To: Eric Holder, Attorney General and Ron Machen, US Attorney
Prosecute Wall Street Not Grandmas
Please drop all charges against the Covington Seven Home Defenders—women who have fought against foreclosure and stood up for the rule of law by peacefully, temporarily blocking the revolving door to the Covington law firm in protest of the "too big to jail" policy of impunity for Wall Street banks.
The Department of Justice's time should be spent finally bringing justice to the Wall Street banks and executives who crashed the economy and illegally foreclosed on countless homeowners.
It is time to restore the rule of law and make Wall Street pay us back through strong action to reset mortgages and hold bankers accountable—not prosecute grandmothers and other home defenders.
Why is this important?
On May 22, seven brave women - six of them grandmothers and all victims of the foreclosure crisis - conducted a peaceful sit-in at the entrance to the office of the Covington & Burling law firm, one of the major representatives of Wall Street banks in Washington, DC.
The Covington law firm represents mega-banks like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America and maintains a “revolving door” with the government officials who are supposed to hold Wall Street accountable.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who testified before Congress that the banks’ huge wealth made them too difficult to prosecute--is a former partner of the Covington law firm. And, after years of failing to bring charges against a single executive at the big banks that crashed the economy and threw millions into foreclosure, Lanny Breuer, the top prosecutor at the Department of Justice Criminal Division, returned to his former employer, Covington, where he will make $4 million a year representing these very same banks.
The big bank executives who wrecked the economy and stole millions of homes through illegal foreclosures continue to walk free. Hard hit homeowners and communities still wait for relief. But this coming Tuesday, June 11th, the U.S. Justice Department is set to press charges against the grandmothers and home defenders who momentarily blocked the revolving door between their government and the Wall Street’s favorite DC law firm.
Please tell the Justice Department to prosecute Wall Street, not the Covington Seven Home Defenders.