After reading the following, and with all of the other truth bending going on, will we ever be able to trust the govt??>>
Forensic Expert Charged With Lying in Martha Stewart Case
A Secret Service investigator lied about his role examining a spreadsheet used in the insider trading trial of Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic, federal prosecutors charged Friday. Officials don't believe the allegations will affect the pair's conviction.
(what else would the say, we completely fucked this one up?)
Larry Stewart, the chief forensic scientist for the Secret Service, wasn't present at an initial examination of the spreadsheet in August 2002, despite testifying that he was involved in each forensic inspection of the document, the government alleged. He is charged with two counts of perjury in a complaint released Friday afternoon.
Martha Stewart and Bacanovic, her former Merrill Lynch broker, were convicted March 5 of lying to the government about Stewart's sale of about 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems (IMCL:Nasdaq) in December 2001. Both are awaiting sentencing next month.
Among other things, Bacanovic was charged with altering a spread-sheet record of Stewart's stock sales, an allegation supported by the Secret Service examiner, who testified Feb. 19 that the ink used to make a notation on the sheet was different from other ink on the page. Ironically, making and using false documents was the one count on which Bacanovic was ultimately acquitted.
Friday's complaint alleges that "notwithstanding his testimony at trial that he had personally participated in each of the forensic examinations of the worksheet, [Larry] Stewart had no involvement in the original examination of the worksheet conducted in August 2002 and in fact did not even learn of the examination until it was complete," the U.S. attorney said.
"It is further alleged that notwithstanding his testimony that he worked 'side by side' with another examiner in conducting a supplemental examination of the worksheet in January 2004, Stewart was consulted only briefly about the examination, and performed none of the actual work on it," the U.S. attorney said.
Mr. Stewart, 46, was also charged with lying about knowledge of a book proposal shown to him by defense lawyers when on the stand. He is currently under arrest and faces a maximum total of five years in prison on both counts. Arraignment is scheduled for later Friday
thestreet.com
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Lol of the week>>
Reuters
White House: Inflation Not a Threat
Friday May 21, 2:32 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A persistent inflation problem is not building in the economy and the Federal Reserve will take all steps necessary to keep any price pressures contained, a top White House economic adviser said on Friday.
"Underlying inflationary trends -- while they have ticked up in the past few months, I don't think it's a sign of a persistent inflation problem," Gregory Mankiw, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Chairman, told reporters, citing low unit labor costs.
Mankiw noted that inflation is ultimately a monetary phenomenon and said the Federal Reserve has established a lot of credibility with financial markets over past years.
"(Fed officials) understand what needs to be done and I am confident they will do the right thing, and markets understand they will do the right thing," Mankiw said after a speech to the CNBC Financial Summit. |
