Thomas P. Zugibe, Rockland County DA, apparently does not have enough serious crime to keep him busy.
Apparently there isn’t enough real crime in Rockland County, New York, to keep the District Attorney’s office busy.
So Rockland County DA Robert P. Zugibe has time to do personal favors at taxpayer expense for thin-skinned Wall Street types.
The DA’s office acted at the behest of Wall Street banker Kelly Gaines, who apparently took offense at a sarcastic blog post on the helgabluth web site.
The offending blog post reports on Gaines’ recent change in employment. Gaines’s work history includes making high-risk commercial real estate loans during the financial bubble. Many
of these loans went into default, contributing to the financial meltdown and the nation’s current economic malaise. Like most Wall Street scoundrels, Gaines has not been charged with a crime in connection with any of these transactions as far as we know.
Gaines recruited the Rockland DA to issue a subpoena for Internet data from the blog’s publisher, WordPress, under the guise of a “criminal investigation”. The subpoena neglects to mention what “crime” is involved. (Is sarcasm now a crime in New York State? Or was the hurt to Mr. Gaines’ feelings of criminal proportions? Does making Kelly Gaines pee his pants count as damage to property?)
Where the law enforcement action is: the Rockland County District Attorney's office earlier this week.
One violent criminal we interviewed expressed relief that the DA’s office resources were being squandered on such silliness. The admitted repeat offender, who asked not to be identified, said, “Government misappropriation and abuse of public office by law enforcement only makes it less likely that they’ll ever get focused on putting violent offenders like me behind bars. Keep up the good work!”
So if someone gave you the stink eye, don’t just take it. Call your local DA and get a criminal investigation started!
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