GATA critic accused of securities fraud

1:45p EDT Sunday, September 12, 1999

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

With a little help from the London Telegraph, GATA this
morning popped open what could be a nice little bottle
of champagne around the corner from the Bank of England
and the LBMA. Let's hope there's something in it.
L'chaim!

Please post this as seems helpful.

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

* * *

LAWYER PROBES CLINTON GOLD CLAIMS

By Bill Jamieson

London Telegraph

Sunday, September 12, 1999

One of America's most senior lawyers has been hired to
investigate unfounded allegations on the Internet that
Hillary Clinton made huge profits from the recent slump
in the price of gold.

The U.S. Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATAC) has
hired one of America's biggest anti-trust law firms to
investigate allegations that a blind trust set up for
America's First Lady quot;shorted gold financial
instrumentsquot; just before the the Bank of England's
announcement of gold sales on May 7. The announcement
caused a slump in the gold price.

The allegation -- uncluttered by fact and bare of
supporting evidence -- surfaced on a U.S. website for
financial market aficionadoes last weekend. Bill
Murphy, GATAC's chairman, said: quot;If true, it is an
outrage and is further anecdotal evidence of the
conspiratorial nature of the Bank of England gold sales
and of the high level nature of the manipulation of the
gold market.quot;

GATAC has retained the Philadelphia firm of Berger amp;
Montague to investigate the rumours. The lawyer on the
case is Jerome Marcus, described by Murphy as quot;the
silent brainsquot; behind the Paula Jones case for five
years.

Mr. Marcus said: quot;We have just begun our inquiries and
there is little as yet to report. Even if there was any
transaction through a blind trust, this would raise
questions of credibility. These people all know each
other. It is very tantalising but we have to establish
first whether it happened.quot;

The allegation is the latest twist in a series of wild
conspiracy theories claiming massive gold market
manipulation, and doubtless the fact that Clinton's
recent down payment for a new home in Westchester
County, New York, came from her blind trust will
further fuel imaginations.

GATAC has been campaigning for months for a halt to IMF
and central bank gold sales and for an investigation
into alleged gold market manipulation. Murphy has
written to Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate
Banking Committee. His 21-page letter is testimony, if
nothing else, to the fact that nothing and no one is
being ruled out in GATAC's global hunt for gold market
manipulators.

This year the price of gold has fallen from more than
$280 an ounce to $256.65 now, the bulk of this fall
coming after the surprise announcement by Gordon Brown
of a programme of Bank of England gold sales. The first
of these auctions was held in July, and the second is
due next week.