Mark Cuban Indictment Comes Soon After Funding Bailout Watchdog Website!

Mark Cuban indictment comes soon after funding of watchdog Website
by J.D. Tuccille, Civil Liberties Examiner
November 17, 2008

Coincidentally, I'm sure, Cuban recently bankrolled the site, http://www.bailoutsleuth.com/, which is tasked with tracking the distribution of the federal government's $700 billion boondoggle ... err ... bailout.

Note that Senator Jim Inhofe told the Tulsa World on Saturday, "It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone. It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't know. There is no way of knowing.''

Not that I'm jumping to any conclusions, but ... Interesting timing, that. It would be unkind of me, and certainly unfounded, to suggest that an indictment could be used as a retaliatory measure against a high-profile gadfly who has the potential to embarrass powerful people.

And as a warning to others who might do the same.

http://www.examiner.com/x-536-Civil-Liberties-Examiner~y2008m11d17-Mark-Cuban-indictment-comes-soon-after-funding-of-watchdog-Website

November 17, 2008
Insider Trading, or Political Persecution?
by Floyd Norris
New York Times

Did Mark Cuban, the Internet entrepreneur turned owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, and would-be buyer of the Chicago Cubs, violate insider trading laws in a particularly egregious fashion?

Or is he the victim of a political hit job because he helped finance a movie that was scathingly critical of President Bush?

A person close to Mr. Cuban provided me with a copy of an e-mail message said to have been sent by Jeffrey Norris, an S.E.C. lawyer in the Fort Worth regional office (and no known relation to me.) This e-mail message seems to have been sent after an exchange in which Mr. Norris complained that Mr. Cuban had financed a movie called “Loose Change” that discusses the president’s actions relating to Sept. 11.

--------------------


From: Norris, Jeffrey B.
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2007 2:27 PM
To: Mark Cuban
Cc: Cox, Christopher
Subject: RE: “Lose Change”

I AM SHARING THIS WITH CHAIRMAN COX. NEITHER HE NOR THE COMMISSION ENDORSE MY OPINIONS, BUT IN LIGHT OF YOUR THREAT, I THOUGHT SHOULD SEND THIS TO HIM.

Mark:
If this upsets you, I wonder how George Bush feels. I assume that Mr. Cox would view your involvement with “Loose Change” much as I do. After all, he served his country as a Republican Congressman from Orange County for nearly 20 years and was appointed by President Bush. If you feel like sharing my thoughts with Chairman Cox, be my guest.

Previously, I thought you were merely foolish and naïve. Now, however, I see that you are also a hypocrite. I guess your belief in free speech has severe limitations. If someone else is the victim of an absurd conspiracy theory, you defend your right to participate in smearing the good name of a patriot like President Bush. But, when you are the subject of a parody of the attack you have endorsed, you suddenly issue threats.

I think I will e-mail this to Chairman Cox myself. I think he will enjoy it. I’m sure he is also a Laker fan.

Since Chairman Cox may not know the background, I will explain. Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and has participated in distributing the vicious and absurd documentary, “Loose Change,” which posits that President Bush planned the demolition of the World Trade Center as a pretext for going to war against Iraq. We have had some past exchanges about my opinion the Mr. Cuban’s support for this project is irresponsible and immoral. Below, I parodied his position that every opinion, no matter how absurd and vicious, deserves to be broadly disseminated.

http://norris.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/insider-trading-or-political-persecution/