SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Group Seeks to Expose Cozy Ties Between US Trade Rep and Wall Street
'Americans deserve to know what Froman has been privately saying to these big banks.'
Jul 29, 2015
Citing his cozy ties to Wall Street banks, a group dedicated to exposing corruption and corporate influence in Washington, D.C. has submitted an official Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all correspondence between U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the 10 largest U.S. financial institutions.
The FOIA request demands access to or copies of emails and other written communications between Froman, the country's top trade negotiator, and banks including JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup.
Froman is a former senior executive at Citigroup and received a "golden parachute" worth more than $4 million upon leaving the large financial institution to go into government.
Rootstrikers, the grassroots organization behind the FOIA request, has said that because corporate giveaways like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) pose a threat to robust financial regulation in general--and the U.S. financial reforms implemented after the financial crisis in specific--"Americans deserve to know what Froman has been privately saying to these big banks."
As Kurt Walters of Rootstrikers wrote in the request, dated Wednesday: "Disclosure of the requested information...is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, based on the information privately communicated to the financial sector by Ambassador Froman and the possible influence of that sector on negotiations."
In an open letter on May 28, Rootstrikers and nine other organizations called on Froman to voluntarily disclose this correspondence.
He has not responded.
"Publicly, the Administration has denied that upcoming trade agreements like TTIP pose a potential threat to strong financial regulation, but when they were asked for documents showing what Ambassador Froman has been saying privately to the big banks, the Administration has stonewalled," Walters said. "It's concerning that Ambassador Froman chose not to build credibility and trust by voluntarily disclosing these communications, but he now has an obligation to do so under FOIA."
Noting that under the FOIA statute, Froman's office has 20 business days to comply with this request, Walters added: "If it turns out that Ambassador Froman's correspondence with the big banks is too voluminous for USTR to comply promptly--a fact that would confirm our concerns about Wall Street's influence on the trade negotiation process--we will be willing to narrow our request. Otherwise, we expect prompt compliance as the statute requires."
Froman is in Hawaii this week, where international trade ministers are said to be entering what could be the "final stretch" of TPP negotiations.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Citing his cozy ties to Wall Street banks, a group dedicated to exposing corruption and corporate influence in Washington, D.C. has submitted an official Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all correspondence between U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the 10 largest U.S. financial institutions.
The FOIA request demands access to or copies of emails and other written communications between Froman, the country's top trade negotiator, and banks including JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup.
Froman is a former senior executive at Citigroup and received a "golden parachute" worth more than $4 million upon leaving the large financial institution to go into government.
Rootstrikers, the grassroots organization behind the FOIA request, has said that because corporate giveaways like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) pose a threat to robust financial regulation in general--and the U.S. financial reforms implemented after the financial crisis in specific--"Americans deserve to know what Froman has been privately saying to these big banks."
As Kurt Walters of Rootstrikers wrote in the request, dated Wednesday: "Disclosure of the requested information...is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, based on the information privately communicated to the financial sector by Ambassador Froman and the possible influence of that sector on negotiations."
In an open letter on May 28, Rootstrikers and nine other organizations called on Froman to voluntarily disclose this correspondence.
He has not responded.
"Publicly, the Administration has denied that upcoming trade agreements like TTIP pose a potential threat to strong financial regulation, but when they were asked for documents showing what Ambassador Froman has been saying privately to the big banks, the Administration has stonewalled," Walters said. "It's concerning that Ambassador Froman chose not to build credibility and trust by voluntarily disclosing these communications, but he now has an obligation to do so under FOIA."
Noting that under the FOIA statute, Froman's office has 20 business days to comply with this request, Walters added: "If it turns out that Ambassador Froman's correspondence with the big banks is too voluminous for USTR to comply promptly--a fact that would confirm our concerns about Wall Street's influence on the trade negotiation process--we will be willing to narrow our request. Otherwise, we expect prompt compliance as the statute requires."
Froman is in Hawaii this week, where international trade ministers are said to be entering what could be the "final stretch" of TPP negotiations.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Citing his cozy ties to Wall Street banks, a group dedicated to exposing corruption and corporate influence in Washington, D.C. has submitted an official Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all correspondence between U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the 10 largest U.S. financial institutions.
The FOIA request demands access to or copies of emails and other written communications between Froman, the country's top trade negotiator, and banks including JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup.
Froman is a former senior executive at Citigroup and received a "golden parachute" worth more than $4 million upon leaving the large financial institution to go into government.
Rootstrikers, the grassroots organization behind the FOIA request, has said that because corporate giveaways like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) pose a threat to robust financial regulation in general--and the U.S. financial reforms implemented after the financial crisis in specific--"Americans deserve to know what Froman has been privately saying to these big banks."
As Kurt Walters of Rootstrikers wrote in the request, dated Wednesday: "Disclosure of the requested information...is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, based on the information privately communicated to the financial sector by Ambassador Froman and the possible influence of that sector on negotiations."
In an open letter on May 28, Rootstrikers and nine other organizations called on Froman to voluntarily disclose this correspondence.
He has not responded.
"Publicly, the Administration has denied that upcoming trade agreements like TTIP pose a potential threat to strong financial regulation, but when they were asked for documents showing what Ambassador Froman has been saying privately to the big banks, the Administration has stonewalled," Walters said. "It's concerning that Ambassador Froman chose not to build credibility and trust by voluntarily disclosing these communications, but he now has an obligation to do so under FOIA."
Noting that under the FOIA statute, Froman's office has 20 business days to comply with this request, Walters added: "If it turns out that Ambassador Froman's correspondence with the big banks is too voluminous for USTR to comply promptly--a fact that would confirm our concerns about Wall Street's influence on the trade negotiation process--we will be willing to narrow our request. Otherwise, we expect prompt compliance as the statute requires."
Froman is in Hawaii this week, where international trade ministers are said to be entering what could be the "final stretch" of TPP negotiations.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.