Why the Weekend Swear in Ceremony for Gary Gensler is of Significance
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|  [u/YoungUrk](https://www.reddit.com/user/YoungUrk/) | [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mtikm9/why_the_weekend_swear_in_ceremony_for_gary/) | 

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[DD 👨‍🔬](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/search?q=flair_name%3A%22DD%20%F0%9F%91%A8%E2%80%8D%F0%9F%94%AC%22&restrict_sr=1)

EDIT 1: I mistakenly misread the table that I posted. I was looking at the Commissioner columns rather than the Chairman columns. Chairmen were sworn in on Saturday on 3 separate instances, excluding yesterday. 1969, 1973, and 2012. The information about Chairmen Cook and Casey is still correct. I guess I'll have something to do tomorrow when I figure out why Elisse B. Walter was sworn in on a Saturday in 2012.

EDIT 2: please let me know if you see ANY misinformation in this post. I tried to edit out everything that's been pointed out to me so far, but I get well could have missed something. What makes this community so strong is the constant verification of every bit of information posted, so do not hesitate fellow apes!! 🦍🚀🌕

EDIT 3: It seems like all of the images from windows snipping tool that I copied and pasted into reddit are down. I'll fix it now, but know that these snippets were all from the articles posted in the body of the post, which all still work. Sorry for the issues! I'll fix it as soon as I'm able.

EDIT 4: The links have all been either deleted and replaced with text, or fixed. This post is now a huge wall of text, and I apologize for that, but removing the images was the fastest way for me to get this done and I'm short on time right now. Please continue to point out anything that seems off!! Ape strong together :)

EDIT 5: I saw a comment that I can't seem to find anymore inquiring as to the condition of the market following the events of 1973. I'm still new to the markets and I don't know a ton about the economy in general, so I'm not sure exactly what metrics were around at the time to measure that information, but I was able to check a couple of things. It looks like both S&P500 and Dow Jones both crashed pretty hard from the beginning of '73 to the end of '75. This is a completely different situation though, and I don't think you can draw many conclusions from that.

TL;DR: Gary Gensler was sworn in as the Chairman of the SEC on Saturday, April 17, 2021 [EDIT: changed April 18 to 17]. The last time a chairman (or even a commissioner for that matter) was sworn into the SEC on a weekend was on Saturday, March 3, 1973 [EDIT: there was an instance in 2012 that I overlooked, more information at the bottom of the post] due to high international tensions and many monetary crises, including the Watergate Scandal and the origins of the 2008 financial crisis (1973 to 2008 to 2021, full circle). An SEC chairman has been sworn in on a weekend 3 times in history, excluding Gary. In 1973 (a commissioner and chairman were sworn into office at the same time), in 1969, and in 2012. I've only taken the time to look into the 1973 swear in so far.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 1: Why did SEC Chairman William Casey Step Down in the First Place?

Prior to yesterday, there have been only [three instances in the history of the SEC of a chairman being sworn into office on a weekend](https://www.sec.gov/about/sechistoricalsummary.htm) (taken directly from the SEC website).

I decided to first look into the previous chairman, William Casey, and [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Casey) is what I found:

"He served in the Nixon administration as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1971 to 1973;[4][10] this position led to his being called as a prosecution witness against former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans in an influence-peddling case stemming from international financier Robert Vesco's $200,000 contribution to the Nixon reelection campaign.[11]

He then served as Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (1973-1974)[4] and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (1974--1976). During this era, he was also a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (1975--1976) and of counsel to Rogers & Wells (1976--1981)."

If you want to know more about Watergate you can read [this summary](https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/watergate) or can take a look at [this timeline](https://www.history.com/topics/watergate-scandal-timeline-nixon), but I'll highlight the important bits in the timeline article (at least important for this topic).

First off, Casey exited his position as Chairman of the SEC on February 2nd, 1973. In trying to figure out why he did this, I started to make some connections:

We already know that Casey testified against Mitchell from the Wikipedia page. From the timeline: "September 29, 1972 The Washington Post reports that while serving as Attorney General, John Mitchell had controlled a secret fund to finance intelligence gathering against Democrats. When Carl Bernstein calls Mitchell for comment, Mitchell threatens both Bernstein and Katharine Graham, the publisher of the Post. The Post prints the threat."

Just prior to Casey's resignation: "January 8, 1973 The Watergate break-in trial begins."

Just three days before Casey steps down: "January 30, 1973 Former Nixon aide and FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord, an ex-CIA agent and former security director of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP), are convicted for their roles in the break-in at the Watergate complex. They are found guilty of conspiracy, bugging DNC headquarters, and burglary. Four others, including E. Howard Hunt, had already plead guilty. Judge John J. Sirica threatens the convicted burglars with long prison sentences unless they talk."

Mere weeks after Cook was sworn in on March 03, 1973 and only a little over a month after Casey resigned: "March 21, 1973 In a White House meeting, White House Counsel John Dean tells Nixon, "We have a cancer---within---close to the Presidency, that's growing." He and Nixon discuss how to pay the Watergate bribers as much as $1 million in cash to continue the cover-up.

March 23, 1973 Watergate burglar James McCord's letter confessing the existence of a wider conspiracy is read in open court by Judge Sirica. The Watergate cover-up starts to unravel."

Whether Casey resigned due to his involvement in the Watergate scandal or his desire to separate himself from the situation is unknown, but we now have a likely reason as to why he stepped down.

Part 2: The Weekend Swear in Ceremony, Chairman William Casey's Involvement in the Watergate Scandal, and Money to Burn

I didn't think I would be able to find much information on previous instances of a weekend swear in since they were back in 1973 and 1938 [EDIT: 2012, 1973, and 1969, see edit history at top], but I was certainly wrong. The first thing that was very interesting was [this snippet from wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._Bradford_Cook):

Soooo... Seems like there might have been a reason he was sworn in on a Saturday, let's dig further: "Vesco scandal Development of the case against Vesco In 1972, SEC Chairman William Casey met with Cook and assigned him an enforcement case then pending against Robert Vesco. In doing so, Casey took the case away from the SEC's Enforcement Division, a move Cook claims he did not question.[14] A mutual fund company, Investors Overseas Service (IOS), which was registered in Panama, was attempting to come into the United States, a complicated process that involved changing the company's articles of incorporation, bylaws, operating procedures, finances, and governance to conform with American securities law.[15] Vesco was battling Bernard Cornfeld, chief executive officer of IOS, for control of the company, and the SEC was investigating Vesco for having covered up the transfer of $224 million in corporate funds to a personal account.[16]

Vesco made a $200,000 cash donation to the 1972 Nixon presidential campaign with the expectation that he would receive favorable treatment from the SEC.[17] Another $50,000 in cash was given in violation of federal elections laws.[16] Harry L. Sears, a prominent Republican fund-raiser in New Jersey and Vesco associate, delivered the cash donations to Maurice Stans, Nixon's former Secretary of Commerce and head of finance for Nixon's presidential re-election campaign. Stans arranged for Sears to meet with United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell, and Mitchell set up a meeting with Sears, Casey, and Cook in May 1972.[18]

Improper discussions with Maurice Stans Cook became aware of the Vesco cash donations and the intent with which they were made.[17] Cook alleges that he told Casey about the donations, although he cannot confirm that Casey did anything with the information.[15] Casey later denied knowing how the embezzled $250,000 had been used.[19]

Shortly after his conversation with Casey, Cook went on a hunting trip in Texas with Stans. On November 13, 1972, while he and Stans crouched in a rice field, Cook mentioned that he wished to be SEC chairman and that he was prosecuting a number of cases, including the Vesco lawsuit. Cook mentioned that the SEC had testimony that Vesco had given Stans $250,000 in cash donations. Two days later, back in Washington, Stans called Cook and asked that the information about the $250,000 be deleted from the legal filings in the case. Cook agreed to do so, and told SEC Associate Director of Enforcement Stanley Sporkin to remove the information. On November 17, Cook called Stans to confirm that the change had occurred.[16] Cook said in 1973 in congressional testimony that the deleted information was made with Chairman Casey's concurrence.[20] Casey agreed that he told Cook to "work it out" with Sporkin, but denied knowing that Cook had spoken with Stans.[19]

On March 7, 1973,[21] Stans invited Cook to the White House for lunch. Stans informed Cook that the Nixon campaign was going to return the money to Vesco, and asked that discussion of the donation be edited out of testimony the SEC would file with the court. After speaking with Sporkin, Cook advised Stans that the testimony had to be submitted in full and he could not do as Stans had asked.[16]

Testimony and resignation Federal prosecutors began investigating possible illegal fund-raising by the Nixon re-election campaign in 1973 as part of the Watergate scandal. Cook was called before a grand jury to testify about the Vesco donations on April 19, 1973, and again on May 3 and May 7, 1973. He also testified before a Senate committee on May 1 and May 14, and before a House committee on May 22. During this testimony, Cook swore under oath that he had never discussed the Vesco case with Stans until after the case was filed on November 27, 1972.[22]

On Thursday, May 10, a grand jury indicted Vesco, Sears, Mitchell, and Stans with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice, and Mitchell and Stans with perjury. The following day, Cook said he had done nothing wrong and would not resign.[20]

But on Wednesday, May 16, Cook resigned effective immediately as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He had served as chairman for just 74 days.[20] The Washington Star reported that Cook believed he was going to be impeached, and offered to resign. The White House allowed him to do so.[23]

Fallout from perjury admissions The trial of Mitchell and Stans on the grand jury charges began on February 19, 1974.[24]

In his initial testimony, Cook testified that Stans said he (Stans) had lied to the grand jury investigating the Vesco donation. Cook admitted that he lied to the grand jury on April 19 and to the Senate committee on May 1. Cook also said that Stans called him on the morning of May 7, 1973, to discuss Cook's upcoming grand jury testimony. Cook informed Stans that he was changing his testimony to the grand jury and would tell the truth. When called before the Senate again on May 14, Cook said he changed his testimony again and told the truth.[21]

On cross-examination, Cook admitted to lying a total of five times under oath to the grand jury and Congress, concealing his discussions with Stans. He also revealed that he, not Stans, brought up the Vesco case and called its inclusion in the civil case "overkill", "sensationalism", and "not professional". Cook also admitted on the stand that by discussing the Vesco case, he had violated the law.[22] Stans and Mitchell were acquitted on April 28, 1974.[25]

The fallout from Cook's witness stand admissions was significant. The Senate Appropriations Committee asked the United States Department of Justice on May 1 to file charges of contempt of Congress against Cook for lying.[26] On September 27, 1974, the Nebraska State Bar Association filed a six-count disciplinary complaint with the State Supreme Court against Cook.[27] Although Cook's attorney argued that he should be censured, the State Supreme Court disbarred Cook for three years from the practice of law in Nebraska.[28]

The United States Supreme Court permanently barred Cook from practicing law before it on May 31, 1977,[29] and the Illinois Bar Association followed suit with a three-year disbarment on June 1.[30]"

Side note: His financial career continued of course... "Post-SEC career After leaving the SEC, Cook became chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Farragut Investments.[1]

As of 2002, Cook was living in Bethesda, Maryland. He was chairman and general counsel of LearnWright, a company that develops and distributes training software for the pharmaceutical industry. He was also general counsel of Empower IT, a company that provided data management services in the packaged-goods industry.[6]"

This again, from the Watergate timeline, mere weeks after Cook was sworn in on March 03, 1973: "March 21, 1973 In a White House meeting, White House Counsel John Dean tells Nixon, "We have a cancer---within---close to the Presidency, that's growing." He and Nixon discuss how to pay the Watergate bribers as much as $1 million in cash to continue the cover-up.

March 23, 1973 Watergate burglar James McCord's letter confessing the existence of a wider conspiracy is read in open court by Judge Sirica. The Watergate cover-up starts to unravel."

I decided to look at news specific to March 03, 1973 - the swear in date. Here's what I found on the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/03/archives/news-summary-and-index-major-events-of-the-day-international.html):

Speculation that USD will suffer inflation: "There will not be another devaluation of the dollar," President Nixon said at his news conference. He said that "we believe the dollar is a sound currency" in view of the fact that inflation in the United States running it a, slower pace than elsewhere in the industrial world. He said "we will survive" what he called an "attack by international speculators."

That's the equivalent of around $3.5m today. I'm going to touch on this more: "Counterfeit $20 bills---$200,000 worth---apparently thrown from the Robert Moses Bridge late Thursday night rained over the Great South Bay, and thousands of them washed ashore at Fire Island anti Long Island's South Shore. Fishermen, the police and school children and‐others who found some of the bills thought they were real, but the, United States Secret Service said they were counterfeit."

Third monetary crisis of the last three weeks: "Western Europe intensified preparations for a joint defense against the unwanted dollar influx as the European Economic Community called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers tomorrow to deal with the third monetary crisis of the last three weeks. Most major foreign‐exchange markets were closed."

High international tensions generally spark quicker turn arounds for swear ins: "The Sudanese Government announced early today that Black September commandos had executed two American diplomats who had been held hostage since Thursday night. The diplomats, Cleo A. Noel Jr., the recently arrived Ambassador, and George C. Moore, the outgoing American chargé d'affaires, were among five taken hostage in the Saudi Arabian, Embassy where a farewell reception for Mr. Moore was being held. [Page 1, Columns 5--8.]

President Nixon, in a statement released by the White House, described the killing of the two American diplomats in Khartoum as "acts of terrorism" and demanded that "the perpetrators of the crime, must be brought to justice." [1:6--7.]

President Nixon promised that postwar aid to North Vietnam, if approved by Congress, would be financed from existing defense and foreign aid funds, not from further slashes in "the domestic side of the budget." He made the statement at a surprise news conference, his first in a month. [1:4.] The text of the White House transcript of the news conference is on Page 12.

The effort to set up peace‐keeping machinery in South Vietnam appears to have been set back when the Communists pulled out their truce delegates from the northern part of the country. An official American spokesman said that United States Air Force planes flew 156 North Vietnamese and Vietcong members of the Four‐Party Joint Military Commission from Hue and Da Nang back to Saigon after the Communists complained about the lack of security for them. The Communists informed the United States delegation to the commission that the next group of war prisoners, totaling 142; of whom 136 are Americans, would be released Sunday in Hanoi. [1:5.]"

Now... I said I would touch on that $200,000. I stumbled upon a book about the $200,000 counterfeit USD dumped into the Great South Bay called Money to Burn by Bill Brown. I will be listening to this book if it's on Audible, but for now I'll just use a [summary I found from goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/33981985-money-to-burn) and [from the authors official website.](https://moneytoburnbillbrown.com/)

Beginnings of the 2008 US financial collapse: "Based on a true story, Money to Burn is a novel that begins with the brutal murder of a young woman, traces an ingenious counterfeiting scheme that became the funding vehicle for a small town bank in North Carolina, and culminates in the most disastrous monetary crisis since the 1930's.

Money to Burn is the shocking backstory of two men, Edward Cain, businessman turned counterfeiter, and Mr. Jones, a financial operative who, motivated by his desire for revenge, helps the Bank attain incredible success.

Readers will be stunned by the simple and surprising beginnings of the devastating 2008 US financial collapse."

Less detailed on the authors official website, but very similar: "Based on a true story, Money to Burn is a novel that begins with the brutal murder of a young woman, traces an ingenious counterfeiting scheme that became the funding vehicle for a small town bank in North Carolina, and culminates in the most disastrous monetary crisis since the 1930's."

Sidenote - I'll probably be listening to/reading all of his books: "North Carolina native, Bill Brown, a serial entrepreneur since his UNC '63 days, was always ahead of the curve as the owner and publisher of the Carolina Financial Times, a weekly newspaper, as a co-founder of the Waffle Shoppe restaurant chain, as a principal in a commercial real estate company that developed shopping center sites across the state, and as the major shareholder and president of a company that was the forerunner in the high tech satellite imagery industry. His array of experiences have provided him with some very useful content for all three novels in the Jones Series; Money to Burn, The Feds' Folly, and Delete!"

I can't comment on this specifically until I've read the book, but it seems *very* fishy that the day Cook was sworn in as Chairman in 1973 was also the day that began the 2008 US financial collapse.

Conclusion

Obviously from the evidence presented here we can see that a weekend swear in for an SEC Chairman is an *extremely* rare occurrence and we can also see that the last time it happened [EDIT: it also happened in 2012, check the edit at the bottom of the post] was due to a culmination of events nationally and internationally that put strain on financial systems and US leadership and aides. At this point, I refuse to believe Gary's swear in yesterday wasn't due to extenuating, urgent circumstances involving the state of the US economy and the world economy (crypto certainly ties in here). In addition, the fact that Citadel was working through the entire night immediately following the swear in is not a coincidence. I may reply to some comments tonight, but my wife's boyfriend is getting angry that I'm not spending time with them so I'm gonna take most of the night off and check back in tomorrow afternoon. To the moon apes, hopefully this charade of a "fair system" can finally collapse and be reformed into what it should have been all along.
