FBN's Willard: Jail the Head of New York Fed

May 5th, 2009 12:34 PM

Here's a teachable moment: Bad things can happen when the government intervenes in the economy, which Fox Business Network host Cody Willard pointed out on his "Shot Clock" segment on "Happy Hour."

Willard, on FBN's May 4 "Happy Hour" used part of his segment to call for the jailing of the New York Fed's chairman, Stephen Friedman.

"New York Fed [Chairman] Stephen Friedman - this guy belongs in jail," Willard said. "This is the head of the New York Fed - Stephen Friedman guys."

Willard was referring to a report in the May 4 Wall Street Journal that questioned Friedman's current ties to Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) while playing an instrumental role in shaping Washington's response to the financial crisis late last year. Willard explained that Friedman was able to profit after Goldman was approved to be a bank holding company in late 2008, making it eligible for a $10-billion capital injection.

"This guy, he was the head of Goldman Sachs," Willard said. "He went and bought more Goldman Sachs stock at $60 and $70 a share, when behind the scenes, he was meeting with Tim Geithner, Obama and all kinds of other very powerful guys who actually wrote him a check for tens of billions of dollars at Goldman Sachs and his stock went from $60 to $70. He's now up three or four million dollars. He says he sees no problems, no conflicts of interest."

The Journal explained that Friedman, who sat on the Goldman Sachs board and had a large holding in Goldman Sachs stock, but was granted a waiver from the Fed for the conflict of interest. While the Fed was considering the decision to grant the waiver, Friedman bought 37,300 more Goldman shares, which have gone up $1.7 million in value, according to the Journal.

"Guys, that's the head of the Illuminati," Willard said. "That's the guy that should be in jail. Fight him!"

Back in March, Willard made another outrageous-sounding claim, saying the American International Group (AIG) bailout as a backdoor means to fund terrorism.