Federal Reserve Given Until October 19 To Appeal To US Supreme Court

Bloomberg.com reported on August 27th that the Federal Reserve has won yet another reprieve as it seeks to escape rulings requiring it to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request for the names of firms receiving approximately $2 trillion in taxpayer loans:  

The Federal Reserve Board was given 60 days to decide whether to take a Freedom of Information Act case to the U.S. Supreme Court or disclose documents about loans it made to banks during the credit crisis.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in New York today acceded to the Fed’s request to delay implementation of a ruling that compels the central bank to release the reports, giving the bank until Oct. 19 to appeal. The clock began to run on Aug. 20 when the court refused to revisit its earlier ruling against the Fed.

At issue are 231 “term sheets” documenting Fed loans to financial firms during 2008. The records, which include the banks’ names and the amounts borrowed, were originally requested by the late Bloomberg News reporter Mark Pittman through the FOIA, which allows citizens access to government papers.

Expect an appeal to be filed by the Fed on the Oct. 19 deadline to avoid if at all possible having to disclose the explosive information before the Nov. 2 midterm elections.

The complete story is available here.

Federal Reserve Appeal Denied, Continues to Stymie to Protect Banksters

Bob Ivry for Bloomberg News is reporting that the Federal Reserve's appeal in May of a March ruling requiring the Fed to disclose information under the Freedom of Information Act has been denied as of August 20:

The full U.S. Court of Appeals in New York, in a docket entry dated Aug. 20, denied a May 4 request by the Fed to review a three-judge panel’s unanimous March 19 decision requiring the agency to release records of the unprecedented $2 trillion U.S. loan program begun primarily after the 2008 collapse of Bear Stearns Cos.

Unless the court stays its decision, the Fed will have seven days to disclose the documents. In the event of a stay, the central bank and the Clearing House Association LLC, an organization of 20 commercial banks that joined the Fed in defense of the lawsuit, will have 90 days to petition the Supreme Court to consider their appeal. The Clearing House has already said it will ask the high court to rule on the case. ...

The amount the Fed and the U.S. government lent, spent and guaranteed to stem the recession and rescue the banking system peaked in March 2009 at $12.8 trillion, most of it following the September 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Go here for complete coverage by Bloomberg.

Feds Must Disclose Where Over $2 Trillion Of Taxpayer Money Has Gone

And I'll bet you didn't know it was missing! The courts have spoken twice, but expect more delaying tactics by the Fed. Excerpts from the Bloomberg.com story as posted here follow:

The US Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled today that the Fed must release records of the unprecedented $2 trillion US loan program launched primarily after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The ruling upholds a decision of a lower-court judge, who in August ordered that the information be released. ...

The US Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, “sets forth no basis for the exemption the Board asks us to read into it,” US Circuit Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote in the opinion. “If the Board believes such an exemption would better serve the national interest, it should ask Congress to amend the statute.” ...

“We’re obviously pleased with the court’s decision, which is an important affirmation of the public’s right to know what its government is up to,” said Thomas Golden, a partner at New York-based Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Bloomberg’s outside counsel. ...

Lawyers for Bloomberg argued in court that the public has the right to know basic information about the “unprecedented and highly controversial use” of public money.

“Bloomberg has been trying for almost two years to break down a brick wall of secrecy in order to vindicate the public’s right to learn basic information,” Golden wrote in court filings. ...

The Fed’s balance sheet debt doubled after lending standards were relaxed following Lehman’s failure on Sept. 15, 2008. That year, the Fed began extending credit directly to companies that weren’t banks for the first time since the 1930s. Total central bank lending exceeded $2 trillion for the first time on Nov. 6, 2008, reaching $2.14 trillion on Sept. 23, 2009. ...

The case is Bloomberg LP v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 09-04083, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (New York).