Spitzer Gets A Chance To Answer Biz Critic

By Arthur D. Postal, Washington Bureau Chief

NU Online News Service, Jan. 6, 3:55 p.m. EST?New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club in Washington where he was the subject of an attack by a business group representative this week.[@@]

The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in an appearance there railed against Mr. Spitzer in the course of unveiling the business group's 2005 legislative plans. Tom Donahue, president of the Chamber, said the group will seek to curb his "intimidation" of American companies and officials "in the most aggressive way."

Mr. Donahue criticized Mr. Spitzer by name during the press conference Tuesday on the Chamber's 2005 "agenda and state of American business."

Mr. Spitzer is due to appear Jan. 31 and will talk on a number of topics, his spokesman said.

Mr. Donahue attacked him as an overzealous prosecutor. "He's the investigator, the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and the executioner."

His comments came when he was asked a question about what the trade group plans to do to modify the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which Mr. Donahue wrongly implied is the basis for Mr. Spitzer's actions against companies in the financial services field, including insurance.

Mr. Donahue complained that Mr. Spitzer's behavior toward companies being investigated for wrongdoing is, "We're going to make a deal. You're going to pay $600 million, you're going to get rid of this person and that person, and if you don't do it by tonight, we're going to indict the company." That means, Mr. Donahue continued, that "we are going to put you out of business."

Mr. Donahue styled such actions, "The most egregious form of intimidation that we have seen in the U.S. in a long time."

In responding to the criticism, a spokesman for Mr. Spitzer said he doesn't recall his boss having any such conversations, or demanding such a fine. "The Chamber should be a proponent of high standards," the staff official said. "Instead, Mr. Donahue is attacking the one person who has done the most to level the playing field for honest business. His comments are misinformed and unfortunate."

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Spitzer Gets A Chance To Answer Biz Critic

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