Viv's post is one of the best I've seen in ages.
He's spot on about what's confronting the court. It is my belief that the court knows she was misled before the last confirmation, but she's keeping that to herse lf. I don't believe for an instant that either WMI/Wei lor the SNs are sanguine about the outcome of these hearings. The EC has methodically discredited them on go od faith with respect to every issue, and Walrath has been left with the reality that the world's premier bankruptcy group (and its premier restructuring firm, Alvarez_&_Marsal) (1) tried to make a fool of her, and (2) very nearly destroyed equity simply to make JPM happy.
Viv doesn't surmise the court's future decision, but I will. There is the possibility that she will appoint a trustee to sift the case to the bottom, which would include reigniting litigation in the D.C. District Court. Her other, milde alternative, is dispossession th e SNs of the portion of their claims obtained through I T as well as imposing the FJR on the other debtholders who were complicit with them, there by neutering all wrongdoing stakeholders. The latter remedy would still leave the issues of_JPM and (a) its preseizure activities, and (b) its wanton manipulation of the plan process (i.e., between the EC's examination of the SNs and the SNs willingness to rat out JPM as the puppetmaster, this has been established). In the case of (a) the business torts wouldb e litigated before Judge Collyer. In th e case of (b) JPM's objective to get the case settled under the highly advantageous terms of the GSA will have been thwarted.
However, as the_corruption is so pervasive and deep-r ooted I'm not sure the court can take the second alternative by itself because the EC has so thoroughly expose d the machinations of WGM and A&M.
There is another possibility, which is a mixture of t he two alternatives. It entails the court disallowing the portion of the SNs' claims obtained through IT, imp osing the FJR, and compelling JPM to turn over the $4B to WMI. She would also nullify her ruling on the GSA in light of the IT and misdeeds, ANICO, and Stern. In l ight of Weil's and A&M's actions, she would appoint a trustee to move the case forward including determiningt he feasibility of litigation in the D.C. courts on the business torts and/or FIRREA, and proposal of a plan consistent with the new landscape.
This is actually the easiest course for her (i.e., clean up the dirt in case currently, and hand over the 'clean' case to a trustee), and I think there's a good chance she'll take it