Bill Moyers Essay: As the SEC Door Revolves

Before Mary Jo White was named to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, she was a lawyer defending Wall Street titans including JP Morgan. Before that, she was a federal prosecutor. Of course, transitioning from policing to protecting to policing companies is not illegal — or even all that rare — but it does raise important questions about the integrity of our government watchdogs.

In this broadcast essay inspired by a report from the Project on Government Oversight, Bill introduces us to the latest episode of "As the Door Revolves," starring the SEC and it's cozy relationship with hundreds of former employees who've done past or present business with the SEC on behalf of corporations the agency is supposed to regulate.

"Imagine: hundreds with an intimate knowledge of how the [SEC] works, advocating for their clients with friends at the SEC — colleagues who themselves may be looking for a big payoff when they too leave government," Bill says. "It's called 'regulatory capture': the takeover of government agencies by the very corporations they're supposed to keep an eye on."

Producer: Julia Conley. Editor: Paul Henry Desjarlais.

Видео Bill Moyers Essay: As the SEC Door Revolves канала Moyers & Company