Braley Urges SEC and Department of Justice to Hold Goldman Sachs Accountable

Washington,
DC - In light of
recent revelations about Goldman Sachs' actions leading up to the financial
collapse of 2008, Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) signed on to two letters
urging the Securities and Exchange Commission and Attorney General Eric Holder
to hold Goldman Sachs accountable for its role in creating the worst economic
crisis since the Great Depression.

"For too
long, reckless speculators on Wall Street gambled away the savings of America's
middle class families," Braley said. "To ensure this never happens again, I'm
joining my colleagues in asking the SEC and Attorney General Eric Holder to
hold all responsible parties accountable and make sure they are prosecuted to
the fullest extent of the law. While we can't get every dime of every
retirement, college or savings account back, we can certainly make sure that
greedy Wall Street speculators understand the full consequence of their
actions."

On Friday,
Braley joined Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) and 60 other Members of Congress in
urging Holder to pursue all appropriate criminal charges against those involved
in fraudulent activity at Goldman Sachs and other institutions. Today, Braley
joined Reps. Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Elijah Cummings (MD-07), Dennis Cardoza
(CA-18) and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL), along with 56 other Members of
Congress, in sending a letter to SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro. The letter asks
her to pursue investigations into the remaining 24 ABACUS transactions for
securities fraud, evaluate the extent of any receipt, by Goldman Sachs, of
fraudulently-generated AIG-issued credit default swap payments, and vigorously
pursue the recovery of such payments on behalf of the U.S. taxpayer.