TPMDC Financial Crisis: May 2010
Financial Crisis
Paulson Spox, Fratto Hit Back Against Pelosi Financial Crisis Allegations
Hank Paulson
Michele Davis, spokeswoman for former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, now emails to say there was no pressure from the White House to keep crucial information about the looming financial crisis from Congress.
"[N]o one at Treasury ever felt in any way constrained by the White House from communicating with the Congress," she writes.
More adamantly, Tony Fratto, who served as Deputy Press Secretary to President George W. Bush, says Pelosi's claim is inaccurate. "No one was barred from briefing Congress," he emails. "Congressional leaders were briefed, at President Bush's direction, right after he was briefed. It's pretty clear from every account of that week that Paulson, Bernanke and Geithner were trying to prevent what eventually ensued. As soon as the fallout was clear -- and, in fact, in ways no one anticipated (like the money markets breaking the buck), they went first to the President, and then directly to congressional leaders."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (43) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Financial Crisis, Hank Paulson, Nancy Pelosi, Tony Fratto
Financial Crisis
Pelosi: Bush Admin Barred Officials From Briefing Congress On Impending Financial Crisis in Fall 2008
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks alongside Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
Nearly two years after the Wall Street meltdown drove the U.S. economy to the brink of collapse, and forced the U.S. government to prop up major financial institutions with hundreds of billions of dollars, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now claims that the Bush Administration prohibited its own top officials who were handling the emerging crisis from briefing Congress until a complete financial collapse was only hours away.
In little-noticed statements to reporters over the last few weeks, Pelosi has alleged that the Bush administration knew well in advance of its intervention that the financial crisis would hit, and that Congress would need to authorize a historic and unpopular bailout - but that top officials, including then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, told her that they had been barred from briefing Congress about true extent of the crisis.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (131) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)Topics: Bailout, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, Financial Crisis, George W. Bush, Hank Paulson, Nancy Pelosi, Republicans, TARP
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