Negroponte Granted Presidential Powers

On May 5, 2006, a presidential memo was issued and published in the Federal Register on page 27941. This memo provides John Negroponte, The Director of The National Intelligence Service, with the authority to act as if he were the president with regard to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The memo states:

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby assign to you the function of the President under section 13(b)(3)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (15 U.S.C. 78m(b)(3)(A)). In performing such function, you should consult the heads of departments and agencies, as appropriate.

This SEC regulation states that publicly traded companies are in violation of the law if they conceal transactions and activities from the public. In other words these companies MUST act with "relative transparency".

Negroponte now has the authority to waive the rules of the SEC and authorize companies like Bellsouth, AT&T and Verizon to ignore the SEC rules and not be prosecuted for violations of the SEC rules. Hence, the denials from these companies. Has he utilized the memo? We don't know, but even if he did...we weill NEVER know.

Thanks Thom Hartmann for your clear and concise explanation of the above events.