Griffin urges McCain to call for special prosecutor
By: Jonathan Martin
Tim Griffin, a former U.S. attorney and top Bush political aide, is urging John McCain to reverse his slide with another bold move: calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the mortgage mess.
McCain should use the third and final debate next week to pledge that he’ll find and punish some of the culprits responsible for what has become the dominant issue of the campaign, Griffin writes on his blog.
By tapping a career prosecutor to investigate such Republican bogeymen as Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank as well as probing the CEOs of some of the major financial firms that have collapsed, Griffin contends McCain could appeal to both the GOP base and swing voters — both of whom are taking major hits in the market right now:
If McCain were to make such a proposal, it would demonstrate that he is a man of action, not just words.
It would demonstrate that he understands someone must be held accountable for the mortgage meltdown if criminal laws were broken. (I understand that greed in and of itself is not criminal.)
It would demonstrate that we are a nation of laws, even for the wealthy and well connected.
It would send a signal to the markets that we are determined to find out precisely what happened, and we won’t let it happen again. The facts uncovered in a criminal investigation could certainly inform whatever regulatory or legislative fixes are required down the road. Confidence in the market needs to be restored and this couldn’t hurt.
It would send a signal to Americans who are scared, angry and hurt as a result of the stock market meltdown.
He should also remind the American people that any funds recovered as a result of a criminal probe would be returned to the U.S. Treasury, including any recovered from CEOs who are found to have committed crimes.
And ask Sen. Obama to join him in this proposal. He won’t.
The Special Prosecutor would report to the Deputy Attorney General as has been the case with other Special Prosecutors. The Independent Counsel statute is no more, so I am not suggesting a big spending, never ending IC.
A Special Prosecutor. For action. For accountability. For confidence.