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Geithner’s In The Soup

by snuffysmith | January 8, 2010 at 12:23 pm

211 views | 4 Recommendations | 13 comments

Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone Magazine not only writes brilliant commentary, he knows how to sum things up succinctly. He has been a vigilant watchdog on Wall Street along with Eliot Spitzer and others.

Geithner’s In The Soup

AIG said in a draft of a regulatory filing that the insurer paid banks, which included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Societe Generale SA, 100 cents on the dollar for credit-default swaps they bought from the firm. The New York Fed crossed out the reference, according to the e-mails, and AIG excluded the language when the filing was made public on Dec. 24, 2008. The e-mails were obtained by Representative Darrell Issa, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

via Geithner’s Fed Told AIG to Limit Swaps Disclosure Update3 – Bloomberg.com.

Sure everyone saw this. Geithner apparently telling AIG to soft-pedal the disclosures about counterparty payments post-bailout.

The House Democrats should be ashamed that it took a Republican member to dig this out. Between owning the individual mandate on health care and allowing the Republicans to seize the moral high ground on the bailouts, the Democrats have just set themselves up to lose a good decade’s worth of elections.

Wonder whether Obama will have the guts to ask for Geithner's resignation. Wonder even more whether Congress will contemplate removal proceedings.

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snuffysmith

at 12:26 on January 8th, 2010

Geithner and the AIG Emails: Scandal Is Only Tip of the Iceberg by Eliot Spitzer, William K. Black, Frank Partnoy, NewDeal 2.0

Now we learn that Geithner told AIG to withhold details from the public about the billions it handed to banks during the crisis.

snuffysmith

at 12:39 on January 8th, 2010

SHOWDOWN: Geithner Called To Testify Over AIG Email-GateTim Geithner better start training.
Obama's Secretary of the Treasury has been asked to march before the House and undero questioning regarding his role in the AIG coverup.

Will definitely be must-see TV.

snuffysmith

at 12:58 on January 8th, 2010

The Real Way The NY Fed Under Friedman And Geithner Tried To Orchestrate A Coverup Of The AIG Payouts (AIG, GS)from Clusterstock by The Daily Bail

snuffysmith

at 13:04 on January 8th, 2010

How Will Geithner Suffer From The AIG Email Fallout? (Clip)

nanute

at 13:14 on January 8th, 2010

Good follow up after the commercial real estate piece. Matt is truly one of the best ascerbic, actual real live journalists on the scene.

nanute

at 04:13 on January 10th, 2010

Snuffy,

Looks like Geithner has an explanation:

NY Fed's General Counsel: Didn't Tell Geithner About AIG Letter Time for a follow up?

snuffysmith

at 07:59 on January 10th, 2010

“Fire Geithner Now!”

By L. Randall Wray, Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Research Director with the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability and Senior Research Scholar at The Levy Economics Institute

snuffysmith

at 08:05 on January 10th, 2010

In a letter to Darrell Issa and Edolphus Towns the NY Fed's General Counsel asserted:

“Matters relating to AIG securities law disclosures were not brought to the attention of Mr. Geithner,” Thomas Baxter, general counsel of the New York Fed, said yesterday in a letter to Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, and Edolphus Towns, Democrat of New York. “In my judgment as the New York Fed’s chief legal officer, disclosure matters of this nature did not warrant the attention of the president.” Geithner, who helped orchestrate the bailout of AIG when he led the New York Fed, is now Treasury Department secretary.

Oh really?

Financial statements and exhibits - "disclosure matters of this nature" I'd think - don't merit Geithner's attention?

An article over on Seeking Alpha makes the following assertion via documentary evidence:

"Note that there should be no discussion or suggestion that AIG and the NY Fed are asking to structure anything else at this point."

The assertion is made that this is Geithner's own handwriting. NY Fed Officials say he was not involved.

Well, that deserves investigation.

nanute

at 09:32 on January 10th, 2010

Well that deserves investigation. Yes, yes it does. Stay tuned.

snuffysmith

at 07:41 on January 11th, 2010

Bloomberg continues to push the Geithner-AIG cover-up issue

snuffysmith

at 13:34 on January 12th, 2010

Drumbeat to Boot Geithner Gets Louder, on Eve of Hearings on Disastrous Economic Crash By Danny Schechter, Dylan Ratigan, AlterNet The Treasury Secretary's pro-Wall Street policies, along with those of adviser Larry Summers, are failing. Also: MSNBC Host Dylan Ratigan's case against Geithner.

snuffysmith

at 16:31 on January 12th, 2010

Steve Clemons: Who Will Succeed Tim Geithner as Next Treasury Secretary?from The Huffington Post by Steve Clemons

snuffysmith

at 07:36 on January 13th, 2010

GeithnerGate: Obama's Treasury Sec. Should Get the Boot and Let's Take Our Money Back Too Les Leopold, Dylan Ratigan, AlterNet By all means, let's fire Geithner -- and let's also target Wall Street as a whole. Also: MSNBC Host Dylan Ratigan's case against Geithner.