Elizabeth Warren Makes Geithner Squirm Over AIG Counterparty Payments To Goldman Sachs

Jan 3, 2012 at 1:05 PM
DailyBail in aig, bailout, bailouts, congressional hearings, congressional video, cop, elizabeth warren, elizabeth warren, goldman sachs, tarp

Dr. Warren asks simply:

• Where did the money go?

She's referring to the $170 billion handed to AIG.  Now watch Geithner squirm.

We know where Elizabeth Warren was going with the line of questioning, and it was all about the $13 billion Government Sachs got out the back door of AIG.  Goldman and others were not mentioned specifically, but Dr. Warren framed the question so perfectly as to leave no doubt who benefited (to the tune of 100 cents on the dollar) from the taxpayer on AIG's counterparty payouts.

Warren asks the auto bondholder vs. AIG CDS counterparties question:

Turbo says:

• "You've had your whole life to study this and think it through so you know more about this than anybody.." 

But it wasn't a compliment. Fun to watch him squirm.  Still infuriating that he won't answer the freaking question.  Warren says:

• "Are you saying that you couldn't find a way to pay less than 100 cents on the dollar [with the banks], but since you could find a way with the auto industry you did [pay less than 100 cents on the dollar]?"

Turbo responds:

• "Of course not, I mean we woulda done that in a second if we coulda done that..."

Ultimately, he swung around to the old standby:

• We were working to save the financial system and bring stability to the system... and if Goldman et al. didn't get 100 cents on the dollar, well.... it would have hurt Main St. enormously, blah blah blah it was very complex, blah blah blah And we had to make a .... (wait for it)... judgement. So piss off...

Just before that, EW asked whether Treasury and the Fed were in contact with AIG counterparties before the taxpayer CDS payout.  It got super duper snippy at that point:

• "In contact about what?"  "What are you getting at?"  "I was at the Fed, you know, not at Treasury.."

I think he even resorted to using the word "premise" -- but he couldn't find a nail to hang it on.  Warren pushed him, and he just kept squirming.  Next time, try using two or three nails, Ms. Warren.

That's an exact transcription above, but I can't tell if Timmy said "No, it's not the case that we couldn't figure out how to pay less than 100 cents on the dollar," or if he said "Yes, we couldn't figure out how to do anything but give Goldman, UBS and SocGen 100 cents on the dollar."

So which is it Timmy, are you a dumbass who's never heard of negotiating, or did you just make a "judgement" to sidestep congress and give away loads of taxpayer money for free?

Well, which is it punk?

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Bonus:

Warren grills Geithner.

 

Article originally appeared on The Daily Bail (http://dailybail.com/).