Standard & Poor's continues to claim that the U.S. government retaliated against the ratings giant by filing a $5 billion fraud lawsuit in response to S&P's decision to strip the country of its AAA credit rating. Reuters has more on the ongoing legal battle:

In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California, S&P said the lawsuit filed on February 4 attempts to punish it for exercising its First Amendment free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution, but also seeks "excessive fines" in violation of the Eighth Amendment.