Subpoenas Issued to Financial Firms in Expanded Probe

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12. If the legal theory is Civil RICO, the staute of limitations is four years.

If the statute of limitations has not already run for filing a civil RICO lawsuit, it is close to running.

When civil subpoenas are issued, the recipients can seek to stall and delay on a number of grounds. One of which is that they anticipate being the targets of criminal prosecutions. They can assert Sixth and Fifth Amendment privileges. If their attorneys fail to assert such privileges and cause the civil subpoenas to be quashed or at least held in abeyance until after the conclusion of criminal prosecutions, they could legitimately thereafter raise the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel when defending against criminal charges, if any.

In the State of the Union Address, we were clearly given the impression that President Obama was interested in criminal prosecutions. Holder's action of holding a press conference and referring to civil subpoenas, while knowing that some people would mistakenly confuse such subpoenas with criminal prosecutions, seems to be a departure from the impression that Obama gave to many of us.

We can still hope for the best and hope that this is not Kabuki theatre. Time, of course, will tell.