Daniel Sparks, Goldman Sachs Exec: Did He Lie Under Oath?

Mother Jones:

Sparks--whose overall evasiveness drew the ire of Senate investigations subcommittee chair Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and other lawmakers--replied: "At the time we did those deals, we expected those deals to perform." Numerous documents released by the subcommittee, however, indicate that Sparks, who left Goldman in the spring of 2008, and his former employer knew otherwise. And his testimony raises a serious question: whether he lied to Congress under oath.

Read the whole story: Mother Jones

Comments

[kamachanda]

09:28 PM on 05/09/2010

The man may not be honest enough to take the fifth.

[TruEngineHearing]

10:59 AM on 05/02/2010

"...his testimony raises a serious question: whether he lied to Congress under oath."

Right; as if that matters. This guy could have puked on the microphone and peed on the Senate floor, and he still would get away with it; he will face not one iota of discomfort - the ones who are suffering are the panicked out-of-work citizens, and the trusting, gullible couples who bought empty "private retirement plan" promises and watched their life savings build mansions for liars, connivers and thieves.

We're all watching a parade of shame for our country. It is quite sick

[Aerows]

01:19 AM on 05/02/2010

Put these guys under oath and watch the smirks disappear. Hopefully with the criminal investigation, we might just get to see that.

[jeffp26]

11:58 PM on 04/30/2010

Lock this kid up, and I mean in a real jail, not Martha Stewart's camp for wayward whities.

[northstar11]

09:09 PM on 04/30/2010

we expected them to perform ------

dont assume he meant perform------to the upside -----double speak SPARKS --could have meant perform to the downside --in which case his expectations were met

[CaliTLC]

05:47 PM on 04/30/2010

Did he lie? Is that a trick question?

[GerryS]

07:40 PM on 04/30/2010

if he's breathing, I think he did-----------------

[CaliTLC]

12:53 AM on 05/01/2010

He was breathing alright. Fanned.

[dryburf]

11:45 AM on 04/30/2010

Ofcourse they lied... so did Dan Sparks whom I worked with at Goldman on a couple of deals. We always worked closely w. the rating agencies on every deal and like other banks there was always negot. on getting better credit. Sparks was always like a robot, no feelings whats or ever, loved pain and worked very hard. His ability to act in a way that nothing sticks to him got him up in the ranks. but this time he tried hard but congress was smart enough to present hard facts. I banks make obsene amounts of money and they mess with millions of peoples financial status/future. I hope they all get persecuted although they all acted exactly like othe I bankers. The one to blame for the collapse is Clinton (fair housing act).. giving money to deadbeats is nothing short of the biggest crime of human financial history. Blaming the Bush administration is hypocritical as he inherited this situation and the Democrats refused to stop the fiasco when asked to do so numerous times.
in 1935 the Glass steagal act was formed tro protect us and karter and Clinton took all the mechanisms to protect the public. The scary hting is that we chose a clown from the same party that caused it to come and fix it... he is trying to make it disappear with a lot of hot air but the debt and suffering of all americans is only going to get worse.

[statementOfIncensed]

11:02 AM on 04/30/2010

OK, scratch that, these hearings were theatre, only the participants forgot they were sworn to a real, untheatrical oath- so now they can go after Sparks and a few others who perjured and pressure them to turn witness. Well, it's a bit of a longshot, but I appreciate the effort.

[northstar11]

09:11 PM on 04/30/2010

last week they were macho men -----next week,with luck, little yellow canaries

[CaliTLC]

12:54 AM on 05/01/2010

They'll break out in song as soon as the criminal charges are filed. Let the melodies begin.

[Frank Choi]

04:37 AM on 04/30/2010

If you believe it's not a lie then it's not. These giys should be thrown in jail.

[guveqzero]

04:31 AM on 04/30/2010

Bankers believe that lies are a great part of their work. They are taught the art in their ethics classes at Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

[PhilipTaylor]

04:59 AM on 04/30/2010

They never had an ethics class!

[Carolab]

04:05 AM on 04/30/2010

I said yesterday that he did.

It was CLEAR that he did.

[Carolab]

02:33 AM on 04/30/2010

It was theater. Levin and McCaskill pretend to be upset so we feel better.

Meanwhile, the GS "team" li-es and obfuscates and Congress pretends to be PO'd that they are not answering questions.

[enlightenedgirl]

11:49 AM on 04/30/2010

Levin and McCaskill were hardly pretending. Their anger is real just like with the American people the anger is real. Spin it all you want, we aren't buying it, why are you? Does the hate for this black President cloud your judgement of what is right and wrong to the point of lying?

[Carolab]

10:41 PM on 04/30/2010

Maybe you need to get enlightened, girl. I have been here a long time and MY record is established.

Who are YOU?

And WHAT does Obama and his race have to do with it?

I was talking about CONGRESS.

[hey0there]

08:28 PM on 04/29/2010

like they have any respect for a something like a silly oath. lol

[hellboundtrain]

06:05 PM on 04/29/2010

Did anyone tell the truth?
Maybe they just pay some money, then everyone satisfied.
Business as usual.

[venusvictrix]

02:20 AM on 04/30/2010

pretty much what I would have said - so no need to add further comment.

[ReedYoung]

05:46 PM on 04/29/2010

There's no question. The purpose of a company is to profit. Betting against mortgages means they thought *that* was the way to profit. Selling sh*tty deals only means they figured out that they can't bet against them if nobody creates sh*tty deals, and when they wanted it done really sh*tty, to be sure that betting against them would win, Goldman had to do it themselves.