Richard Sandler, attorney and author of 'Witness to a Prosecution', discusses the terms under which Drexel Burnham Lambert settled with federal prosecutors during the 1980s Michael Milken investigation.
“Part of the deal with the government was they had to get rid of Michael Milken Not only did they have to get rid of Michael Milken, but under the deal they made with the government, no employee of Drexel was allowed to discuss any business matter with Mike.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading:
filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard
(the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Richard Sandler
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Sandler: Prosecutor Admitted Lowell Milken Was Indicted to Pressure Michael
“When we asked us specifically about the dive in a low milk and he acknowledged the fact that Lowell would not have been indicted if it wasn't to bring pressure on his brother.”
Richard SandlerApr 24, 2026▶ 22:32From Wall Street King to Federal Prison: Michael Milken's Story · Joe Lonsdale
AssertionContradicted
Sandler: Milken pleaded to offenses never criminally prosecuted before or since
“None of which, and this is why I go in great detail in the book so people understand how in many ways ridiculous it is, none of which had ever been the subject of a criminal prosecution before or since.”
Richard SandlerApr 24, 2026▶ 30:01From Wall Street King to Federal Prison: Michael Milken's Story · Joe Lonsdale
AssertionPartly supported
Sandler: Sentencing judge found zero economic impact for four Milken pleas
“When the judge who sentenced Mike did an analysis of the economic effect of everything Mike led to, put to five different things. She found that the economic effect of four of the things he led to was zero. And the economic effect of the fifth was about 280,00…”
Richard SandlerApr 24, 2026▶ 32:51From Wall Street King to Federal Prison: Michael Milken's Story · Joe Lonsdale
Opinion
Sandler: Young Prosecutors Lack Life Experience and Act Like Avenging Angels
“These young prosecutors that are going after you, they said, they're not mostly evil or bad people. They are young people with no life experience. They don't understand what it means if they're wrong. They believe they are avenging angels in some ways.”
Richard SandlerApr 24, 2026▶ 36:10From Wall Street King to Federal Prison: Michael Milken's Story · Joe Lonsdale
Opinion
Sandler: Competitors labeled bonds 'junk' because they couldn't compete with Drexel
“I think the other reason they were called drunk junk is because when Mike and Drexler became so successful in this area, other firms that really couldn't compete with them tried to kind of let people think that these bonds, there's something wrong with this, t…”
Richard SandlerApr 24, 2026▶ 9:44From Wall Street King to Federal Prison: Michael Milken's Story · Joe Lonsdale
AssertionPartly supported
Sandler: Drexel financed Turner, Wynn, MCI, and Pulte when Wall Street wouldn't
“Of bonds for companies, and companies such as Ted Turner, Steve Wynn, MCI Communications Pulte Homes, all these companies that could never gotten financing before were now able to get financing and grow, and the market grew from that.”
Richard SandlerApr 24, 2026▶ 13:35From Wall Street King to Federal Prison: Michael Milken's Story · Joe Lonsdale
Made with StarZero
Turn any episode into a week of clips.
This entire site, over 150 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable,
runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the
moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.
We use essential cookies to make the site work. With your permission we
also use analytics cookies (Google Analytics and Mixpanel) to understand
usage and improve StarZero. See our Cookie Policy.