Reaching an Agreement: The BLT received word late last night that Karl Rove and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers will testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys, according to an agreement reached yesterday. The agreement marks the conclusion of a long-running standoff between the House of Representatives and former President George W. Bush over over the executive's power to shield current and former aides from congressional subpoenas.
Bonus Problems: New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued subpoenas to seven of the top earners at Merrill Lynch who received $209 million in 2008, even as the company's profits plummeted. The subpoenas compel the executives to discuss when they received their bonuses, who they spoke to about them, and other relevant information, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Tax Man Cometh: According to documents released as part of a Senate hearing looking into offshore tax havens, Baker & McKenzie provided legal advice to Swiss banking giant UBS on how to retain clients who who didn't want their overseas assets disclosed to the IRS. UBS is currently being investigated to see whether the bank helped U.S. clients dodge taxes, The American Lawyer reports.
A Healthy Idea? The health care industry, which had been anxiously expecting President Barack Obama to press for price controls on prescription drugs, is now hailing his health care plan as a "great start." The turnaround comes because Obama chose to take a moderate approach, proposing larger discounts on medications bought through Medicaid, which could save the drug companies billions a year compared with price control, The Washington Post reports.
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