Obama Administration Charges Harrisburg with Securities Fraud (aka Lying)

Remember the time we discovered that Harrisburg, in the words of Gawker, was a “broke-ass sinkhole of despair”? Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the city with Securities Fraud for covering up the utter putridity of its financial situation from the late aughts until 2011, when it went belly-up. This is the first time the SEC has ever charged a U.S. city for lying about its balance sheet. Harrisburg, perhaps seeking to minimize headlines like “Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Is a Broke-Ass Sinkhole of Despair” agreed to settle the charges ahead of time. For a what’s what in the city’s tens of millions of dollars in outstanding debt obligations and missed payments, see the SEC’s full report.