The Inspector General at the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Sunday that he will investigate the timing of the agency’s suit against Goldman Sachs earlier this month.
But a Republican congressional aide points out that the letter from H. David Kotz says that he will request information not only from SEC officials, but also from “those outside the SEC.”
“We hope to obtain cooperation from those outside of the SEC, including the individuals and offices that you reference in your April 20, 2010 letter,” Kotz wrote to Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican and ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The April 20 letter asked Kotz to look into whether information about the Goldman suit was shared in advance by anyone at the SEC with the White House, the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or any members of Congress or their staffs.
The White House has denied that it knew anything about the suit ahead of time. The suit, of course, came just as the debate over financial regulatory reform was heating up. And now Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein will be hauled before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
We’ll ask around to the White House and Dem campaign arms and see if any of them have anything to say about this.