Do you ever wonder if those who ‘find religion’ late in life so to speak are trying to conveniently cleanse their souls before making their way to the pearly gates?

I think in the case of public officials, it is fair to ask if the ‘cleansing process’ is done for purposes of resurrecting an image or if the individual is truly engaging in a meaningful transformation.

I ask these questions this morning as I see a headline cross the news wire that none other than former Wall Street titan and Washington heavyweight Henry Paulson now trusts neither Wall Street nor Washington.

Is that right? Well ol’ Hank would seem to be having a ‘come to Jesus’ moment here.

This revelation of Hank’s newly found lack of trust in his longstanding compadres on Wall Street and in Washington is the title of an article just released in The Atlantic: Hank Paulson Mastered Wall Street and Washington, and Now He Trusts Neither. The commentary is not available online so I will be running out shortly to pick it up.

I would imagine Hank is well aware of the general lack of trust held by the American public toward the two greatest bases of power in our nation and would like to join the crowd. What do you think the chances are that in the midst of this article I will find details regarding ol’ Hank’s influence, involvement, or knowledge in the following situations:

1. Relaxing the net capital standards on Wall Street that allowed Goldman Sachs and all the other investment banks to triple their leverage. That development was certainly one of the key factors in bringing down our markets and global economy.

2. His pressure and influence from early on to allow Wall Street’s self-regulatory entities at the NASD and the regulatory arm of the NYSE to merge and form FINRA.

3. The revolving door that looks all too similar to an EZ-pass between his former firm Goldman Sachs and an array of offices in and around Washington DC.

4. Goldman Sachs being paid 100 cents on the dollar by US Treasury for the firm’s exposure to AIG.

5. Former Goldman colleague Stephen Friedman’s blatant insider trading violation when as chairman of the New York Fed he purchased not an insignificant amount of Goldman stock after having learned of some very sensitive inside information.

If Hank is looking for a little absolution in an attempt to burnish his image, then he has to come totally clean. Cleanliness may be next to godliness but truth is also next to transparency.

I will let you know what I learn.

If anybody has read the article yet, please share your thoughts and insights.

Navigate accordingly.

Larry Doyle

Check out my new book, In Bed with Wall Street: The Conspiracy Crippling Our Global Economy.