Like most abusive post-9/11 trends, this tactic is now stronger than ever: "there have been 138 terrorism or national security prosecutions involving informants since 2001, and more than a third of those have occurred in the past three years".
CIPA has been law since 1980 and played a role in numerous civilian national security prosecutions.
Talks brokered by the Organization of American States this week failed to produce an accord after the opposition coalition, the Democratic Convergence, demanded guarantees of security and prosecution of those who attacked them during violent upheavals last July and December.
"This will test whether the government can ever succeed in a securities fraud prosecution, because they'll never have more witnesses than they have in this case," said John Coffee, an authority on securities law at Columbia University law school.
Shkreli's attorney has said the securities fraud prosecution is based on a "flawed theory".
During her tenure, the number of securities fraud prosecutions increased dramatically.
In recognition of her successes, Congress provided her office with a supplemental $5 million exclusively for securities fraud prosecutions.
The Manhattan office, one of the largest federal attorney's offices, has handled some of the most important terrorism and securities fraud prosecutions.
Mr. Barofsky followed up by asking Mr. Breuer why Preet S. Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, whose office has been out front in bringing securities-fraud prosecutions, wasn't on the task forces.
Indeed, such secret guarantees frequently emerge in securities fraud prosecutions because they allow two parties in a transaction to shuffle paper in what appears to be a deal, while creating no change in either side's investment risk.
