As if to add insult to the mountain government-inflicted injuries that have occurred in the scandal over UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, the Justice Department's AUSA Jeff Nieman and senior trial attorney Kevin Downing were among the recipients of the John Marshall Award, established by the American Bar Accociation Justice Center to recognize those dedicated to the improvement of the administration of justice.
The Award, ironically in this case, is named in honor of the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, who is credited with establishing the independence of the judiciary and enhancing its moral authority.
Let me count for you some of the many sins perpetrated by these "winners":
- They said they wouldn't prosecute Mr. Birkenfeld, milked him of all his information, and then prosecuted him;
- Downing tried to prevent Birkenfeld from going to Congress (this is called obstruction and witness tampering, kids);
- The Department admits that Birkenfeld gave them their entire case during 3 meetings in 2007, but is willing to accept the Marshall Award with a straight face for doing what Birkenfeld did;
- Downing and Nieman have not asked Birkenfeld a question about UBS, Swiss private banking, or Birkenfeld's U.S. clients since June 10, 2008, but recently told the presiding judge during sentencing that they wanted more time for cooperation. For 60 of the 90 days so far, they still haven't asked any questions;
- In a similar case, Downing obstructed 13 KPMG executives by denying them their constitutional right to counsel and Judge Kaplan was outraged and released the 13 executives;
- Downing said the Mr. Birkenfeld was not fully forthcoming, but then said that he testified truthfully, accurately, completely, timely and honestly;
- Downing and crew let UBS "kingpin" Martin Liechti plead the 5th and released him back to Switzerland, a free man;
- Downing and buds indict Liechti's boss, Raoul Weil, in a show maneuver knowing they couldn't extradite him;
- The government under-fined UBS bank by $1 billion dollars to allow UBS to avoid criminal charges;
- Settled for 4,500 names our of 52,000 initially sought;
- Lets all the Swiss bad actors go free, and send the whistleblower-an American--to jail.
Because the John Marshall Award may be presented to any individual who has made a positive national impact on the justice system, and may include non-lawyers, I nominate Brad Birkenfeld for shattering decades-long Swiss bank secrecy. He is certainly responsible for extraordinary improvement to the administration of justice in the category of Justice System Reform. And I would strip Downing and friends of their ill-gotten reward from bringing down UBS, something that even Downing admits would not have been possible but for Brad Birkenfeld.