Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Sunday called on the Justice Department to convene a federal grand jury to investigate gasoline prices and attack “the kind of illegal speculation and trading hedge fund activity that may be driving prices up.”
Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Blumenthal commended President Barack Obama for convening a multi-agency task force to investigate the federal government needs to go further.
Attorney General Eric Holder, at Obama’s request has announced the formation of the multi-agency task force to probe speculation in the gasoline and oil markets.
“The problem is it is not investigatory, it is more to monitor and follow the developments,” Blumenthal said, discussing the task force. “I commend and applaud the president for focusing on this issue, but I think there really needs to be an investigation involving, for example, subpoenas and compulsory process which I used as attorney general in similar investigations.”
“The Justice Department should take the lead, seize this moment and send a message, a very strong deterrent message, that this country will not tolerate the kind of illegal speculation and trading and hedge fund activity that may be driving prices up,” Blumenthal said. “Just to give you one fact: The amount of trading and hedge fund activity, the energy positions, are at an all-time high in this country’s history, up 64 percent from just a few years ago. And the indicia of potential illegal activity, whether civil or criminal, I think certainly justify the Department of Justice investigation immediately and comprehensively right now.”
