Details continue to emerge on the Chrysler bankruptcy fight and the flak OppenheimerFunds now faces over it. The Wall Street Journal's Shefali Anand identified Oppenheimer Senior Floating Rate co-manager Joseph Welsh as one of those opposing a government plan to save Chrysler (whereby Welsh's fund and other creditors would receive $2 billion in cash in exchange for the $6.9 billion in secured loans Chrysler owes them). Obama already publicly said that he doesn't "stand" with the holdouts' decision, without naming names (see MFWire, 5/1/2009), and now an attorney for another secured Chrysler lender claims the White House threatened his client. It's a good bet that Welsh and OppFunds are facing similar direct pressure behind closed doors.

"One of my clients was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under threat that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight," White & Case attorney Tom Lauria told a radio host. "That was Perella Weinberg." 

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