According to POLITICO, the firm has hired Greg Craig, one of the lawyers who defended Bill Clinton against impeachment.

Gregory Craig is now in private practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom but until recently he served as the Obama Administration’s White House Counsel. He has a formidable CV for the job but, given the politicised nature of the SEC case against Goldman, his appointment has unsurprisingly raised a few eyebrows in America.

No matter how good he is though, one lawyer will almost certainly not be enough. The Times reports that American lawyers are trying to drum up investor interest in class actions and the paper quotes “one senior figure in the private equity industry” as saying, “The way Goldman treats clients is a disgrace. This is the thin end of the wedge. People won’t want to be associated with this sort of behaviour.”

Meanwhile Goldman is receiving broadsides on other fronts.

In the UK, politicians of all colours have attacked the firm and the FSA has started an informal investigation to back up the SEC’s inquiry. Calls are also being made to suspend the use of Goldman as a government adviser. Gordon Brown has so far rejected this.

And in Germany officials have requested information from the SEC to help build a case over the mis-selling of CDOs to the IKB bank.

The knives are well and truly out.