Woo vs. Harmon - Witness Henry "Hank" Paulson, Jr.

THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

OFFICE OF THE U.S. TRUSTEE

David C. Farmer, Successor Trustee
vs.
Bobby N. Harmon

(Formerly Mary Lou Woo vs. Harmon and James Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE/KSC

United States District Court, District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

HENRY M. “HANK” PAULSON, JR.

Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
Fax: (202) 622-6415

Henry Paulson is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; Former Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Nature Conservancy; U.S. Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Hank was a member of the White House Domestic Council, serving as Staff Assistant to the President from 1972 to 1973, and as Staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon from 1970 to 1972.

Henry Paulson serves on the Boards of Catalyst, the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and is a member of the board of the Dean's Advisors of the Harvard Business School.

Henry Paulson was the founding Chairman of the Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University in Beijing, and continues to serve on the Board, which among other things, implemented an executive education program.

Henry Paulson is a past Chairman of the The Peregrine Fund , and remains on the Board. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Nature Conservancy and Co-Chairman of its Asia Pacific Council. In that role he is supporting the establishment of a large national park and conservation project in the Yunnan province of China, in cooperation with the Chinese government.

The Oath of Office taken by Henry Paulson:

I, Henry Paulson, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

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According to Yahoo! Finance, Henry H. Paulson, Jr., is the LARGEST INDIVIDUAL INVESTOR IN GOLDMAN SACHS, INC. The LARGEST INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR IN GOLDMAN SACHS, INC. is currently Britain’s BARKLEYS GLOBAL INVESTORS UK HOLDINGS, INC. - a lead member of the notorious COMMITTEE OF 300.

Also, according to Yahoo! Finance, GOLDMAN SACHS IS THE 5^TH LARGEST INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR IN YAHOO!, INC.

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For the latest updates, go to

CV05-00030 - Witness: Henry Paulson

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NEW DISCOVERY (10/16/09):

October 9, 2009

BILL MOYER’S JOURNAL

BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the JOURNAL.

I sat in a theater packed with passionate moviegoers, every one of them seemingly aghast at the Wall Street skullduggery exposed by Michael Moore in his latest film. It's called 'Capitalism: A Love Story.' Here's an excerpt:

MICHAEL MOORE: We're here to get the money back for the American People. Do you think it's too harsh to call what has happened here a coup d'état? A financial coup d'état?

MARCY KAPTUR: That's, no. Because I think that's what's happened. Um, a financial coup d'état?

MICHAEL MOORE: Yeah.

MARCY KAPTUR: I could agree with that. I could agree with that. Because the people here really aren't in charge. Wall Street is in charge.

BILL MOYERS: That's the progressive Representative from Ohio, Marcy Kaptur, she's with me now. She has a Masters from the University of Michigan, did graduate study at M.I.T. and still lives in the same house in the Toledo working class neighborhood where she grew up.

She's in her 14th term in Congress, the longest-serving Democratic woman in the history of the House, and she's an outspoken financial watchdog on three important Committees: Appropriations, Budget and Oversight and Government Reform.

Also with me is a familiar face to viewers of this broadcast. Simon Johnson is the former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund. He now teaches Global Economics and Management at M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management. He's one of the founders of the website Baselinescenario.com. I check it out daily for Simon's take on the economic and financial crisis.

It's been a year since the great collapse and both my guests are well equipped to assess what's happened since then. Welcome to you both.

MARCY KAPTUR: Thank you.

BILL MOYERS: Let's look at this story that I just read from the Associated Press this week about how Treasury Secretary Geithner is on the phone several times a day with a select group of very powerful Wall Street bankers, especially Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs. He will talk to them when Members of Congress have to leave a message on the answering machine. And these are the bankers who helped bring on this calamity and who are now benefiting from it. What does that say to you?

MARCY KAPTUR: That says to me that Wall Street and Washington is a circuit. And because Mr.Geithner headed the New York Fed that that historic relationship, unfortunately, continues. And it gives them special access and special power to influence policy.

SIMON JOHNSON: Well, I think it really tells you how the system works. The system is based on access and is based on what on Wall Street shaping Washington's view of what's important.

It's the people who are very close to Mr. Geithner before when he was the head of the New York Fed. Before he became Treasury Secretary. These people have unparalleled access. And in a crisis, when everything is up for grabs, you don't know what's going on, the people who will take your phone calls, right, in government and people who are going to be standing in the oval office, making the key decisions. That's the heart of the system. That's the heart of how you get your agenda through, by changing their worldview.

MARCY KAPTUR: And they also move people. In other words, Mr. Geithner came from the New York Fed, he came from Wall Street, and he becomes Secretary of the Treasury. His predecessor, Mr. Paulson, came from Goldman Sachs, and he becomes Secretary of Treasury. You can go back decades, and you will see that there's this revolving door between Wall Street and Washington.

And I recently asked Chairman Bernanke of the Federal Reserve, 'Let me ask you a question. Would you be willing to consider a reform where the Cleveland Fed would have equal power to the New York Fed, in terms of how the Fed is run?'

And his answer was, 'No.' ...

CONTINUED (WITH VIDEO) AT ...

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/watch.html

CATCH IT ALSO IN ...

THE CATBIRD’S NEW NEST

BILL MOYERS JOURNAL

DIRTY GOLD IN GOLDMAN SACHS

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NEW DISCOVERY (04/17/09); More undisclosed conflicts of interest between David Farmer, Ben Cayetano, Earl Anzai, Lyn Anzai, Robin Campaniano, Edward Liddy, Goldman Sachs, Barack Obama, Henry Paulson, The Nature Conservancy, The Hawaii Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Suzanne Case, Peter Savio, Faye Kurren, Haunani Apoliona, OHA, Robert Rubin, Kamehameha Schools, Nathan Aipa, Bishop Museum, William Simon, HonFed, Investors Equity Life Insurance Co., Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Colbert Matsumoto, Dan Inouye, AIG, CV Starr, Hank Greenberg, ACE Insurance, Ace Greenberg, Chubb Group, Marsh & McLennan, Rocco Sansone, Mercer Consulting, Aloha Airlines, Bill Clinton, Yucaipa, Hawaiian Airlines, Douglas Ing, Henry Peters, Judge Rey Graulty, Judge Barry Kurren, Judge Robert Faris, etc:

April 17, 2009

A.I.G. Chief Owns Significant
Stake in Goldman

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH, New York Times

Edward M. Liddy, the dollar-a-year chief executive leading the American International Group since its bailout last fall, still owns a significant stake in Goldman Sachs, one of the insurer’s trading partners that was made whole by the government bailout of A.I.G.

Mr. Liddy earned most of his holdings in Goldman, worth more than $3 million total, as compensation for serving on the bank’s board and its audit committee until he stepped down in September to take the job at A.I.G. He moved to A.I.G. at the request of Henry M. Paulson Jr., then the Treasury secretary and a former Goldman director.

Details about his holdings were disclosed in Goldman’s proxy statement and confirmed by an A.I.G. spokeswoman, who said they constituted “a small percentage of his total net worth.” Mr. Liddy had already owned some stock in Goldman Sachs before joining its board in 2003.

He has said that he considers his work at A.I.G. to be a public service, performed on behalf of the taxpayers, who ended up with nearly 80 percent of the insurance company. His goal is to dismantle the company and sell its operating units, using the proceeds to pay back the rescue loans. On Thursday, A.I.G. said it had sold its car insurance unit, 21st Century Insurance, to the Zurich Financial Services Group for $1.9 billion.

Along the way, Mr. Liddy has clearly disclosed that A.I.G. was serving as a conduit, with much of the rescue money passing through and ending up in the hands of A.I.G.’s trading partners.

Goldman has said in the past that it had collateral and hedges to reduce the risk of its exposure to A.I.G.

Still, his stake could represent a potential conflict and is likely to reignite questions about Goldman’s involvement in A.I.G., and about why taxpayer money was used to shield A.I.G.’s trading partners from losses, when asset values plunged everywhere and most investors suffered greatly.

Had A.I.G. simply declared bankruptcy, the financial institutions doing business with it would have ended up in court, as they did in the case of Lehman Brothers, fighting to get pennies on the dollar for their claims.

Instead, Goldman Sachs received $13 billion of the Federal Reserve’s rescue money to close out various contracts it had outstanding with A.I.G. It was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government rescue.

A spokeswoman for A.I.G., Christina Pretto, dismissed any suggestion that Mr. Liddy’s financial ties to Goldman might have shaped his actions at A.I.G.

“A.I.G. is a large institution that engages in standard commercial activity with companies all over the world,” Ms. Pretto said. “These activities are handled in the normal, day-to-day course of business and rarely, if ever, rise to the level of the C.E.O.”

She said in particular that Mr. Liddy was not involved in the discussions of how to close out the contracts of A.I.G.’s counterparties in derivatives and other forms of trading.

“Discussions regarding these matters were handled exclusively by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,” Ms. Pretto said.

According to Goldman’s proxy, Mr. Liddy holds 18,244 units of restricted stock, which would be worth about $2.2 million if they were sold at today’s market price. The rest of his holdings are in common stock. Restricted stock cannot be sold without incurring significant tax penalties, but the proxy said that Mr. Liddy’s restricted units would be converted to common shares on May 9.

Officials at the Fed, which initiated the bailout of A.I.G. last September, have said they were not happy about having to pour public resources into private sector companies, but felt that they had to do so to avoid a chain of losses at financial institutions all over the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/business/17liddy.html?_r=1&em

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NEW DISCOVERY (04-07-09:

GOLDMAN SACHS, BIGGEST BENEFICIARIES OF PAULSON’S BAILOUT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEumrdHOq0w

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NEW DISCOVERY (03-14-09): More undisclosed conflicts of interest between Steven Guttman, Mary Lou Woo, Judith Neustadter Fuqua, David Farmer, Larry Johnson, Robert Kihune, Sandwich Isles Communications, Bank of Hawaii, Gilbert Tam, Barack Obama, Steve Case, AOL, Dan Case, Punahou School, Citigroup, Robert Rubin, Henry Paulson, The Nature Conservancy, Suzanne Case, Faye Kurren, Goldman Sachs, Kamehameha Schools, University of Hawaii, etc.

March 14, 2009

Ex-CEO of Bankoh considered
for Citigroup board

By David Segal, Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Former Bank of Hawaii Chief Executive Michael O'Neill reportedly is one of the candidates being considered for a position on the board of directors at financially troubled Citigroup Inc.

O'Neill, who turned around Bankoh's lagging fortunes in less than four years before retiring at age 57 in August 2004, was mentioned along with former U.S. Bancorp CEO Jerry Grundhofer and William S. Thompson, former co-chief of bond investment manager Pimco, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper said Citigroup is expected to announce the board changes next week when it files its proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any nominees would have to be formally approved by the board and voted on by shareholders.

O'Neill took over then-called Pacific Century Financial Corp. from Larry Johnson on Nov. 3, 2000, and in less than four years transformed the bank into a more efficient operation, elevated earnings to record highs and increased shareholder value nearly fourfold.

He also became somewhat of a TV personality with the bank's "Tell Mike" campaign.

Richard Parsons, a one-time University of Hawaii student who took over as chairman last month, is one of the few Citigroup directors with experience in both banking and leading a large company.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin

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NEW DISCOVERY (09-20-08):

September 20, 2008

Bush team, Congress negotiate
$700B bailout

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press

The Bush administration asked Congress on Saturday for the power to buy $700 billion in toxic assets clogging the financial system and threatening the economy as negotiations began on the largest bailout since the Great Depression.

The rescue plan would give Washington broad authority to purchase bad mortgage-related assets from U.S. financial institutions for the next two years. It does not specify which institutions qualify or what, if anything, the government would get in return for the unprecedented infusion.

Democrats are pressing to require that the plan help more strapped borrowers stay in their homes and to condition the bailout on new limits on executive compensation.

Congressional aides and administration officials are working through the weekend to fill in the details of the proposal. The White House hoped for a deal with Congress by the time markets opened Monday; top lawmakers say they would push to enact the plan as early as the coming week.

"We're going to work with Congress to get a bill done quickly," President Bush said at the White House. Without discussing specifics, he said, "This is a big package because it was a big problem."

The proposal is a mere three pages long, but it gives sweeping powers to the government to dispense gigantic sums of taxpayer dollars in a program that would be sheltered from court review.

"It's a rather brief bill with a lot of money," said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman. "We understand the importance of the anticipation in the markets, but we also know that what we're doing is going to have consequences for decades to come. There's not a second act to this — we've got to get this right."

Lawmakers digesting the eye-popping cost and searching for specifics voiced concerns that the proposal offers no help for struggling homeowners or safeguards for taxpayers' money.

The government must bail out the financial system "because if we don't, it will have a tremendous impact on American consumers, homeowners, taxpayers and the rest," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in San Francisco.

But, she added, "We cannot deal with this unless this bailout helps families stay in their homes."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. said "we cannot allow ourselves to be in denial about the threat now facing the world economy. From all indications, that threat is real, and the consequences of inaction could be catastrophic. Every single American has a stake in preventing a global financial meltdown."

The proposal would raise the statutory limit on the national debt from $10.6 trillion to $11.3 trillion to make room for the massive rescue.

"The American people are furious that we're in this situation, and so am I," the House's top Republican, Ohio Rep. John A. Boehner, said in a statement. "We need to do everything possible to protect the taxpayers from the consequences of a broken Washington."

Signaling what could erupt into a brutal fight with Democrats over add-on spending, Boehner said "efforts to exploit this crisis for political leverage or partisan quid pro quo will only delay the economic stability that families, seniors, and small businesses deserve."

Bush said he worried the financial troubles "could ripple throughout" the economy and affect average citizens. "The risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risk of the package. ... Over time, we're going to get a lot of the money back."

He added, "People are beginning to doubt our system, people were losing confidence and I understand it's important to have confidence in our financial system."

Neither presidential candidate took a position on the proposal. GOP nominee John McCain said he was awaiting specifics and any changes by Congress.

Democratic rival Barack Obama used the party's weekly radio address to call for help for Main Street as well as Wall Street.

Their language reflected a tricky balance that politicians in both parties are trying to strike, just six weeks before Election Day: Back a plan that doles out hundreds of billions to companies that made bad bets and still identify with the plight of middle-class voters.

Besides mortgage help and executive compensation limits, Democrats are considering attaching middle-class assistance to the legislation despite a request from Bush to avoid adding items that could delay action. An expansion of jobless benefits was one possibility.

Bush sidestepped questions about the chances of adding such items, saying that now was not the time for posturing. "I think most leaders would understand we need to get this done quickly, and you know, the cleaner the better," he said about legislation being drafted.

Treasury officials met congressional staff for about two hours on Capitol Hill on Saturday. Discussions centered on how the plan would work, and Democrats proposed adding the executive compensation limits and new foreclosure-prevention measures. Details of those changes were not available Saturday. Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson conferred by phone for about 20 minutes in the afternoon, gauging how the negotiations were unfolding.

Among the key issues up for negotiation is which financial institutions would be eligible for the help. The proposed legislation doesn't make it clear, leaving open the question of whether hedge funds or pension funds could qualify.

On Saturday night, Treasury released a fact sheet stating that eligible financial institutions "must have significant operations in the U.S." unless Paulson determines, after consulting with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, that "broader eligibility is necessary to effectively stabilize financial markets."

The proposal does not require that the government receive anything from banks in return for unloading their bad assets. But it would allow Treasury to designate financial institutions as "agents of the government," and mandate that they perform any "reasonable duties" that might entail.

The government could contract with private companies to manage the assets it purchased under the rescue.

Paulson says the government would in essence set up reverse auctions, putting up money for a class of distressed assets — such as loans that are delinquent but not in default — and financial institutions would compete for how little they would accept.

Yahoo News/Financial Meltdown

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* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + THE CATBIRD SEAT

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + GOLDMAN SACHS + KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + NATURE CONSERVANCY + KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + NATURE CONSERVANCY + FAYE KURREN + KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + NATURE CONSERVANCY + PETER SAVIO + KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + PEREGRINE FUND + KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + GOLDMAN SACHS + ENRON + KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + GOLDMAN SACHS + INVESTORS EQUITY INSURANCE + CHARLES KEATING + KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS

* * * * *

GOOGLING FOR HENRY PAULSON + GOLDMAN SACHS + WALL STREET BAILOUT

* * * * *

NEW DISCOVERY (09-19-08): More undisclosed conflicts of interests between parties named in Defendant’s RICO lawsuit and the U.S. Department of Justice (Plaintiff), Mark Bennett, Hugh Jones, Dorothy Sellers, Margery Bronster, Earl Anzai, Lyn Anzai, Henry Paulson, AIG, Chubb Group, ACE, Aon, Marsh & McLennan, Goldman Sachs, Henry Peters, Robert Kihune, Douglas Ing, Louise Ing, Aloha Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Joshua Gotbaum, Judge Kevin Chang, Faye Watanabe Kurren, The Nature Conservancy, Judge Barry Kurren, Judge David Ezra, James Nicholson, Linda Lingle, Ben Cayetano, John Waihee, OHA, AIPAC, David Farmer, Steven Guttman, etc:

CV05-00030 - David Farmer vs. Harmon - Exhibit: "AIG: Buzz Yahoo story"

Friday, September 19, 2008 12:53 AM

From: "Bobby Harmon" <bobby_n_harmon@yahoo.com>iew contact details

To: "David Farmer" <farmerd001@hawaii.rr.com>, "Steven Guttman" <sguttman@kdubm.com>, "Carol K. Muranaka" <ustp.region15@usdoj.gov>

Cc: "Michael Mukasey <AskDOJ@usdoj.gov> ACLU Hawaii" <office@acluhawaii.org>, "All Representatives" <reps@Capitol.hawaii.gov>, "All Senators" <sens@Capitol.hawaii.gov>, "Andrew Walden" <hfpeditor@email.com>, "Andrew Winer" <winer@pacificlaw.com>, "Aon Insurance Managers" <mike_coulter@agl.aon.com>, "Arnold T. Phillips" <arnold.t.phillips@verizon.com>, "Arthur Rath" <imua@spamarrest.com>, "Barry M. Kurren" <richlyn_young@hid.uscourts.gov>, "Benjamin Kudo" <bkudo@imanakakudo.com>, "Blossom Tong" <blossom.d.tong@marsh.com>, "Bradley Tamm" <btamm@hawaii.rr.com>, "Brian E. Schatz" <teamschatz@gmail.com>, "Carl Morton" <ethics@hawaiiethics.org>, "Charles Goodwin" <HONOLULU@FBI.GOV>, "Charles Hurd" <mcp@mediatehawaii.org>, "Colbert Matsumoto" <service@islandinsurance.com>, "Craig Watanabe" <captiveins@dcca.hawaii.gov>, "Curtis B. Ching" <Curtis.B.Ching@usdoj.gov>, "Dane Field" <danefl@gucl.com>, "Dave Shapiro" <volcanicash@gmail.com>, "David A. Ezra" <theresa_lam@hid.uscourts.gov>, "Dee Jay Mailer" <ksinfo@ksbe.edu>, "Dorothy Sellers" <hawaiiag@hawaii.gov>, "Excecutive Office for U.S. Trustees" <ustrustee.program@usdoj.gov>, "Hugh Jones" <hugh.r.jones@hawaii.gov>, "Insurance Division Fraud Branch" <insfraud@dcca.hawaii.gov>, "J C Shannon" <Hapa1234@aol.com>, "James B Nicholson" <jamesbnicholson@aol.com>, "James B. Farris" <Farrisj@adr.org>, "James Cribley" <jcribley@caselombardi.com>, "James Duca" <jduca@kdubm.com>, "James Paul" <jpaul@pjpn.com>, "James Wriston" <jwriston@awlaw.com>, "Jeffrey Sia" <Jeff.Sia@excite.com>, "Jeffrey Watanabe" <jwatanabe@wik.com>, "Jim Dooley" <jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com>, "Jo Ann Uchida" <rico@dcca.hawaii.gov>, "Joe Moore" <news@khon2.com>, "John D. Finnegan" <info@chubb.com>, "John Goemans" <wip@kamuela.com>, "Judge Lloyd King" <hib@hib.uscourts.gov>, "Judith Neustadter" <Judy@tiki.net>, "Judson Witham" <jurisnot@yahoo.com>, "Ken Conklin" <ken_conklin@yahoo.com>, "Kenneth Hipp" <khipp@marrhipp.com>, "Kevin S.C. Chang" <shari_afuso@hid.uscourts.gov>, "Lawrence Reifurth" <dcca@dcca.hawaii.gov>, "Linda Lingle" <governor.lingle@hawaii.gov>, "Louise Ing" <ling@hsba.org>, "Lyn Flanigan Anzai" <lflanigan@hsba.org>, "Margery Bronster" <info@bchlaw.net>, "Marsh Affinity Group" <prosecure@marshpm.com>, "Matt Tsukazaki" <mat@torkildson.com>, "Michael N. Tanoue" <mtanoue@paclawgroup.com>, "Michelle Tucker" <michelle@sterlingandtucker.com>, "Na Kumu Book Project" <nakumu@ksbe.edu>, "Nathan Aipa" <nathan@pitluck.com>, "Office of Inspector General Civil Rights Complaints" <inspector.general@usdoj.gov>, "Office of the U.S. Trustee District of Hawaii" <ustp.region15@usdoj.goV>, "Paul Alston" <palston@ahfi.com>, "Peter Carlisle" <emeguro@co.honolulu.hi.us>, "Randall Roth" <rroth@hawaii.edu>, "Rick Daysog" <rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com>, "Robert Bruce Graham" <bgraham@awlaw.com>, "Robert F. Miller" <info@robertfmiller.com>, "Robin Campaniano" <aigh001@aighawaii.com>, "Roy F. Hughes" <hthughes@hawaii.rr.com>, "Samuel P. King" <leslie_sai@hid.uscourts.gov>, "Susan Tius" <STius@rmhawaii.com>, "V K Durham" <vkdtdht@pionet.net>, "Valerie U. Katz" <clmrpt@islandinsurance.com>, "William K Slate" <Websitemail@adr.org>, "Jim Terrack" <tnthawaii@aol.com>, "Don Michak" <dmichak@journalinquirer.com>, "Rocco Sansone" <rocco.c.sansone@marsh.com>, "Ted Pettit" <tpettit@caselombardi.com>, "Mark Burch" <burch@hawaii.edu>, "Laura Thielen" <dlnr@hawaii.gov>, "Michael Moore" <MMFlint@aol.com>, "John D Zalewski" <jzalewski@caselombardi.com>, "Robert M. Kohn" <rkohn@polhawaii.com>, "Haunani Apoliona" <info@oha.org>, "Malia Zimmerman" <Malia@hawaiireporter.com>, "DC Bureau Office of Hawaiian Affairs" <mathar@oha.org>, "CPCU Society Hawaii Chapter" <kkanehiro@gmail.com>, "Hawaii Independent Insurance Agents Assoc." <hiia@hawaii.rr.com>, "Hawaii Insurance Bureau Inc" <dpeters@hibinc.com>, "Hawaii Insurers Council" <apowershawaii@yahoo.com>, "Manuel Valenzuela" <manuel@valenzuelas.net>... more

Dear Mr. Farmer, Mr. Guttman, Ms. Muranaka & All Concerned:

Due to the discovery of NEW FACTS, I am adding the subject Exhibit which you will find on-line at:

http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/1:3d49517441210c2e6d3a94c6d1bfc0da:c29ff698c41201b84cc7ef7daa06e35e?usc=1

As Judge David Ezra's Order constitutes a PRIOR RESTRAINT of freedom of speech, I regret that I must continue to submit each of these new and updated exhibits and witness descriptions for your review and approval in the event they may contain any prohibited "Protected Subject Matter". If you would like to avoid this approval process, then I would again suggest that we attempt a good-faith settlement of this case through confidential negotiation or mediation.

Your prompt reply will be appreciated.

Very truly yours,

Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU, ARM

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (08-15-08): Undisclosed conflicts of interests between Senator Dan Inouye, Senator Ted Stevens, VECO Corporation, George W. Bush, John McCain, Dick Cheney, Halliburton, Shell Oil, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Bishop Estate, Aloha Petroleum, James Ahloy, Chevron-Texaco, Mark Bennett, Linda Lingle, Tesoro Petroleum, Faye Kurren, Judge Barry Kurren, Enron, Goldman Sachs, Robert Rubin, Henry Paulson, Henry Peters, Paul Alston, etc.:

December 6, 1996

ENRON and Shell Win Bid in
Capitalization of YPFB's
Transportation Segment

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA – Enron Development Corp. and Shell International Gas Ltd. announced today that the government of Bolivia has named the companies the successful capitalizing company for the transportation segment of the state oil and gas company, Yacimientos Petroliferos...

Business Wire

~ ~ ~

March 30, 1998

The following is an excerpt from a 10-K SEC Filing, filed by TESORO PETROLEUM CORP on 3/30/1998:

ACCESS TO NEW MARKETS

A lack of market access has constrained natural gas production in Bolivia. With little internal gas demand, all of the Company's Bolivian natural gas production is sold under contract to the Bolivian government for export to Argentina.

Major developments in South America indicate that new markets will open for the Company's production. Construction of a new 1,900-mile pipeline that will link Bolivia's extensive gas reserves with markets in Brazil commenced in 1997 and is expected to be operational in early 1999.

The owners of the new pipeline include Petrobras (the Brazilian state oil company), other Brazilian investors, Enron Corp., Shell International Gas Ltd., British Gas PLC, El Paso Energy Corp., BHP, and Bolivian pension funds. When completed, the new pipeline will have a capacity of approximately 1 billion cubic feet ("Bcf") per day.

For more, see...

Googling the Ghost of Ken Lay

Aloha, Harken Energy

Citigroup: Vampires in the City

Dirty Gold in Goldman Sachs

Shell Oil: The Shell Game

The Story of Enron

Vultures Up to their Necks in Tesoro Petroleum

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (07-12-08):

Harken Energy & The SEC

~ ~ ~NEW DISCOVERY (06-15-08):

June 15, 2008

Economic crises put
Treasury chief to test

By Joelle Tessler, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Henry Paulson, a veteran of more than three decades of Wall Street booms and busts, knew the good times couldn't last forever when he left his perch as head of Goldman Sachs two years ago to become President Bush's third Treasury secretary.

He just didn't know yet what form the downturn would take.

"I didn't realize I would have to learn so much about housing," Paulson said in an interview in his office at the Treasury Department, just steps from the White House. But, he added, "the possibility that I might be sitting here in the middle of all this didn't seem that unlikely to me."

Now, 10 months into housing and credit crises that are reverberating across financial markets and the broader economy, Paulson faces a long list of complicated economic problems. The dollar is extremely weak, oil prices are very high and, with home prices tumbling, foreclosure rates are spiking. Plus, Wall Street is reeling from its exposure to home-loan defaults, as evidenced this week by Lehman Brothers' decision to oust two top executives and raise $6 billion to offset its mortgage market risks.

Paulson's imprint on the Bush administration's response is clear. He was pivotal in negotiating the $168 billion economic stimulus package with lawmakers from both parties and played a key role in brokering the Federal Reserve-backed purchase of the troubled investment bank Bear Stearns by J.P. Morgan.

Yet to be seen is how history will judge these interventions.

The jury is out, for example, on whether the rebate checks sent to taxpayers — the cornerstone of the stimulus plan — will spur enough consumer spending to head off a recession. And while the Bear Stearns rescue may have prevented a potentially destabilizing collapse, the deal has some economists worried that the government may have encouraged more unhealthy risk-taking down the road by not allowing the investment bank to fail.

At the same time, Democrats complain that Paulson and the Bush White House are not doing enough to stem the tide of mortgage foreclosures and keep more Americans in their homes.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's www.Economy.com, believes the government had little choice but to put taxpayer money on the line for the Bear Stearns buyout. Yet he sees inconsistencies in the administration's unwillingness to do the same thing to help distressed homeowners....

Yet, even as he confronts the current turmoil, Paulson continues to press ahead with his plan to streamline regulation of the financial services sector. Among other things, his plan would expand the Fed's authority to oversee the financial markets and merge the federal agencies that supervise the securities and commodities futures markets.

Some have assailed the blueprint as an attempt to push through broad deregulation in the midst of an economic crisis that resulted from too little oversight. Critics are particularly concerned that the plan would weaken the Securities and Exchange Commission, which serves as a watchdog over Wall Street.

For his part, Paulson said the proposal does not aim to either expand or reduce regulation, but to update an antiquated system. He added that after all the Wall Street excesses he has witnessed over the years, he sees an important role for regulation and investor protection.

Although the blueprint stands little chance of passage before Bush leaves office, Paulson hopes it will shape the debate for the next administration.

For now, though, his top focus is stabilizing the economy.

"I've been taught to run to problems, rather than run away from them," he said. "I'll do my best right until I leave."

The Honolulu Advertiser

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (04-22-08): David Farmer’s undisclosed connections with AIPAC and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson:

From Exhibit: “CONNECTING THE DIRTY DOTS TO AIPAC”:

David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon

(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE KSC

U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

—

DEFENDANT’S EXHIBIT

—

A few words of explanation:

In his "MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION TO DEBTOR'S MOTION FOR ORDER TO DISAPPROVE APPOINTMENT OF DAVID C. FARMER AS SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE", filed with the Court on August 24, 2007, the Trustee's attorney, Steven Guttman, Esq., of the law firm, Kessner Umebayashi Bain & Matsunaga, stated to the Court:

"... Harmon is once again attempting to create issues of conflict where none exist by attempting to draw connections between phantom dots."...

Mr. Guttman does not elaborate beyond this simple statement of HIS PERSONAL OPINION, as to WHICH of the thousands of connections I have cited that he wishes the Court to accept, without question, as being merely "phantom dots". In other court filings, Mr. Guttman has characterized my Motions as consisting of "conspiracy theories" -- again with no specific references.

Despite these unnamed "phantom dots" and "conspiracy theories", the Court has blithely and unquestionably gone along with Mr. Guttman's opinions and has repeatedly denied ALL Motions that I have made. In fact, both Courts involved have ruled that the Court Clerk shall not accept any future filings from me without the Courts' prior approval - which it has repeatedly declined to give.

Therefore, due to the fact that I continue to discover new, material FACTS almost daily, I am preparing a set of NEW EXHIBITS in which I intend to document the financial, professional, personal, and political connections between the many various entities involved in this case.

~ o ~

The following is a listing of named witnesses in this case who have factual connections with the subject entity. Each underlined name has been linked to a detailed description of that witness to enable the reader to more easily CONNECT THE DOTS TO...

AIPAC

Investors Equity Insurance Company

Reliance Insurance Group

The Nature Conservancy

The Peregrine Fund

The Peregrine Gallery

Judith Neustadter Fuqua

James B. “Jim” Nicholson

Dan Inouye

* * * * *

THE AIPAC PHOTO GALLERY

http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/tik0709/frontpage/israellobby

http://zioneocon.blogspot.com/bush%20speech%20to%20AIPAC.jpg

www.radioislam.org/bush/jewishpower.htm

yannone.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Bush-7-20-3.mht

www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Rice.mht

www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Clinton.mht

www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Bush-McCain.mht

www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-McCain-Lieberman.mht

www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Washington-Gabfest.mht

* * * * *

LEARN MORE FACTS ABOUT AIPAC:

http://www.stopaipac.org/

http://www.stopaipac.org/spystory.htm

www.hadassah.org/education/content/influentials_israel.asp

http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/021108/hawaii.shtml

http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a1721.htm

http://www.antiwar.com/cole/?articleid=3467

http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2007/06/lfow.html

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=AIPAC

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/03/6138/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zidtiC-UPNU

http://www.franklingate.com/aipac-cheney.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/AIPAC.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-9-11.mht

http://www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Obama.mht

http://www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Bush-Abramoff-Greenberg.mht

http://www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Mische-7-11-7.mht

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vwV6O5AGKyw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8gHmJUa720

http://ifamericaknew.com/us_ints/mc-aipac.html

http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=9697

www.literarylotus.com/2007/12/wimr-brian-schatz.html

http://www.kycbs.net/AIPAC-Lingle-Abramoff-Brownstein.mht

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (04-15-08):

Connecting the dots...

David Farmer...Steven Guttman...Brian Schatz...Barack Obama...Oprah Winfrey...Hillary Clinton...Linda Lingle...John McCain....AIPAC...Punahou School...Kamehameha Schools...Dee Jay Mailer...The Global Fund...Henry Paulson...George W. Bush...Haunani Apoliona...OHA...Daniel Akaka...Dan Inouye...Suzanne Case...Dan Case...Steve Case...Jeffrey Case...Aon...The Nature Conservancy...Greg Dunn...Judith Neustadter Fuqua...Jon Corzine...etc...ad infinitum...

http://www.midweek.com/content/paina/image_full/2090/

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (04-12-08):

April 12, 2008

David C. Farmer, Esq.
Office of the United States Trustee
c/o Steven Guttman, Esq., Kessner Duca Umebayashi, et al.
220 S. King Street, Floor 10
Honolulu, HI 96813

Re: 99-04339 - David C. Farmer, Trustee vs. Bobby N. Harmon
Ref. New Exhibit: “THE DIRTY MILLIONS FOR ARMAGEDDON”

Dear Mr. Farmer:

Due to new discoveries regarding the Integrated Resources securities fraud and illegal U.S. political campaign funding by foreign nationals (Israel), I am adding the subject Exhibit. You will find this new Exhibit and related witness descriptions at:

http://www.kycbs.net/Dirty-Millions.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Lingle-Linda.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-McCain-John.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Kissinger-Henry.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Black-Conrad.htm

http://www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Farmer-David.htm

Mr. Farmer, I again suggest that we try to resolve this matter through negotiation rather that your continuing indefinitely this illegal SLAPP lawsuit.

Very truly yours,

Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU, ARM

cc: U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey
E-mail: <AskDOJ@usdoj.gov>

Curtis Ching, Office of the United States Trustee
Fax: (808) 522-8156

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (04-04-08):

WILLIAM J. CLINTON FOUNDATION

Speech: Remarks at the Goldman Sachs & Company 2004 Global Conference

December 3, 2004

New York, NY

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Hank, for that wonderful introduction. I probably should quit while I’m ahead. [LAUGHTER] And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the warm welcome.

I admire Hank Paulson very much for many things. His interest in Asia and our long-term relationship with the Asian Pacific community and particularly his leadership of the Nature Conservancy, some of you may not be familiar with it, but it is the principal private organization facilitating the preservation of precious natural land in the United States, and increasingly, in other places on the globe. I don’t think I ever told Hank this. But when I was the Governor of Arkansas, we used the Nature Conservancy more than any other State in the country.

I also want thank the people at Goldman Sachs, many of whom have contributed to the work of my Foundation, and the work we do around the world to try to fight AIDS and extend economic opportunity, to promote education and citizen service and to try to bridge the racial and religious divides that still bedevil the world. And I want thank Goldman Sachs for hiring at least a dozen people, who worked in the White House and other places in the administration. I was worried about what all those young people were going to do when we left office. [LAUGHS] So I am deeply in your debt....

www.kycbs.net/Clinton-Speech-2004-Global-Conference.mht

See also:

www.kycbs.net/Confessions.htm

www.kycbs.net/GoldmanSachs.htm

www.kycbs.net/MaunawiliValley.htm

www.kycbs.net/NatureConservancy.htm

www.kycbs.net/Nature-Conservancy-Hawaii.htm

www.kycbs.net/Global-Fund.htm

www.kycbs.net/Peregrine-Fund.htm

www.kycbs.net/Peregrine-Gallery.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Clinton-Bill.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Clinton-Hillary.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Rubin-Robert.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Peters-Henry.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Waihee-John.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Mailer-Dee-Jay.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Kurren-Faye.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Alston-Paul.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Fuqua-Judith.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Apoliona-Haunani.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Dunn-Greg.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Arrigo-Sue.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Lingle-Linda.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Crowe-William.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Kissinger-Henry.htm

www.kycbs.net/CV05-00030-Witness-Farmer-David.htm

~ ~ ~

NEW DISCOVERY (04-11-08): Trustee James B. Nicholson failed to disclose that he was the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee for Defendant’s witness, Peter Savio, even though he was asked specifically if he had any business, professional, personal or political relationships with Mr. Savio:

August, 2003

Hawaii’s Top 250 Companies:

New To The List: Whoa, Savio!

Hawaiian Island Homes' debut is marked by acrimony

By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch, Hawaii Business Magazine

Any interview that focuses on Peter Savio's new company, Hawaiian Island Homes Ltd., will soon focus on another Top 250 company, Central Pacific Bank. Says Savio: "They're malicious. They're vicious. I am going to become a stockholder in Central Pacific Bank. I am going to reform that institution. Their mistake was they stomped me. They didn't kill me. I'm coming back. I'm going to have fun with them."

Go back to the year 2001. Savio Inc., a holding company for eight real estate sales and development companies, was No. 56 on the Top 250, with $134.6 million in 2000 gross sales. But in 2001, Savio Inc. filed for Chapter 7 liquidation, and Peter Savio and his wife filed for personal bankruptcy protection. Savio says he was forced into the bankruptcies because CPB gave him just five days to move from his second-floor offices at 931 University Ave. Savio says he had been in a workout plan with a number of lenders after he started experiencing cash-flow problems in the mid-1990s. But CPB forced his hand.

"The only way to stop them was, I had to file for personal bankruptcy. So to save my employees and everything else, I filed for personal bankruptcy - one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make. But I was really pissed at Central Pacific Bank for doing that," he says.

"It was tough," he adds. "Basically I lost everything. Lost my house. Lost everything. Had to basically come back from nothing."

Today, Savio is more than back. His real estate company, Hawaiian Island Homes Ltd., lists 2002 gross sales of $177 million. Its office is downstairs in the same building that Savio Inc.'s once was. And the company is No. 27, ahead of CPB Inc. (No. 49), something Savio will rejoice to read. Savio says, "I've decided that my goal is to beat them in the Top 250. … just so we can say, 'Nannynannybooboo!'"

That's not all. "My short-term and my long-term goal is to reform Central Pacific Bank," Savio says. "I think I'm going to buy the bank."

Ann Takiguchi, Central Pacific Financial's communications officer, says, "We made every effort to work with Mr. Savio, and it is unfortunate that he is blaming us for his situation. Out of respect for our customers' privacy, we have no further comment. As a matter of bank policy, we don't comment on the affairs of our customers."

Bankruptcy court filings show that Central Pacific Bank claimed that Savio Inc. owed it about $1.5 million when Savio filed for bankruptcy in 2001. The Internal Revenue Service and Pitney Bowes Credit Corp. also listed claims of about $2,000 each.

The court-appointed trustee for Savio Inc.'s bankruptcy case, attorney Jim Nicholson, says the only unencumbered asset of the estate, a unit in the Diamond Head Beach apartment building, was sold for $375,000 in June 2003.

Gross sales for Savio's other new company, Hawaiian Island Development, were not reported for this year's Top 250, so one thing is for sure: Next year, he'll be back. Says Savio: "We're going to set up a new holding company called, 'I Hate CPB.' No, my attorney said I couldn't do that. I have a warped sense of humor, OK? But anyway, the new holding company is going to be Ohia Holdings."

Knowing Savio, there is marked symbolism in that choice. After all, the Ohia tree can be found growing in the middle of old lava flows.

Hawaii Business, August, 2003

~ ~ ~

January 14. 2008

Bush Brings Promise of Arms Sale
on First Visit to Saudi Arabia

Janine Zacharia and Holly Rosenkrantz

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush brought to Saudi Arabia today a promise to provide “smart bomb” technology for his host, as the U.S. leader made his first visit to a crucial ally in the Middle East.

Saudi King Abdullah had his own gift for Bush, a heavy, gold necklace and medallion that is a sign of friendship and respect, a theme Bush is seeking to push during his two-day visit to the kingdom at a time when oil prices are hovering around $100 per barrel.

The administration announced today it was formally notifying Congress of its plans to sell Boeing Co.'s satellite-guided smart-bomb kits to the Saudis. The package is part of a broader sale to Persian Gulf allies of as much as $20 billion in arms to shore up support against Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The visit is an opportunity for the two leaders to ``renew their ties,'' National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Riyadh. Relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been fraught since the U.S. led an invasion of Iraq in 2003 against Saudi advice.

On the Saudi agenda for meetings during the next two days is pressing the U.S. for stronger efforts to help create a Palestinian state, talks about U.S. plans in Iraq, and dealing with Iran's nuclear program through diplomacy.

Little has been said publicly about oil prices as Bush has made his way through four of the world's major producers: Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and now Saudi Arabia, which alone produces 25 percent of the world's oil.

Oil Talk

``They talked about oil,'' Ed Gillespie, Bush's senior adviser, said when pressed on the issue. Bush and the Arab leaders discussed the ``vast demand'' in the world market. Bush said alternative energy was a part of his agenda and also mentioned the need for more nuclear energy.

That was as specific as a statement on oil given by any White House official during the trip. Hadley refused to predict whether oil would be discussed in Bush's one-on-one meeting with Abdullah tonight.

The state of the U.S. economy and financial markets also topped the Arab leaders' concerns. Bush reassured leaders of the United Arab Emirates that their investment is still welcome in the U.S. after U.S. lawmakers in 2006 forced DP World, based in Dubai, to drop a bid to run American ports.

They asked if ``investment by the UAE is welcome in the United States'' and the ``president reassured them that it very much was, that the United States is open for foreign investment,'' Hadley said.

Fundamentals

Bush also reassured the UAE leadership that the ``underlying fundamentals'' of the U.S. economy remained sound, Hadley said.

Many officials also have asked questions about the U.S. presidential campaign. Gillespie said one official, who he didn't identify, asked him who he thought would win the Michigan primary tomorrow night.

During this trip, Bush has powered through an intensive schedule of cultural events. Last night he admired falcons and feasted on a Bedouin-styled dinner in the UAE desert. Today, he visited the historic home of Sheikh Saeed al Maktoum, the grandfather of the current ruler of Dubai in the UAE.

There Bush was greeted by young girls who sang and danced for him, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, accustomed on her own trips to a punishing schedule of diplomatic meetings, sipped a fresh strawberry juice alongside Bush's other top aides. Bush visited a Dubai cultural center and then met with young Arab leaders and entrepreneurs atop Dubai's boat-shaped luxury Burj al Arab hotel.

Tomorrow, Bush will again set aside high diplomacy and visit a national history museum and King Abdullah's ranch.

Asked to explain the timing and significance of Bush's sudden late-in-his-presidency cultural touring, Hadley said: ``It's a good part of getting him to see and be seen in the region.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net ; Janine Zacharia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at jzacharia@bloomberg.net

October 6, 2007

Treasury official recused on 3Com

Paulson admits
conflict of interest

By Kevin Carmichael, BLOOMBERG NEWS

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson won’t participate in any government review of the purchase of 3Com Corp. because his former employer, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is advising 3Com in the deal, his spokeswoman said.

Boston-based Bain Capital LLC said Sept. 28 that it is teaming with Huawei Technologies Co., China’s biggest maker of telecommunications-networks equipment, to buy 3Com for $2.2 billion. Bain has voluntarily submitted the acquisition agreement for review by U.S. authorities for security concerns.

Paulson chairs the Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, which reviews international investments that have national-security implications. He was chairman of Goldman for eight years before moving to Washington.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20071006/NEWS/710060317/1002

October 3, 2007

Merger opens U.S.
defense to China

By Bill Gertz

A Chinese company with ties to Beijing's military and past links to Saddam Hussein's army in Iraq and the Taliban will gain access to U.S. defense-network technology under a proposed merger, Pentagon officials say.

Huawei Technologies will merge with the Massachusetts-based 3Com network-equipment manufacturer in a deal announced last week. Huawei has been linked to the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, which involved millions of dollars in payoffs to Saddam's regime during a time of U.N. sanctions.

The announced merger follows a July computer attack on the Pentagon that U.S. intelligence officials say involved Chinese military hackers. The hackers were detected breaking into Pentagon computers, including an e-mail system close to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

"Huawei is up to its eyeballs with the Chinese military," said a defense official concerned about the deal. Huawei was founded in 1988 by a Chinese military officer and got its start building military communications networks.

A second official said the deal comes as the Pentagon has mounted an aggressive effort to thwart large numbers of computer intrusions from Chinese hackers and spies.

"And now we are proposing to sell the PLA a key to our front door. This is a very dangerous trend," the official said, referring to the People's Liberation Army, as the Chinese military is called.

3Com announced Friday the $2.2 billion merger with Bain Capital Partners LLC and noted in a statement that Huawei Technologies will acquire a minority interest and "become a commercial and strategic partner of 3Com."

Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he is worried the deal will lead to the loss of sensitive technology to China.

"Specifically, I have some concerns surrounding the minority position of Huawei Technologies and what control the Chinese company might have over America's sensitive information," Mr. Hunter said. "In addition to encouraging the Pentagon to review how this deal may affect any of its classified contracts, I would encourage the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to conduct a thorough review."

A Pentagon spokesman said he is not aware that anyone in the Defense Department has asked Treasury's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to investigate the merger. A Treasury spokesman had no comment.

3Com, through a subsidiary, provides the Pentagon and the Army with intrusion-detection equipment, and the merger potentially will provide Huawei access to strategic computer-network vulnerabilities, said defense officials speaking on the condition of anonymity....

Defense officials said Huawei's past is the main cause for concern. Huawei technicians were involved in violating U.N. sanctions against Iraq in the early 2000s by illegally providing a fiber-optic network in Iraq that linked the Iraqi military's air-defense network.

The CIA-led Iraq Survey Group stated in its final report that Huawei and two other Chinese firms "illicitly provided transmission switches" for fiber-optic communications in Iraq from 1999 to 2002.

U.S. and British warplanes bombed the Chinese-made fiber-optic network in August 2001 after it was found to be part of Iraqi air-defense missile sites that were firing at U.S. and allied aircraft enforcing a no-fly zone.

Huawei also was involved in building a telephone-switching system in Kabul, Afghanistan, for the ruling Taliban militia prior to its ouster in 2001, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

The defense officials said it is unlikely that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States would block the deal because 3Com is being advised on the merger by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., whose former chairman is Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten also is a former Goldman Sachs executive.

Gary Milhollin, an arms-proliferation specialist with the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, said Huawei was founded by a Chinese military officer and got its start with U.S. technology exports.

"In the past, Huawei has shown it's willing to help America's enemies after importing U.S. technology," he said. "And it has done so in defiance of U.N. regulations. So before we make more U.S. high technology available to Huawei, we should make sure it has changed its ways."

http://thefinalphaseforum.invisionzone.com/

~ ~ ~

February 17, 2006

Aloha Air prepares to depart bankruptcy

By Dave Segal, Star-Bulletin

ALOHA AIRLINES had a gun to its head from the start.

When it filed for bankruptcy just more than 13 months ago, it could not afford employee payroll. Its unions were balking at what would become the first of two rounds of concessions. And liquidation was an all-too-real possibility for an airline that had mounting debt and just $2 million left in cash.

Then things got worse: soaring fuel costs, a demand from lenders to shut down mainland flights, a 15.5 percent loan interest rate and last-minute appeals to its reorganization plan.

But the state's second-oldest airline somehow survived. And in a turbocharged pace for an airline bankruptcy, Aloha plans to emerge from reorganization around noon today with new owners, a $63 million cash infusion that it will use to pay off existing liabilities, a $15 million term loan and a $20 million revolving line of credit it can tap if necessary.

"(Liquidation was mentioned) so many times that people said we were crying wolf, but I wasn't," David Banmiller, president and chief executive of Aloha Airlines, said this week. "We had to find a way to pull it off because failure was not an option."

Banmiller would not detail Aloha's plans, but he did say the airline will begin another daily flight to Orange County, Calif., in April and plans to add more routes next year. The airline is sticking with its long-haul 737-700s for now but is "re-evaluating the fleet mix," he said.

The near death of Aloha's mainland routes came in June. The company's lenders, Goldman Sachs and Ableco Finance LLC, asked Aloha to shut down its mainland operations and return all its long-haul 737-700s because Aloha was in default of its loan agreement....

http://starbulletin.com/2006/02/17/news/story02.html

~ ~ ~

Henry Paulson, Jr. is expected to testify as to whether, under Defendant’s First Amendment Rights of religion and freedom of speech as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, he is entitled to report crimes and violations of federal statutes and regulations, including those of the IRS, to law enforcement and regulatory agencies - and to publish those reports and supporting documents in any media, including the Internet - without being subjected to threats, intimidation, fines, tax levies, foreclosure on his home, frivolous and corrupted arbitration proceedings, civil lawsuits, and other manner of harassment and violations of his civil rights.

Henry Paulson is also expected to testify regarding his business, professional, political and personal relationships with Allianz Insurance; Henry Kissinger; James B. Nicholson; Stanley Hong; Faye Kurren; Barack Obama; Judge Barry Kurren; Diane Plotts; Mark Hemmeter; Goldman Sachs; Stephen Friedman; Marsh & McLennan; Mercer Human Resource Consulting*; Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate; Matsuo Takabuki; Henry Peters; Oswald Stender; Rodney Park; Wally Chin; Sumitomo Group; Central Pacific Bank; Jeffrey Skilling; Tom DeLay; Jack Abramoff; Jeff Stone; Peter Savio; Paul Alston; Sports Shinko; Peter Young; Adele Smith Simmons; The MacArthur Foundation; Carlyle Group; Dick Cheney; Richard Pearle; Carla Hills; Norm Brownstein; Gale Norton; The Nature Conservancy; The Peregrine Fund; International Rivers Network; Jeffrey Watanabe; Bill Frist; Colbert Matsumoto; Robert Rubin; William S. Simon; Investors Equity Life Insurance; Hank Greenberg*; Jeff Greenberg*; American International Group (AIG)*; Allied World Assurance Co.; eToys; Ben Benson*; Richard Hendricksen; Mark McConaghy, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Robert Kihune; Hamilton McCubbin; Dee Jay Mailer; Alexander & Baldwin; Steve Case; Ed Case; Suzanne Case; Jeffrey Case; David Cole; Guido Giacometti; Sukamto Sia; Oprah Winfrey; Edwina Clarke; Colbert Matsumoto; The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation; State of Hawaii, Board of Land and Natural Resources; Larry Mehau; Maui County Council; Dan Inouye; Daniel Akaka; John Waihee; Ben Cayetano; Linda Lingle; Robert Katz; Bill Fritz; Richard Rainwater; Columbia-HCA; Mid-Ocean Reinsurance; Chubb Group; XL Insurance; China Export-Import Bank; Xiamen International Bank, Barry Gold, Laser S. Haas, Yahoo, Inc. Henry Kravis, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., James B. “Jim” Nicholson, James Nicholson, David Farmer, Carol Muranaka, Elaine Chao, John Snow, Stephen Ross; Nancy Graham, WCI Communities, Conrad Black, and others to be named upon discovery.