The SEC fired attorney Gary Aguirre as he was attempting to subpoena John Mack, one of the more prominent and powerful gentlemen on Wall Street, in an investigation into alleged habitual insider trading by Pequot - then, one of the largest hedge funds in the US.
The story is simple. Powerful Wall Street bigwig tips hedge fund to M&A deal, hedge fund reciprocates by giving bigwig lucrative positions in desirable closed investments. That was the suspicion Aguirre was working under.
What isn't simple is what followed. Aguirre, who had gotten glowing performance reviews and double pay increases, was fired shortly after expressing the need to subpoena Mack - fired while on vacation, with no warning.
Aguirre took his battle with the SEC to Congress, sending SEC Chairman Cox as well as several prominent Senators detailed information on his termination, and the cover-up he alleges was its motivator.
What follows are some of the more important pieces of the puzzle, critical to Aguirre's exposing of an apparent cover-up by the SEC, involving obstruction of justice, selective enforcement of federal securities laws, favoritism, collusion, and ultimately, a regulatory conspiracy of alarming proportions.
1) Aguirre's 18-page letter to Congress and to the SEC Commissioner .
2) Aguirre's written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Linked in this blog, mid-page. A MUST READ blow-by-blow of Aguirre's account of the cover-up.
3) Video of Aguirre's bombshell testimony, and the SEC's comedy of errors testimony in the second Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on insider trading and hedge fund abuse, is a must view. Noteworthy are the character assassinations attempted as the SEC strategy, and then when that is contradicted and refuted by an SEC branch chief, a shift to simple refusal to discuss with the Senate matters critical to their investigation.
4) Aguirre's appearance in the PBS broadcast on SEC inaction in battling market corruption. And here's a transcript of that show. You can click here to read viewer comments on the broadcast.