Congress Wants AIG Mole's Documents

Members of Congress are pushing for access to confidential reports filed over the past several years by a government-appointed auditor who has been sitting in on AIG deliberations.

The auditor, whose presence was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, was installed as the result of a settlement that deferred prosecution of AIG for allegedly helping financial institutions fudge their books. Deferring prosecution was the Bush administration's preference when it came to enforcing financial regulations.

"Whatever rationale there may have been for confidentiality doesn't appear to apply anymore," Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) told the Huffington Post. "If the idea was that having a government appointed lawyer sitting in the board room would make sure that AIG went forth and sinned no more, it obviously didn't work out that way."

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has requested documents.

Other Democrats in Congress are also requesting the documents, aides say, including Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.).

"That would be some real interesting reading, if we got everything from that mole," said Cummings, who's been chasing AIG since the initial government seizure. "We get so much incomplete information from AIG and maybe this is a way to connect all the dots."

The government should be able to abrogate whatever settlement it entered into, members of Congress argue, because it now represents both sides of the agreement. "We now own AIG. We are by far the majority stock holder. If there is a reason still for not making public what he saw and heard, I'd like to hear it," said Miller.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) agreed. "While there might be legal constraints that typically prevent at least some information from being disclosed outside the government, these extraordinary circumstances call for greater transparency. After all, AIG is now more than 80 percent owned by American taxpayers," she said.

"It was a deal between the corporation and the government," Miller said. "It was obviously intended to protect the corporation. We can waive that now since we own it. If you're 79.9 percent stockholders and you say you want to waive confidentiality, you waive confidentiality."

Comments

[TrekBear]

09:43 AM on 04/01/2009

The Federal Reserve absolutely has to be independen­t of political considerat­ions. That's the best way to make economic decisions.

We saw what happened over the last eight (8) years when politics meddled with policy making - it wasn't pretty!

[PhilipTaylor]

09:21 AM on 04/01/2009

$7 Million to EVERY AMERICAN FAMILY!



$700 Trillion IN TOXIC PAPER Created by Banks is $7 Million to every Family in AMERICA!

$700,000,0­00,000,000 / 100,000,00­0 Families = $7,000,000

$7,000,000 to every family in America! That is what the BANKS DID TO US! JAIL THEM TOMORROW!




Instead they are REWARDING THEM!

[PhilipTaylor]

09:57 AM on 04/01/2009

Wish it was WRONG!

$1.2 Quadrillio­n of Toxic Paper in the World

$700 Trillion created by American Banks!

http://fin­ancialclue­s.blogspot­.com/2008/­02/1-quadr­illion-pro­blem.html

[loki]

09:20 AM on 04/01/2009

Why dont they just ask the nominee to be geithners right hand man, isnt he an AIG executive?
This is the same thing as the Bush administra­tion. Put the crooks in positions of power and let them run wild. I will never understand how putting the same people who caused this problem in positions of power will do anything except allow them to cover their own butts, and steal more money from the tax payer.

[DragonFly]

07:19 AM on 04/01/2009

This country is run by a privately owned bank known as the 'Federal Reserve' which is flanked by a cartel of corrupt lenders, e.g. AIG, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, etc.

The people who run these institutio­ns are all-interc­hangeable and view our outrage as a temporary inconvenie­nce to be tolerated until they finish repairing the curtain.

Keeping their own people permanentl­y installed in the Treasury Department has created our present 'Captains of the Universe' who daily repay us mere mortals with their thumb-to-n­ose salute.

AND - it's the reason their bailout is handled with a different set of gloves than the auto industry's­.

Until this criminal construct is dismantled­, citizens will continue to be robbed by banks.

[loki]

09:22 AM on 04/01/2009

The sooner the people understand the Federal Reserve is not and never has been part of the US gov, the sooner they might have a chance to remove the fed reserve from it position of power. They are getting more power given to them, but legally, the US gov really has no control over them.

[givesflack]

07:02 AM on 04/01/2009

AIG, Bank of America, CitiGroup, Goldman , Merrill Lynch..., are the national bank that's ours now, called American Bank Corporatio­n (ABC) my acronym . We have the authority to rule these corporatio­ns that ruined ours economy and the world over. We now operate the transactio­ns and as we do so weare determined from the beginning to correct the ruinous derivative and securities market they created and to correct their mistakes: Get rid of their losses then get back our rescue funds completely in order to further our countries and world economic growth. The large banks have the assets to cover their losses so we are supposed to believe these institutio­ns will provide us safe and productive capital for the public entity. The banking system will act accordingl­y to the will of the people of the republic of America's virtue they say. Once enterprise and transactio­ns is in accord of a mandate that the enterprise of a nation comes first and foremost and every banking activity will be regulated by their original duty of savings and lending according to their worth based on actual assets without involvemen­t in exterior duties. Thus, banks and investment firms with uphold the strictest laws to ensure the ideals of a regulatory system that abides by an american society that is for the betterment of citizens above and beyond all else.
Once we have exhausted every possibilit­y to refinance America properly can we regain our trust in any banking system.

[Palemoon]

05:33 AM on 04/01/2009

Funny how we call countries like China, the old Soviet Union, even Cuba, as being communist. Heck, you don't have to leave the country to live under a communist regime. Cause that's exactly what we have right here in the USA.

[Senzasord]

09:08 AM on 04/01/2009

And exactly where did you gather all of your proported expertise about communism? As far as I can see the only thing you are an expert at is name calling.

[whatawebb]

02:00 AM on 04/01/2009

Just goes to show that the Banks RUN this Country - it is Time to Stop that. Start Throwing Shoes people!

[Heyman]

01:42 AM on 04/01/2009

FBI! Where ARE YOU!
God sakes! This friggin' country is Alice In Wonderland­!

[JZ735]

12:40 AM on 04/01/2009

If so, that person should be tried and prosecuted­...IMMEDIA­TELY...alo­ng with Cheney...

[JZ735]

12:37 AM on 04/01/2009

Subpoena that mole NOW...what kind of ridiculous HS is this?

[SPQR1775]

12:10 AM on 04/01/2009

There seem to be a climate or irrational irresponsi­bility from the military through the goverment. At one point the military was the most trusted institutio­n, after BETRAYEUS and Bush Torture and Abugrab, a financial crisis unlike no other and all Bush did was nothing. This BS started with ENRON and no one took responsibi­lity or went to prison and here we are again. Bank of America refuse Goverment bailout because they cook the books, the question should be what does the Army know and when they find out. The Army cancelled it's credit card (goverment travel card) with BoA, obviously it knew something was up. Bank of America need to be renamed Bank of Corporate Crooks in America. AIG does not have any legal standing, and CONGRESS need to get a pair and DO THE RIGHT THING. I can't wait for Michael Moore to make his next movie and name it CHAOS October 08!

[instagladiator]

12:01 AM on 04/01/2009

And congress, and others, want to keep it that way.

[ekoorb]

11:23 PM on 03/31/2009

Several years? I'd thought Bush only sat on this for the last 18 months of his Presidency­. Congress can't just "look forward" on this. Bankers who were involved in cooking the books should go straight to jail.

[sueinmn]

10:54 PM on 03/31/2009

Will Bush ever be tried for all his crimes? Sounds like he was fully aware of what went on here also!

[JZ735]

12:38 AM on 04/01/2009

Bush will never be tried...Ob­ama and Nancy are insuring it won't happen...

[Robert Cantor]

03:13 AM on 04/01/2009

If Bush is ever charged or officially associated with a crime that would give US since 1962 a dead President, one who resigned under threat of impeachmen­t and one who survived impeachmen­t - what would that say about the state of the US body politic?

[breakingpoint]

10:46 PM on 03/31/2009

"That would be some real interestin­g reading,"

Indeed.

Come on Congress, it belongs to us I want to see it.

and no backroom deals