 Call President Obama and ask him where the investigators are. Dear Melissa, It was last January that President Obama announced the creation of a new financial crimes task force to investigate the crimes and misdeeds that led to the economic collapse and "hold accountable those who broke the law." Yet, despite the enormity of the issue, its direct impact on millions of Americans and the widespread nature of crimes and wrongdoing, the new financial crime unit has been given promised a paltry 55 staff members to undertake this enormous task.1 What's worse, we are hearing from insiders in DC that the Department of Justice hasn't even delivered on that clearly insufficient number of investigators yet. You have signed the petition, now pick up the phone and call President Obama. Tell President Obama: 55 investigators are not enough to launch a real investigation into Wall Street's crimes. Click here for the number to call and a sample script. Contrast 55 promised investigators with the approximately 1,000 FBI agents and dozens of federal prosecutors who were assigned to prosecute cases related to the much smaller savings and loan scandal of the '80s2, or the 100 FBI agents tasked with investigating the Enron scandal3, which involved just one company and caused none of the economy-wide damage we've seen since the collapse of the housing bubble. President Obama's record on Wall Street accountability is abysmal. But because of enormous grassroots pressure from activists like you and polling that suggests he needs to take on Wall Street as a part of his election campaign, we have a real opportunity to move President Obama to meaningful action on Wall Street accountability. President Obama's first task force at the Department of Justice did little if anything to prosecute Wall Street for crimes that led to the financial crisis. But because of your activism, he announced a new task force and named progressive champion and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman one of its five co-chairs. Now we need to pressure the White House to give that task force the resources it needs to pursue justice. Without sufficient staff to conduct thorough investigations, it's hard to see how this task force could bring indictments quickly. Call President Obama and tell him that 55 investigators are not enough to launch a real investigation into Wall Street's crimes. Click here for the number to call and a sample script. The economic crisis we're in demands a response commensurate with the damage done by Wall Street crooks. But 55 investigators don't even come close to being adequate. And aside from the appointment of Attorney General Schneiderman, none of the other co-chairs of the new task force has done literally anything that achieves our goal of holding banks accountable or prosecuting bankers for criminal activity. In fact, three of his co-chairs served on the earlier failed Department of Justice task force that the new investigation was created to supersede. In an election year when we know the Obama reelection campaign wants to run against Wall Street, President Obama will be particularly sensitive to public perception of whether his efforts to hold Wall Street accountable are meaningful and represent the full force of his office. Time is running out to ensure that President Obama's gestures towards Wall Street accountability are more than mere sleight of hand that does more to protect Wall Street than to bring justice for the millions of American taxpayers who bailed out the big banks but still haven't seen any accountability for the financial fraud that led to the economic collapse. Make a call. Tell President Obama: 55 investigators are not enough to launch a real investigation into Wall Street's crimes. Click here for the number to call and a sample script. We want, and our country needs, indictments. The collapse of the housing bubble led directly to the economic crisis we're in. But not one of the Wall Street crooks who drove our economy off a cliff has gone to jail. And without aggressive investigations and prosecution for misconduct, none of them will. President Obama needs to give the Department of Justice task force the resources required to launch a serious investigation that will bring about real accountability before the statutes of limitations run out for Wall Street's crimes. He can start by staffing the task force at a bare minimum at the levels of previous financial task forces created to address much smaller scandals. We can't waste any more time. Tell President Obama: 55 investigators are not enough to launch a real investigation into Wall Street's crimes. Click the link below for the number to call and a sample script. http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=5630061&id=38532-4888946-87p8Ryx&t=10 Thank you for standing up for Wall Street accountability. Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets
1. "Details Emerge of New Financial Fraud Unit ," Huffington Post, 01-26-12.
2. FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole's statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee, 02-11-09
3. "In Past Financial Crises, Fewer Pursued In Courts," NPR, 08-14-11. | 
