What Did Geithner Not Know And When Did He Not Know It?

The topic is Tim Geithner, Dead Secretary Walking, and his knowledge of the bitterly controversial AIG bonuses.

From the WSJ live-blog of Liddy's House appearance comes this nugget confirmed by a Rush Limbaugh transcript and supported by a TIME article below:

1:47: Rep. Scott Garrett (R., N.J.) asks more about the timeline. Liddy said that talking last week to Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary, Geithner indicated he learned about the bonus issue the prior week. That appears to conflict with the timeline put forth by the Obama administration, saying Geithner only learned last Tuesday (March 10).

For completeness here is the Admin timeline with what looks like a Freudian slip by the carefully edited WaPo (my emphasis):

Last Tuesday -- March 10 -- was when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner first heard about the bonuses. The next evening Geithner spoke with AIG CEO Edward Liddy to express his dismay over the situation and tasked his legal team with finding a way not to stop the bonuses.

FWIW, the NY Times liveblogger Kate Phillips does not report the Garrett item, attributing this to Garrett at 1:49:

Shocked, Shocked? | 1:49 p.m. Isn’t it puzzling, asks Mr. Garrett, a Republican congressman from New Jersey, that an official like Mr. Geithner, the Obama administration’s new treasury secretary, expressed surprise about these contracts and executive compensation packages last week, given that he’s completely familiar with Wall Street (and with A.I.G. for that matter) and its business-as-usual practice of mega-bonuses.

Well, Liddy's answer merits more attention.  Roll the tape!

UPDATE: IF YOU CAN'T TRUST THE LEADER OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY...

Rush himself played some soundbites from the hearing, including this:

RUSH:  ...Here's the final bite.  This is Ed Liddy talking to Scott Garrett.  I just told you about this, Republican, New Jersey.  The question, "It's just puzzling to me the White House now seems to be second-guessing the decision that the Treasury secretary made if he allowed this to go forward."

LIDDY:  Yeah, I don't have a comment on that.  I talked to the Treasury secretary last week and he indicated to me that the first he had heard of this whole situation was about a week before that, so I don't know where all the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Gosh it's funny how the Times and everyone else missed that.  I can see covering for Obama but why cover for Geithner?

TRUST BUT VERIFY:  The C-Span video confirms the Rush transcript - the 24:00 minute mark is a good place to come in but Liddy's fateful words follow the 25:30 minute mark.

[BELATED CONFIRMATION:  The NY Times reports that Geithner was specifically asked about this in a March 3 Congressional hearing:

WASHINGTON — The question was direct and prescient. Representative Joseph Crowley, Democrat of New York, asked the Treasury secretary in an open hearing what could be done to stop American International Group from paying $165 million in bonuses to hundreds of employees in the very unit that had nearly destroyed the company.

Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, responded by saying that executive pay in the financial industry had gotten “out of whack” in recent years, and pledged to crack down on exorbitant pay at companies like A.I.G. that were being bailed out with billons of taxpayer dollars.

The exchange took place before the House Ways and Means Committee on March 3 — one week before Mr. Geithner claims he first learned that the failed insurance company was about to pay a round of bonuses that have since caused a political uproar.

Geithner goes on to explain that he had heard of the bonuses but not been fully briefed until March 10.  Maybe he can chat with Scooter Libby about memory issues vexing busy men.

THE TIGHTENING NEWS:  By way of the AllahPundit we learn that TIME has been told that the Fed flagged the AIG bonuses to Treasury on Feb 28, ten days before word percolated to Geithner.  What an operation - Geithner was at the NY Fed working with Hank Paulson on these bailouts, was brought to Treasury to provide continuity, and now has forgotten everything prior to Jan 20, 2009.  Geithner needs to bring on some senior staffers so he can fire someone.  Inshallah.

HECKUVA JOB, TIMMY:  The One speaks:

"I have complete confidence in Tim Geithner and my entire economic team," Obama said with Geithner at his side on the White House South Lawn.

HE HAS HIM CORNERED:  David Freddoso has the Rush bit.

FREUD IS EVERYWHERE:  I know they are a bit down on Obama just now but this reflexive Bush-bashing from the Chi Trib blog is ridiculous:

This appears to be a case where the government's right hand didn't know what the left was doing. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner learned only last week about the bonuses, according to the Bush Administration.

Yes, we all miss Ari and Dana and what's his name.  But since this is the Obama Administration let me offer an editing suggestion: "This appears to be a case where the government's left hand didn't know what the far left hand was doing".  Just trying to help.

A QUESTION TIM GEITHNER DOES NOT WANT TO BE ASKED JUST NOW:

 - Hey, Tim, how's the family?  Spending enough time with them?

ANY DAY NOW:  "That's not the Tim Geithner I knew."

COME AGAIN?  It's Ambinder versus Ambinder, all in one paragraph of a post titled "The Gloves Come Off":

This is more than tough rhetoric [He refers to Obama's teleprompter's current expressions of rage]: I take this to mean that the administration will use the AIG crisis to take a more active role than it otherwise would have. Wall Street has been waiting for the Treasury Department's plan to mitigate the poison and the credit-market-locking effect of toxic assets held by major banks. The administration's economic commanders would prefer to create public-private partnerships to remove those assets from the books of especially troubled institutions; the government and corporations would share the risks.  When Obama says explicitly - "My interest is not protecting the banks," he's scaring that capital away. Why would a hedge fund want to subject itself to the scrutiny that AIG is currently receiving?

So Obama has taken off the gloves to battle his own economic commanders?  Seems like an unfair fight - can't he just load the script in the prompter and have them fired.

On the other hand, if he means that the Administration will be taking a more active role in sowing confusion, well, mission accomplished.

WHO'S ON FIRST?  Let's try to grasp this story.  Sen. Dodd admits that, well, yes, he is in the Senate, unlike the Obama officials, and he did in fact stick in the Dodd Amendment that allowed past bonus agreements to remain in effect, thereby protecting the AIG contracts.  But he only did it in response to  pressure from Administration staffers!

Obama, for his part, affirms that he is in charge, then explains that:

"We didn't draft these contracts. But it is appropriate when you're in charge to make sure stuff doesn't happen like this," he said. "So we're going to do everything we can to fix it."

So when you're in charge is it also appropriate to communicate with your staff?  Maybe someone could set up a meeting between Obama's teleprompter and the staffer's Blackberries.

[end of thread]

Comments

[kim]

Heh, bad, more circular firing squad. The silver lining here is that now Congress has had a taste of the Axelrod touch. It's an excellent lesson.

I think Obama is going to start running into trouble with his own Democratic majority, and soon.
=========================================

[bad]

Kim, I'm trying to figure out why Pelosi thinks it sounds good to say "we were clueless about the $800,000,000,000 bill we voted for."

But hey, Washington has its own traditions.

[eaglewingz08]

If you're in charge isn't it appropriate to READ the LEGISLATION Congress places on YOUR desk, BEFORE signining IT?
Or maybe, isn't it appropriate To PLACE the LEGISLATION, on YOUR TELEPROMPTER, to READ, before SIGNING it?
Or maybe, isn't it appropriate to PLACE the LEGISLATION on the WH WEBSITE for FIVE DAYS, like Obama PROMISED during his campaign and transition SO OTHERS could ALERT the President about alleged follies and corruption like the DODD AMENDMENT?

[kim]

What particularly bugs me is that an effort was made to pass a resolution requiring 48 hours between the posting of the final copy of the bill and the vote, AND THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN. Furthermore, Obama didn't even sign it until FOUR DAYS LATER.

The good thing is that there must be dozens more such boobytraps in that bill. I'll bet people are looking hard for them now, not only those seeking to spring the booby traps, but those seeking to spring out of them. What fun! And Obama is out pleasuring himself with the morons of this world.
===========================================

[kim]

Here's a great joke for Leno. He should ask Obama if he's read the porkulus bill.
======================

[kim]

He's been phoning it in all his life. He should be able to phone in his signature. Watch him try to phone in the 3AM call. Heh.
===========================================

[clarice]

The dirty little secret is no one reads this ginormous bills anymore..They are full of errors and booby traps.

[clarice]

**these ginormous bills***