Motient
EXCERPT:
Abbruzzese, the Vultures and Bruno
by: am
Sat Mar 10, 2007 at 11:23:12 AM EST

Having not heard much about Bruno's BFF Abbruzzese in a bit, I thought we could travel down memory lane and take a peak into the dark underworld that our Senate Majority Leader has dipped his toes into. And when I say underworld, I mean that literally. You see, back in the day, Joe's buddy Mr. Abbruzzese joined forces with Stephen Feinberg of Cerberus Capital Management LP whose "specialty . . . is investing in debt of companies at the gates of bankruptcy." Cerberus emerges from the underworld. Yes, Cerberus - the three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell, the same Cerberus which is now breaking in the news for its connections to the Walter Reed Scandal and much much more! Let's look at how these vultures are tied to our friends Joe and Jerry.
The 3 heads in our much smaller story here is that of Cerberus, Romulus Holdings Inc., and Mr. Abbruzzese's TechOne. This budding partnership was happening about the same time as the more reported Motient/Tejas shenangans - where Mr. Bruno's investment has raised eyebrows. But the stories are somewhat similar, as are the players. In the coverage at that time: "Vultures Circling" we see that "Romulus and Cerberus are known as "vulture funds," or investment banks that specialize in buying the debt of distressed companies at rock-bottom prices." And Romulus is "an investment vehicle of . . . Gary Singer, who was sentenced to 28 months in prison in 1995 as a result of insider-trading violations." (my emphasis)

Ted Olson and Rahm Emanuel
EXCERPT:
Rahm Emanuel heads North American Mossad + PROMIS + laundered profits to Israel/Russian
by Tom Heneghan Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006 at 3:54 PM

Rosen is also tied to Ted Olson, Coca Cola copyright controversy and a scandal now developing which will link Rosen to Rahm Emanuel and the Mossad in the sale of and transfer of PROMIS Software involving the alleged Russian spy Robert Hanson and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and laundered profits to both Israel and the Russian Federation...

Robert Hanson
EXCERPT:
Born April 18, 1944 (1944-04-18) (age 66)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Alias(es) Ramon Garcia, Jim Baker, G. Robertson, "B", Graysuit
Charge(s) Espionage
Penalty Life imprisonment (without parole)
Status Incarcerated
Occupation Former FBI agent and spy for the Soviet Union and later Russia
Spouse Bernadette "Bonnie" Wauck Hanssen

Robert Philip Hanssen (born April 18, 1944) is a former American FBI agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States for 22 years from 1979 to 2001. He is currently serving a life sentence at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Administrative Maximum facility in Florence, Colorado, a "Supermax" federal penitentiary in which Hanssen spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement.[1]

Hanssen was arrested on 18 February 2001 at Foxstone Park[2] near his home in Vienna, Virginia and was charged with selling American secrets to Russia for more than US$1.4 million in cash and diamonds over a 22-year period.[3] On 6 July 2001, he pleaded guilty to thirteen counts of espionage in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.[4][5] He was then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His activities have been described as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history."[6]

Skadden Arps and Paula Jones
EXCERPT:
Ms. Sabrin’s cases have included the defense of President Clinton in the Paula Jones sexual harassment suit, including an appeal to the Supreme Court; the defense of a major insurance company in connection with an investigation by the attorney general of New York; the defense of major defense contractors in civil false claims actions; the representation of a White House deputy chief of staff as a witness in concurrent grand jury and congressional investigations; and the criminal defenses of a former cabinet member, a member of Congress and an executive of a health care corporation. Ms. Sabrin also has served as counsel to the Virginia Tech Review Panel, a commission appointed by the governor of Virginia to investigate the tragic murders of 32 students at Virginia Tech in April 2007.

Ms. Sabrin has conducted internal investigations on behalf of major corporations or their audit committees, and has advised corporations and individuals subject to enforcement actions by government agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the offices of state attorneys general.

Skadden Arps
Securities Litigation
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and affiliates (“Skadden”) handles the most challenging, high-stakes securities litigation matters — “bet-the-company” cases that frequently demand a full range of skills, from experience in civil and criminal proceedings and internal investigations, to an understanding of the workings of the SEC and other federal and state regulators. The outcome of these cases can be vital to the future of a company, and Skadden's collaborative approach of assembling teams of advisers with deep and relevant experience across a range of disciplines is a key factor in our successful track record on behalf of clients.

We frequently advise companies on the critical securities issues of the day. For example, we currently are handling more than 25 actions, including for Pioneer Alternative Investments and Tremont Group Holdings, Inc., in litigation stemming from the Bernard Madoff scandal. These include actions in federal courts in New York, California, Massachusetts and New Mexico; state court actions in New York, California, Massachusetts and Texas; and filings with the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation in Florida. We also continue to represent financial institutions in matters related to subprime loans and the credit crisis, such as in ERISA-related litigation, mortgage-backed securities litigation and securities class actions. Our clients have included, among others, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, Fortis Securities LLC, Fremont General Corporation, Greenwich Capital, Merrill Lynch, Société Générale, the underwriters of Citigroup Securities, the underwriters of Deutsche Bank Securities, the underwriters of Barclays PLC Securities and former directors of Countrywide Financial Corporation.

Kagan
EXCERPT:
Amy Sabrin, a partner in the firm's Washington office who represented President Bill Clinton in the lawsuit brought by Paula Jones, met with Kagan on April 15. They were joined by Skadden associates Leslie Abrams, Robyn Carr, and Maya Florence and Deputy White House Counsel Susan Davies. Sabrin and Carr met again with Kagan on April 28.

The Kagan process
EXCERPT:
Kagan's questionnaire details the process of her selection, and includes a few interesting details, including the role of lawyers at Skadden Arps, presumably in vetting her.

David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett appear to have played roles in the process, but Rahm Emanuel did not get a meeting:

I was contacted by Bob Bauer, White House Counsel, and Susan Davies, Deputy White House Counsel, on March 5, 2010, to inform me that the President wished to consider me for a possible Supreme Court vacancy. Between that date and the day of my nomination, I had frequent contact with Mr. Bauer and Ms. Davies. On April 7, 2010, Ron Klain, Chief of Staff to the Vice President, contacted me about meeting with the Vice President. Also that day, I met with David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to the President; Cynthia Hogan, Counsel to the Vice President; and Lisa Brown, Staff Secretary to the President. On April 13, 2010, I met with Ms. Davies and Danielle Gray, an Associate White House Counsel. On April 15, 2010, I met with Amy Sabrin of Skadden Arps, as well as Leslie Abrams, Robyn Carr, and Maya Florence of that firm; Ms. Davies also attended this meeting. I met again with Ms. Sabrin and Ms. Carr on April 28, 2010. I met with Vice President Biden on April 27, 2010, and was interviewed by President Obama on April 30, 2010. I met with Valerie Jarrett on May 6, 2010. President Obama informed me on May 9, 2010 that he wished to nominate me to the Supreme Court. During this period, I also had numerous other communications with the White House staff members listed above, or groups of them, as well as with Daniel Meltzer, Principal Deputy White House Counsel; Julia Kazaks of Skadden Arps; and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Madoff feeder funds

Tejas Security
EXCERPT:
Don't Mess With Tejas Because You Might Get Motient Sickness
by: phillip anderson
Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 11:30:27 AM EST

Why anyone would ever do business with or even, ya know "consult" for Joe Bruno's BFF, Jared Abbruzzese, is simply beyond me. The Albany Times Union's piece about "Jerry" Abbruzzese that I cited in this post paints a pretty unflattering picture of a man that seems to leave a pretty crowded wake of unhappy and litigious former investors and partners wherever he goes. Many of these former associates feel that Mr. Abbruzzese often neglects the interests of shareholders and the companies themselves in favor of fattening his own bottom line.
Though commenter kashew seems to think that "Jerry" is getting a bum rap, there does seem to be a pattern here. Let's start with Motient, shall we?

Bernie Madoff and Skadden Arps
EXCERPT:
"Needless to say, our level of anger and dismay over the apparent betrayal by Mr. Madoff and his organization of his 14-year relationship with Tremont is immeasurable," Rye Investment management said in a letter to clients on Friday. The firm said it had hired the high-powered New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom to represent it.

Jerry Abbrezzese
EXCERPT:
Current management has left a trail of irregularities at other public companies and has demonstrated a flagrant disregard of its fiduciary duties at Motient

As you know, Motient has been run by Steven Singer, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and a group of hand-picked insiders, which includes the other sitting directors, executive management and affiliated consultants and industry service providers, including Jerry Abbruzzese. You may not know, however, that many of these individuals have for years used their web of intertwined relationships to line their pockets at the expense of stockholders of multiple companies. We point you to multiple situations where the activities of members of this Singer/Abbruzzese Circle have raised questions: Cooper Companies, WSNet, CAI Wireless, and Leap Wireless. The trail of irregularities, stockholder lawsuits, regulatory inquiries, accusations and suspicions indicate a pattern of behavior that we believe is being repeated at Motient and serves as the fundamental basis for our seeking a new slate of directors.
In the case of Motient, we note the following examples of particularly egregious conduct:
• Steven Singer’s brother, Gary Singer, was convicted of securities fraud in connection with his activities relating to Cooper Companies and has been permanently barred by the SEC from serving as an officer or director of a public company. Despite this fact, Gary Singer offices with Motient’s Chairman, has negotiated deals on Motient’s behalf, has participated in Motient’s board meetings and has indirectly received over a million dollars in fees from Motient.

• Jerry Abbruzzese, a former director of Motient, has “milked” the stockholders by receiving excessive fees and warrants from Motient through non-arm’s length arrangements with his “advisory firm” (CTA). At various times during the last three years, CTA has served as surrogate management to the purportedly “well-qualified” management team at Motient. As just one example, in February 2005 Motient paid a $3.7 million consulting fee to CTA and to a trust established for the benefit of the children of Gary Singer.

• Tejas, Inc. (“Tejas”), a financial advisory firm with limited investment banking qualifications, was engaged at CTA’s insistence to serve as placement agent for hundreds of millions of dollars in securities issuances by Motient. Prior to being engaged by Motient, Tejas earned less than $100,000 in annual investment banking revenues. Despite Tejas’ lack of investment banking experience, Motient paid the company over


Skadden Arps and Obama
EXCERPT:
The Reality:
A loophole in federal elections law allows partners and employees of lobbying firms to donate without the donation being identified as coming from partners/employees of a Lobbying firm. Because of this, millions of dollars in donations from 30 law firm/registered lobbyists, as well as 29 bundlers, were hidden, recorded as coming from law firms.
BARACK OBAMA (D)
Top Contributors

Goldman Sachs $474,428
Ubs Ag $298,180
JP Morgan Chase & Co $282,387
Lehman Brothers $274,147
National Amusements Inc $265,750
Sidley Austin LLP $251,657 Registered Lobbyist
Citigroup Inc $247,436
University of California $239,944
Skadden, Arps et al $228,520 Registered Lobbyist
Exelon Corp $226,661 Nuclear Industry Crony
Harvard University $225,891
Jones Day $213,825
Google Inc $192,808
Time Warner $190,091
Morgan Stanley $190,026
Citadel Investment Group $173,950
Kirkland & Ellis $163,126 Registered Lobbyist
Latham & Watkins $160,842
WilmerHale LLP $155,788 Registered Lobbyist, aka Wilmer Cutler Pickering
Jenner & Block $151,447 Registered Lobbyist