The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is demanding that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York turn over its records about the bailout of the American International Group, particularly those involving billions of dollars in payments made to A.I.G.’s trading partners.
The committee’s Democratic chairman, Representative Edolphus Towns of New York, said Tuesday afternoon that he was issuing a subpoena for the records as part of the panel’s investigation into why the New York Fed told A.I.G. not to disclose that its counterparties were being paid 100 cents on the dollar to unwind tens of billions of dollars in derivatives.
“This subpoena will provide the committee with documents that will shed light on how and why taxpayer dollars were used for a backdoor bailout,” Mr. Towns said in a statement.
Last week, the committee asked Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to testify about the New York Fed’s role in the A.I.G. bailout. Mr. Geithner was president of the New York Fed in late 2008 when it told A.I.G. not to disclose the payments.
Mr. Towns is planning a committee hearing next week on the New York Fed’s role in the A.I.G. bailout. The House Oversight Committee has been investigating the A.I.G. bailout since early last year.
Earlier Tuesday, Representative Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the committee, said the government must hold someone responsible for how the New York Fed dealt with A.I.G. He indicated that someone was Mr. Geithner. “If not Tim Geithner, then who?” Mr. Issa told Bloomberg Television.
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