Car czar tied to New York pay for play pension

NY Times:

The man leading the Obama administration’s efforts to restructure the auto industry has been described in Securities and Exchange Commission documents as having arranged for his investment firm to pay more than $1 million to obtain New York State pension business.

Although he is not named in the documents, a person with knowledge of the inquiry said the investment executive is Steven Rattner, co-founder of the Quadrangle Group, the prominent private equity firm.

The S.E.C. complaint, filed as part of an expansive state and federal investigation into corruption at the state pension fund, details the efforts of Quadrangle to gain business from the pension fund beginning in 2004.

The person who received most of the $1 million-plus payment has been indicted, accused of selling access to the fund.

There is no indication in the complaint that Mr. Rattner faces criminal or civil charges in connection with the inquiry.

Mr. Rattner did not respond to messages seeking comment. A Treasury Department spokeswoman did not address the allegations, but said in a statement, “During the transition, Mr. Rattner made us aware of the pending investigation.”

In a statement, Quadrangle said the firm is fully cooperating and has produced all documents sought by investigators.

“Our expectation is that no action will be taken,” the statement said.

...

Really? I would think that this is conduct that the SEC would want to discourage by at least levying finds. It seems to be an example of the embedded culture of corruption in New York as practiced by all parties, but particularly by Liberals and Democrats. For some reason party affiliation was not a major part of this story--yet.