Tom Lauria, Global Practice Head of the Financial Restructuring and Insolvency Group at White & Case, says the White House (via car czar Steve Ratter) threatened his client (Perella Weinberg Partners) with political retribution if they did not surrender some of their rights as senior secured creditors of Chrysler. A senior secured creditor is higher up the food chain in bankruptcy and usually stands a better chance of being repaid a higher percentage of the ultimate settlement than a junior unsecured creditor. Because Lauria's clients took a hard line in the negotiation (nothing unusual about that) President Obama labeled them greedy hedge fund sharks unwilling to sacrifice like everyone else.