorneys office.
However, that would mean that Colm Connolly would have to file an Office of Review and Oversight number (all cases which take more than 1 hour to review must get an official case number)
As a protocol – all cases receiving a case number must also have a disclosure by the U.S. Attorneys office of any possible conflict of interest with any law firms previously worked by the US Attorney.
If a conflict exists a Special Prosecutor from the Public Integrity Section is then assigned. With a public finding of fact & conclusion of law Memorandum as to the findings.
It is a most excellent good faith protocol.
But it first requires that the US Attorneys office disclose the truth.
In this case the truth was buried – even to this very day.
“In this case the truth was buried – even to this very day.”
Not anymore. What’s your next step?
I think he took the next step by writing the series of articles, and by helping it to go viral.
I, for one, would like to see the State Bar revisit this, and would like to see DOJ do the same.
Wouldn’t hurt to hear from Colm Connolly, either.
I’m doing what Sam Adams said one should do; when facing tyranny, cronyism & corruption.
Speak the truth – speak it loud – speak it often.
Plus, I have had huge success in rocking their boat directly.
This truth is out there – and shall remain so;
even if they should make me gone.
The Learning Company
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/04/1080722/-Bain-Pain-s-The-Learning-Company-In-1-Year-Mattel-Lost-3-Billion
We already have Senators, Congressman, former federal agents and even on the phone with the SEC (again) last week.
I’ve lived it for 11 1/2 years – thus I’m a walking Pedia…
It takes a while for educated 9 to 5’rs to get up to speed.
Unless they are highly motivated.
Plus = there’s still a chance – Romney’s camp will do a version of Bush v Gore II and get the White House anyway.
No matter how many votes and how much evidence comes out.
By the way – being that I am always in danger of being “suicided” or worse. I am not shy about picking a fight with the rogues.
If you love seeking justice (and a victim without reserve)
Feast your eyes on the email I sent to them in May 2012
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/07/1089391/-Email-to-Bain-Sachs-Mitt-Romney-and-Corrupt-Dept-of-Justice-Officials
Mr. Lawrence Friedman – the Department of Justice Deputy Director over the Executive Office of United States Trustee (EOUST)
the one in the email who promised me personally, that he would handle the issue
Resigned when I found MNAT & Traub doing another $100 million fraud.
He went to Bear Sterns
and then Bader Company
I’ve informed the IRS, DOJ & SEC about the fact that the BADER Co forged 2 sets of Books, did an illegal ESOP and has violated vast Laws & Codes promising people that if they invest in their Cayman Island venture and it reached the $1.2 million IRS plateau for Tax relief. That they would simply forge a new venture.
Others are helping me keep hold of that Tiger’s tail.
They are also circling the wagons
James Garrity is a former federal justice from NYC
When Ronald Sussman was not getting the job done to keep Paul Traub’s neck out of the civil penalty noose – Paul Traub hired James Garrity of the firm Sherman Sterling (1 of the top 5 firms in All the World)
James Garrity recently resigned from Sherman Sterling and joined Morgan Lewis.
For those of you who have not followed to closely. After then Senator Biden assisted U.S. in stopping Colm Connolly’s nomination to become a Delaware Federal District Court Judge (to replace the Mormon Kent A Jordan who sold U.S. out)
Colm Connolly became a partner at Morgan Lewis.