Leon Panetta Earned $700,000 in Speaking and Consulting Fees

Leon Panetta, who was undoubtedly up to his neck in the corruption and unlawful activities of the Clinton administration, is 0bama's pick for CIA chief. Now we learn that Leon earned some big checks from Merrill Lynch and Wachovia for speaking "honorariums"

WASHINGTON -- The White House's nominee for director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, has earned more than $700,000 in speaking and consulting fees since the beginning of 2008, with some of the payments coming from troubled banks and an investment firm that owns companies that do business with federal national security agencies.

Mr. Panetta received $56,000 from Merrill Lynch & Co. for two speeches and $28,000 for an Oct. 30, 2008 speech for Wachovia Corp. Both firms suffered big losses last year and were acquired by larger banks.
The Wachovia honorarium was on Oct. 30, while the last Merrill Lynch honorarium was on Oct. 11, according to disclosure forms filed by Mr. Panetta in connection with his nomination. At the time, Bank of America had already agreed to a rescue of Merrill Lynch, while Wachovia had agreed to be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co.
Mr. Panetta also received a $28,000 honorarium from the Carlyle Group, which owns a number of companies that do business with the national-security agencies of the U.S. government.

Leon made $56,000 from two speeches from Merrill Lynch, while at the same time the US taxpayers, most of whom make far less than $56,000 in one year, are forced to bail the crybaby investment bankers out.

It is clear that Leon has too many conflicts of interest to be in the federal government, as do Tom Daschle, Timothy Geithner, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, and many, many others.