Kirk Returns Tainted Campaign Cash

AP Photo/Lois Bernstein, File

Wall Street kingpins Goldman Sachs reported a staggering $3.3 billion in earnings amidst charges of fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC filed a civil suit last week against Goldman Sachs, charging that the bank created and sold debt linked to subprime mortgages without disclosing a hedge fund’s involvement in picking the securities involved. The SEC vote split on party lines, with 3 Democrats voting in favor of the suit and 2 Republicans dissenting. In response to the big bank’s legal troubles, Congressman Mark Kirk has decided to return $54,010 in campaign contributions from Goldman employees. Kirk made the decision after criticism from Alexi Giannoulias, who is also under fire for questionable bank related behavior. Spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said Kirk made a “personal decision to go above and beyond the reasonable ethics standard and err on the side of caution.”