FedUpUSA

Darrell Issa Seeks To Expand AIG Disclosure Inquiry To Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson And Goldman’s Friedman

Submitted by Tyler Durden

It is about time someone asked for this: Darrell Issa has finally demanded that which is on everyone’s mind – the testimony of the kingpins of the bailout: Bernanke and Paulson.

Bernanke and Paulson should provide statements about the decision to fully reimburse New York-based AIG’s bank counterparties for $62.1 billion in derivatives and efforts to limit disclosure about the payments, Darrell Issa, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said today in a letter. Treasury and the Federal Reserve should be subpoenaed for documents tied to the rescue, Issa said.
“This committee’s investigation will not be complete until we gain the perspective of all the most senior government officials responsible for the AIG bailout,” Issa said in the letter to Edolphus Towns, the New York Democrat who is chairman of the panel. “The perspective of Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson and documents in the possession of the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department are necessary.”

We applaud Congressman Issa’s persistence in this matter. In addition to the above, the WSJ now reports that Goldman’s Stephen Friedman, who was chairman of the NY Fed at the time, has also been “invited.” Zero Hedge petitioned a week ago that Mr. Friedman should not be forgotten in the hustle and bustle to blame everything on Tim. We are happy that the former Goldman Board member will be willing and able to discuss any potential impropriety that may have arisen from selling CDS protection on AIG to fund the difference from the collateral margin to par (in essence making them whole and half) in a time when public disclosure on the government’s attachment to AIG was limited to a select few.

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