attached is the article

33. The attached article titled \"S&P Accuses US. of Suing To Avenge Rating Drop\" allegedly deals with which Constitutional issue? a. Due Process b. Right to Title 0. Unreasonable Search and Seizure (1. Freedom from Self-incrimination e. None of these S&P Accuses U.S. of Suing To Avenge Ratings Drop BY JEANNETTE NEUMANN Standard, & Poor's Ratings Services escalated its legal battle with the U.S. Justice Depart- ment, accusing it of filing its $5 billion lawsuit against S&P in "retaliation" for the company's downgrade of America's debt in 2011 S&P's defense, made in a court filing on Tuesday, shows that the world's largest credit- rating company is digging in as it fights the Justice Depart- ment's Feb. 4 lawsuit, which ac- cused S&P of misrepresenting its rating process in the years be- fore the financial crisis. The Justice Department said that federally insured banks and credit unions bought debt deals rated highly by S&P because they thought such top-notch rat- ings indicated there was less risk than lower-rated securities. But behind the scenes, the govern- ment alleged, S&P was assigning SP Accuses U.S. of Suing to Retaliate for Ratings Drop Continued from Page One billion in losses allegedly auf- . t U.S. downgrade and the law- line of defense doesn't hold wa- tary Henry Paulson also didn't high ratings to deals in order to fered by federally insured banks please bankers and other clients. and credit unions that bought lawyers suit. ter. anticipate the depth of the crisis S&P has said such claims are complex mortgage-linked securi- for S&P and other credit-rating S&P "did what they did, as- S&P has said in recent court at the time. "meritless." ties that 8&P rated. companies. S&P said the Justice sessing what the creditworthi- filings that it wants the Justice S&P said in Tuesday's filing 'S&P has previously indicated Department's lawsuit was "un- ness was of this nation," he said Department to hand over docu- that when Mr. Bernanke "stated S&P has said the government that it believes the U.S. lawsuit . hasn't laid out in enough detail constitutional" because it was at the time. "We looked at the ments detailing its reasons for in March-2007, that 'the central was politically motivated, but how it arrived at that $5 billion retaliatory. facts, the law, and the investiga- scenario that housing will stabl- the language in Tuesday's figure. That amount is roughly Hon that these great prosecutors filing a lawsuit against the com- pany, and not against its com- lize sometime during the middle date. court filing is its strongest to equal to six years of operating petitors, as part of the discovery of the year remains intact,' his views (and those of other Gover- profit for the rating company. United States Constitution and civil lawyers put together and made a determination that process. The Justice Department The language of its Tuesday fil- and the retaliation, causing and "the filing of these lawsuits was "It's either fraud or it isn't," nors) were similar to those of "commenced this action in retal- ing indicates that the rating embodied in the commencement of this impermissibly selective, appropriate." " Mr. West noted that the in- said Samuel Buell, a former fed- S&P Ratings." iation for [S&P's] exercise" . company is turning to the politi- It isn't clear if S&P will seek punitive and meritless litigation, eral prosecutor who now is a law with re- cal payback argument as a key is unconstitutional," the credit- vestigation into S&P started in professor at Duke University. to depose Mr. Bernanke. In An- spect to the creditworthiness of defense. "Why [the Justice Department] gust, the Justice Department the United States of America,". rating company said in Tues- November 2009. Mr. West was S&P stripped the U.S. of its recently confirmed as associate charged fraud doesn't go to the asked a federal appeals court to lawyers for S&P wrote in court triple-A rating in August 2011, issue of whether there was throw out a ruling directing Mr. documents filed Tuesday in the the first downgrade of the The U.S. is suing to recover $5 billion in alleged fraud." Bernanke to testify under oath U.S. District Court for the Cen-' about the government's 2008 tral District of California. country by a rating company in losses by federally insured banks and credit Mr. Buell and other lawyers decades and a move that drew also said that proving retaliation decision to bail out American In- A Justice Department spokes-. attention to heightened politi- unions that bought complex securities S&P rated. will be difficult for S&P. It will ternational Group Inc. woman said in a statement that cal infighting that S&P said be an uphill battle to prove that In previous court fillings, S&P "the allegation is preposterous." had hamstrung Capitol Hill's there was direct communication focused on the Justice Depart- S&P referred questions back to ability to address a growing between different government ment's allegations that the rat- its Tuesday response to the U.S. debt load. agencies and to indicate any ing company was fraudulently lawsuit. The move sent capital mar- day's fillings. The civil complaint against S&P argued in the filings that attorney general. such goal, as of the alleged retal- It isn't unusual for companies lation by the government, the misrepresenting its rating pro- t kets into turmoil: The Dow Jones the Justice Department singled cess as independent and object S&P is a high-stakes lawsuit for Industrial Average closed out sued by the federal government lawyers said, the Justice Department, which it out because it. was the only to claim political payback, said tive. July 2011 at 12143.just days be- rating company to strip the U.S. The retaliation argument is seeks to demonstrate that it is fore the downgrade; by Oct. 4, it some lawyers who have been fol- S&P's lawyers have argued one of 19 defenses that S&P laid holding institutions accountable . had skidded more than 14%, be- of its triple-A rating. lowing the lawsuit. S&P could At a news conference on eventually decide to drop the out in Tuesday's court filing. An- that while its ratings are inde- for the financial crisis. . The stakes are even higher for . fore the stock market started to Feb. 5, the day after the Justice payback argument, they said, de- other defense: S&P wasn't alone pendent, statements about the in underestimating the magni- objectivity of the rating process are "mere puffery" and not in- S&P, a unit of McGraw Hill Fi- recover nancial Inc. The government has S&P said Tuesday that rating Department filed the lawsuit, pending on what'documents are tended to be taken at face value then-Acting Associate Attorney unearthed during the discovery tude of the financial crisis. The decisions are opinions that are General Tony West said there process or if the judge oversee- credit-rating company said Fed- by investors or debt issuers and said it is suing S&P to recover $5. protected by the U.S. Constitu- eral Reserve Chairman Ben Ber- cannot form the basis of a fraud was no connection between the ing the lawsuit indicates that nanke and then-Treasury Secre- lawsuit