Dissecting The Pam Bondi / Jeff Atwater Inspector General Report RE June Clarkson, Theresa Edwards and Lisa Epstein

This week we will be dissection the lies, misrepresentations and omitted irrefutable facts that were made/not made in the “Independent” Inspector General report RE the firings of June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards and the smear job on Lisa Epstein.

Just to give a little foundation on how “independent” this report is, check out this picture of Pam Bondi and Jeff Atwater here…

Cute, aren’t they? Gotta love the support Pam Bondi sticker.

Below, we start of with page one, sentence one.

Sentence one, page one.

RECEIPT OF INITIAL INFORMATION

On August 2, 2011, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater received a written request from Attorney General Pam Bondi asking his “inspector general to conduct an independent review of the employment termination of June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards.”

Our response:

Facts

JULY 16th, 2011 18 Days BEFORE Bondi’s request for investigation

Lisa is the first to initiate the request for an investigation into the firings to Florida’s Inspector General.

From: Lisa E. [mailto:lisabep@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, July 16, 20114:57 PM
To: FL_
GOV Inspector General
Subject: Corruption at Florida Attorney General’s office

Please open up an investigation into what is going on at the attorney general’s office, forcing out employees while others are going to work for targets under investigation.

“Foreclosure fraud investigators forced out at attorney general’s” on Foreclosure Hamlet: http://ning.it/njYNiW

Story from Palm Beach Post here http://t.co/SyAUuKO

Thank you,
Lisa Epstein

 

JULY 21st, 2011 12 Days BEFORE Bondi’s request for investigation

Response from Inspector General.

From: FL_GOV Inspector General <CIG@eog.myflorida.com>
Date: Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 6:36 PM
Subject: RE: Corruption at Florida Attorney General’s office
To: “Lisa E.” <lisabep@gmail.com>

Dear Ms. Epstein:

The Office of the Chief Inspector General received your email complaint on July 16, 2011, in which you expressed concerns about actions of staff in the Attorney General’s Office.

After having had the opportunity to review your concerns, we are referring your complaint to the Inspector General for the Department of Legal Affairs (Office of the Attorney General) for review and action deemed appropriate.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. In the event that you have any further questions, please contact the Inspector General’s office for the Department of Legal Affairs at (850) 414-3300.

Sincerely,

Kim B. Mills

Office of the Chief Inspector General

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JULY 27th, 2011 6 Days BEFORE Bondi’s request for investigation

Rep. Darren Soto, Orlando Requests Records Pertaining to Ouster of Bondi’s Former Foreclosure Investigators June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards

Lawmaker wants records pertaining to ouster of former foreclosure investigators

by Kim Miller

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, sent a public records request today to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi asking for documents related to the forced resignations of Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson.

The two former assistant attorneys general had been the lead investigators on the state’s foreclosure fraud cases, but were abruptly told in May that they could either resign or be fired. The duo say no reason was given for the move. Performance evaluations reflect only positive reviews.

“Public records indicate these terminations occurred while they were in the midst of successful mortgage fraud litigation and in spite of prior successful reviews,” Soto wrote. “As a member who represents an area ravaged by foreclosure fraud, these terminations present an overwhelming public concern.”

You can check out the rest here…

Copy of Soto’s letter here…

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JULY 27th, 2011 6 Days BEFORE Bondi’s request for investigation

Petition the Inspector General: Investigate Attorney General Bondi’s Firings of June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards

Friends,

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi seems to think her first duty is to protect some of Gov. Scott’s biggest corporate pals – the banks – instead of hard working Floridians. Recently Bondi fired Florida’s two leading attorneys investigating the epidemic of foreclosure fraud ravaging our communities.

The attorneys investigating foreclosure fraud said they were forced out. Join me and sign this petition calling for an immediate investigation: http://www.progressflorida.org/bondi

June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards were tasked by then-Attorney General Bill McCollum last year to investigate allegations of widespread fraud taking place in foreclosures occurring around the state. They did their jobs well…perhaps too well for Pam Bondi.

The investigation by Clarkson and Edwards produced a blockbuster presentation entitled “Unfair, Deceptive and Unconscionable Acts in Foreclosure Cases. ” The presentation demonstrated numerous outrageous examples of blatant fraud and deception by banks and law firms initiating foreclosures known as “foreclosure mills.” Clarkson and Edward’s work was so effective it was used in other states in prosecuting foreclosure fraud . Then in May, despite a recent glowing performance evaluation, both attorneys were suddenly told by a supervisor to immediately step down or be fired.

Sign the petition calling for an investigation of Attorney General Bondi’s actions:

http://www.progressflorida.org/bondi

Thank you for your help.

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JULY 28th, 2011 5 Days BEFORE Bondi’s request for investigation

Progress Florida Calls for Investigation Into Dismissal of Bondi’s Two State Foreclosure Fraud Lawyers Clarkson and Edwards

Group calls for investigation into dismissal of two state foreclosure fraud lawyers

By Janet Zink, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Progress Florida, a St. Petersburg advocacy group, says Bondi is protecting Gov. Rick Scott’s “biggest corporate pals — the banks — instead of hard working Floridians.” It is asking for an investigation into Bondi’s actions.

“We think the big banks and the financial industry have leveraged their enormous political power to have these attorneys removed,” said Mark Ferrulo, executive director for Progress Florida.

In an interview with the Times/Herald Clarkson said that after Bondi took office, she and Edwards were questioned intensely about their ongoing cases by Richard Lawson, appointed by Bondi as head of the Economic Crimes Division.

In particular, he asked about Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services and Tampa-based ProVest, Clarkson said.

“We were under fire like you have no idea,” Clarkson said. “It was like our home team was against us.”

Lender Processing Services donated more than $40,000 to campaigns in the 2010 election, largely to Republican candidates, including Bondi. The company donated $36,500 to the Republican Party of Florida, according to campaign finance records.

Edwards said she and Clarkson were largely cut out of the investigations once Bondi took office.

“They began inviting the defense attorneys to meet with the attorneys in Tallahassee. We were on video,” she said.

Check out the article in its entirety here…

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JULY 30th, 2011 3 Days BEFORE Bondi’s request for investigation

Citizen Warriors On the Air Live 1420 AM WDJA | 8-10 am EDT with June Clarkson & Theresa Edwards

We will be hosting our radio show today on WDJA 1420 from 8-10 am EDT.

We are going to have some interesting updates and discuss topics emerging from the Pam Bondi scandal related to the firing of the nations two top fraudclosure investigators.

This show will be hosted by Lisa Epstein and myself, Michael Redman.

Special Guests: Former Assistant Attorneys General & Foreclosure Fraud Investigators June Clarkson & Theresa Edwards!

Yes, that’s right! June Clarkson & Theresa Edwards, formally know as Pam Bondi’s Top Assistant Attorneys General Foreclosure Fraud Investigators.

This is going to be our best show yet. We will be face to face with June and Theresa discussing their firings , their work at the AG’s office and what they plan on doing moving forward.

Full length podcast can be downloaded here…
(Right click to save as MP3)

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JULY 30th, 2011 3 Days BEFORE Bondi’s request for investigation

Department of Justice Probe Sought into Bondi Firings of Fraudclosure Fraud Fighters June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards

“I don’t want to rush to judgment,” said Soto, but “we need to know whether or not they were fired because they did too good a job on foreclosure fraud investigations.”

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U.S. probe sought into Bondi firings

TALLAHASSEE –A Democratic state lawmaker wants the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate why Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi forced two foreclosure fraud investigators to resign this spring.

Rep. Darren Soto of Orlando said Friday he intends to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Bondi’s ouster of Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson this spring.

He also plans, he said, to ask for an investigation by the inspector general in Bondi’s office, and may also request a hearing in the Legislature.

The two attorneys were lead foreclosure fraud investigators under Bondi’s predecessor, Bill McCollum, who gave both positive performance reviews.

Soto, whose district has been hit hard by the state’s mortgage foreclosure crisis, requested copies of those reviews from Bondi’s office. Upon reviewing them, he said, he is concerned that Clarkson and Edwards may have been terminated for political reasons.

Soto noted the two attorneys were investigating at least one company that contributed to the state Republican Party as well as the campaigns of GOP candidates last election cycle, including Bondi.

Check out the rest here…

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So, as you can clearly see, this investigation was already in the process BEFORE Bondi announced she was requesting the Inspector General to open an Investigation.

What this also did was prevent an investigation by the DOJ since there was already one in process, IMHO.

It is clear the pressure and the fact that there were other requests for investigations be made forced Bondi’s hand here.

It is also clear that the report is anything but independent.

83 pages to go…

More to come…

UPDATED SEE LINKS BELOW

Abigail Field | Meet FL AG Pam Bondi, Foreclosure Fraudsters’ BFF

Regulatory Capture | Lender Processing Services Attorney to Florida Attorney General – Please Encourage Michigan AG to Convert Criminal Suit to Civil

Naked Capitalism | Hatchet Job by Florida Inspector General to Justify Firing of Two Lawyers for Foreclosure Fraud Investigations

David Dayen | IG Report Whitewashes Firing of Foreclosure Fraud Investigators in Florida

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4closureFraud.org