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Neil Barofsky

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Neil Barofsky
Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program
In office
December 8, 2008 – April 1, 2011
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byChristy Romero
Personal details
Born1970 (age 53–54)
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (BS)
New York University (JD)

Neil M. Barofsky (born 1970), a partner in the Litigation Department of national law firm Jenner & Block LLP, focuses his practice on white collar investigations, complex commercial litigation, monitorships and examinerships.

Immediately before joining Jenner & Block, Mr. Barofsky was Senior Fellow at New York University School of Law’s Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, an adjunct professor at the law school, and affiliated with the Mitchell Jacobson Leadership Program on Law and Business.[1] He was the Treasury Department's Special Inspector General (SIGTARP) overseeing the Troubled Assets Relief Program, from December 15, 2008, until his resignation on March 30, 2011. Before that, he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2000 to 2008.

Since May 2021, Barofsky has served as the court-appointed monitor of United Auto Workers.

Education

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Barofsky went to Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, Florida,[2] and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor's degree in economics from Wharton School of Business.

He graduated with honors from New York University School of Law in 1995.[3]

Troubled Asset Relief Program and Special Inspector Generalship

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Barofsky was nominated for the job of overseeing the TARP by President George W. Bush on November 14, 2008[4] and was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 8, 2008, after confirmation was delayed by Senator Jim Bunning.[5]

Until he was confirmed, the role was handled internally by the Treasury Department's inspector general, Eric Thorson, who had expressed concerns about the difficulty of properly overseeing the complex program in addition to his regular responsibilities.[6]

As Inspector General, Barofsky, "[a] life-long Democrat who donated money to the Obama campaign,"[7] was viewed as "one of the most impressive and courageous political officials in Washington"[7] for his willingness to "stand up to some of the most powerful people and institutions in Washington or on Wall Street."[8] He "vigilantly fought for his independence as TARP watchdog and has been relentless in his criticism of Treasury officials and especially Tim Geithner."[7] The TARP program money was used to invest in, and in some cases rescue, a number of banks, the automakers GM and Chrysler, the insurance company AIG as well as a number of real estate companies. The role of the chief watchdog of the government's $700 billion TARP program was to root out and prosecute waste, fraud and abuse. Under Barofsky, the office published 9 quarterly results and 13 audits.[9][10]

On February 14, 2011, Barofsky sent a letter to President Obama stating that he would resign his post on March 30, 2011, to spend more time with his family. At the time of his resignation, his office had more than 140 investigations underway.[10] By then, his office charged a few dozen people with civil or criminal fraud, resulting in 14 convictions, more than $550 million in fraud losses avoided, and $150 million in fraudulent earnings recovered for taxpayers.[9][11]

"[O]ne Treasury official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was quoted as saying "[H]e's been consistently wrong about a lot of big things."[12] Commentator Glenn Greenwald noted the unnamed official had made the assertion about Barofsky "without identifying a single alleged error," and attacked the "utter cowardice and lack of professionalism needed to produce this passage" on the part of both the newspaper and the official.[7]

UAW Monitor

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In May 2021, Barofsky was appointed by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan as an independent monitor of the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union, following a consent decree entered into by the UAW with the US Department of Justice following a corruption investigation.[13]

On February 15, 2024, Barofsky sent a letter to the UAW International Executive Board (IEB), forwarding a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League about the UAW's demand for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, with Barofsky noting, "Although this issue is outside of the Monitor’s jurisdiction, we thought it was important to forward the message to the IEB given the serious concerns raised here." Barofsky also noted in the letter that he had made an earlier call to UAW President Shawn Fain raising similar issues, adding, "For what it’s worth, as I previously shared with Shawn, similar concerns were raised directly to me shortly after the IEB issued its own ceasefire statement."[14][15] New York State’s first-in-the-nation anti-BDS law requires state and local governments to divest from any group engaged in BDS calls. With the UAW representing public and graduate employees at public universities, the state could be forced to divest from the UAW’s pension and retirement funds, or possibly even not provide dues check-off for the union. New York State law has allowed the state to strip unions of dues check-off if they violate state law. Having been sent a serious legal threat, Barofsky informed UAW President Shawn Fain of the threat in December and forwarded the letter from the ADL to the International Executive Board (IEB).[16]

On February 23, UAW lawyer Benjamin Dictor wrote a letter to Barofsky criticizing Barofsky's use of his position as UAW Monitor to pressure the union over its ceasefire stance, writing, "Your call to President Fain on an issue so blatantly outside of the Monitor’s jurisdiction was inappropriate as your Office holds disproportionate power over the UAW, and even a 'strictly personal' sharing of opinion implicitly implicates such power dynamic."[14][15]

On February 29, 2024, Barofsky wrote to the UAW, informing them that he was opening an investigation into Fain over a dispute between Fain and the secretary-treasurer of the UAW, Margaret Mock, who claimed to have been improperly stripped of her duties by the IEB in February 2024.[13][14][15] A report that Barofsky submitted to a federal court in June 2024 revealed that Barofsky was also investigating Fain over a dispute between Fain and UAW vice president Rich Boyer, who claimed to have been improperly stripped of his duties by Fain in May 2024.[13][15]

Books

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  • Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street (2012). ISBN 9781451684933.

References

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  1. ^ "Profile". Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  2. ^ "The Man Following the Money | NYU Law Magazine".
  3. ^ Burke, Kerry; Siemaszko, Corky (November 15, 2008). "Bush picks New York prosecutor Neil Barofsky to oversee $700B bailout". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  4. ^ Paley, Amit R. (November 13, 2008). "Bailout Lacks Oversight Despite Billions Pledged". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 19, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  5. ^ Roland, Neil. "TARP cop ratchets up restrictions on rescue cash". Financial Week. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  6. ^ "Bush names bailout overseer". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. November 15, 2008. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d Greenwald, Glenn (2011-02-15) Standard Washington cowardice Archived August 15, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, Salon.com
  8. ^ Walsh, Mary Williams (January 25, 2010). "An Investigator Presses to Uncover Bailout Abuse". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  9. ^ a b TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky sends resignation letter to President Obama dc.citybizlist.com May 2011 [dead link‍]
  10. ^ a b Protess, Ben (February 14, 2011). "Barofsky Stepping Down as Watchdog of TARP". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  11. ^ "Resignation Letter of TARP Special Inspector General | PDF". Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  12. ^ Dennis, Brady, Neil Barofsky, TARP's outspoken overseer, will resign", Washington Post, February 14, 2011 8:30 PM ET. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  13. ^ a b c "U.A.W. Monitor Investigates Accusations Against Union Leader". The New York Times. June 10, 2024. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c Noble, Breana; Hall, Kalea (July 3, 2024). "UAW's court filing highlights tension with federal monitor". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d Grim, Ryan (July 11, 2024). "The UAW's federal monitor twice pressured the union to back off its call for Gaza ceasefire, then launched an investigation". Drop Site News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  16. ^ Elk, Mike (August 2, 2024). "UAW Federal Monitor Investigates Fain's Purge of Top Allies While Convicted Felon Steers UAW Legal". PayDay Report. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
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