US Appeals Court Stops Judge's Contempt 'Inquest' of CFTC Leaders
"If the commission has done wrong, that is because of what the commission itself said and did, not because of what any of its members or employees thought or planned," the Seventh Circuit panel said.
October 22, 2019 at 01:44 PM
5 minute read
A federal appeals court on Tuesday stopped a Chicago trial judge from pursuing any civil contempt sanctions against ranking officials at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but the agency itself still faces an inquiry into whether certain public statements violated the terms of a $16 million settlement with two major food producers.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned an order compelling three Senate confirmed leaders—Chairman Heath Tarbert, a Republican, and Democratic Commissioners Dan Berkovitz and Rostin Behnam—to appear in court and testify about remarks they made about the settlement, despite a gag provision that limited what the commission could say publicly. The court said the trial judge can still assess whether the CFTC itself should be held in contempt.
The two companies, Kraft Foods Group Inc. and Mondelēz Global LLC, represented by lawyers from Jenner & Block and Eversheds Sutherland, argued the CFTC violated the settlement when commissioners made statements appearing in a trio of news releases. The agency has removed the news released pending the outcome of the contempt inquiry. The settlement resolved allegations of price manipulation in the wheat market.
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