Panel receives Timothy Geithner's call logs

The House Oversight and Government Reform committee this week received a list that will capture eyes from Wall Street to Washington.

Timothy Geithner’s call log during the tightest grips of the financial crisis show the then-New York Federal Reserve Board chairman made calls calls to U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Obama transition adviser Lee Sachs and Warren Buffet.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and former Lehman Bros. CEO Dick Fuld also spoke with Geithner. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke got calls, as did former SEC Chairman Christopher Cox and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Some of these individuals were called several times in fall 2008 as Congress executed a $700 billion bank bailout.

The 50-page document (part one, part two) obtained by POLITICO, is only a sliver of the 250,000 pages of documents that were received as part of Chairman Edolphus Towns’s subpoena for the Jan. 27 hearing.

The inquiry pits a Democratic chairman from New York — with his fiery Ranking Republican Darrell Issa of California — against a key member of the Obama administration.

The call log, which runs from Sept. 14, 2008, until Dec. 31, 2008, is likely to garner much attention both in New York and inside the Beltway.

The hearing is centering around bipartisan criticism that Geithner asked American International Group not to disclose the payment of credit-default-swap contracts — pricey insurance agreements that bet against a bank’s failure — to giant financial institutions after a bailout. Geithner has denied such claims.

Republicans, as well as plenty of critics in the financial world, will be combing through this list to see whether he had more involvement in that decision — which the New York Fed says was handled by lower-level officials — than has been acknowledged

Geithner has to be one of the more incompetent Treasury Secretaries and ex-Fed members in recent decades.

As Confuscious say: "Tis better to cultivate an image as a complete ignoramus than to face felony charges for 1st-degree tampering with public records, 1st-degree offering of a false instrument for filing, 4th-degree grand larceny, 1st-degree falsifying of official records, government fraud, collusion, establishing a slush fund for WH insiders, stealing govt money for campaigns of engangered Dems, money-laundering, tax evasion (stolen money is taxable)........which would result in substantial federal prison time without possibility of parole."

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NAILING GEITHNER Contact the IRS Criminal Investigations Division (IRS-CI) (CALLERS CAN REMAIN ANONYMOUS)
> To report suspected tax fraud activity, Tel toll-free 1-800-829-0433
> To report suspected tax law violations, Tel toll-free 1-800-829-0433

MISSION STATEMENT The IRS-CI mission is to follow the money. No matter the source, all income earned, both legal and illegal, has the potential of becoming involved in crimes. The IRS-CI utilizes the broad authority of Title 26 and 31, tax, currency reporting and forfeiture and Title 18 money laundering, conspiracy and forfeiture to identify, investigate and prosecute the most significant tax, currency and money laundering offenders; and to pursue the assets of those offenders both domestically and internationally for criminal tax and asset forfeiture purposes.

Contact the IRS when you suspect :
> Abusive Tax-exempt Non-profit Schemes
> Unscrupulous Tax Return Preparers
> Frivolous filers/non-filers who challenge the constitutionality of the American tax system
> Income Tax Evasion
> Failure to File
> Filing False Returns
> Employment Tax Cases
> Claims for Fraudulent Refunds
> Illegal Source Financial Crimes (Money obtained illegally or through fraud)
> Narcotics Related Financial Crimes
> Money Laundering

The IRS is also interested in the leadership and members of groups involved in tax, money laundering, or currency violations and persons engaged in fundraising activities using tax exempt organizations, and complex, extensive or convoluted financial transactions.

Geithner needs to answer for his role in the disastrous AIG bailout, as well as the counterparty cover-up. In September, Geithner and Hank Paulson engineered an AIG bailout in which Paulson’s firm (and one of Geithner’s patrons on the New York Fed) secretly received $13 billion of taxpayer money that no taxpayer was told about. Now that taxpayers have found out about it, they are justifiably pissed.

Can you say numbered offshore accounts, wire transfers, money laundering, government fraud?

Obama, Paulson, Geithner, where is the stimulus?

ITEM---As Treasury Secy, Henry Paulson, threatened US Senators with Martial Law if they did not vote him the $350 bailout billions. Paulson demanded the TARP be exempt from judicial, legislative, and regulatory review. $350B disappeared without a trace---and NO significant effect on the economy.

US Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) announced that Congress was not told the truth about the entire $700 billion TARP bailout. "The American people don't know how much money Treasury Secy Henry Paulson has given away to anyone. IT COULD BE TO HIS FRIENDS. We don't know. There is no way of knowing.''

ITEM Paulson stationed Neel Kaskari (his right-hand man when Paulson headed Goldman Sachs) to "oversee" $350B TARP payouts. We still do not know in which G/S rathole these two secreted the $350B.

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Documents Reveal How then-Secy Paulson Forced Banks To Take TARP Cash
The business insider | 5/14/09
FR Posted 05/14/2009 by FromLori

Remember the infamous meeting when then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson had the heads of 9 major banks come down to Washington? It was then that he made them the offer they couldn't refuse. Take TARP cash, or else!

Now Judicial Watch -- the conservative watchdog -- has uncovered secret documents via the FOIA.

The first 1-pager is Paulson's talking points for the bank. It basically confirms that he put a gun to all their heads. It says they must agree to take their cash, and that if they protested, then each bank's regulator would force them to take it anyway.

The next document is perhaps even more mindblowing.......a one-page agreement whereby each CEO agreed to let the government make its preferred stock injeciton. Both the amounts of the injection, and the name of the bank, are just handwritten scrawl. (Excerpt) Treasury Participation Commitment Read more at businessinsider.com ...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2436736/posts

Timothy Geithner warns of Ben Bernanke fallout
Politico ^ | January 24, 2010 | Mike Allen

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned that the financial markets would view a Senate rejection of Ben Bernanke’s renomination as “very troubling” but said he’s sure the embattled Federal Reserve chairman will prevail.

“We’re very confident that the chairman will be reconfirmed by the Senate, and we think it’s very important he be reconfirmed by the Senate,” Geithner said Friday in an interview at the Treasury for POLITICO’s new video series, “Inside Obama’s Washington,” debuting Monday.

“He’s done a remarkable job of helping steer this economy out of the great recession. And I think he’ll play a very important role in helping in the success of our efforts to try to make sure we are bringing this economy back to durable growth.”

Asked about possible market reaction to a defeat, Geithner said: “I think the markets would view that as a very troubling thing to the economy as a whole. But, as I said, I don’t think they should be uncertain. I think they should be confident because we are very confident he will be reconfirmed.”

Bernanke is having such a rough time, Geithner suggested, because the country is “in a moment where people are incredibly angry and frustrated by the damage this crisis caused.”

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...

http://wallstreetpit.com/13453-geithner-must-go

According to Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California, “It appears that the New York Fed deliberately pressured AIG to restrict and delay the disclosure of important information to the S.E.C.”. Not only did Geithner want to keep this information from the public, but also from fellow regulators. (Whoops, Geithner admitted he was never a regulator.) This smells fishy because it is. Geithner not only oversaw the operation but his office prohibited AIG from telling the truth about it.

In older news ...

http://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/org_nydirectors.html

Board of Directors

...

Jeffrey R. Immelt (bio) 2011
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
General Electric Company

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/29815/?ck=1

Maybe we have to start with the company whose CEO is a close financial adviser to the president of the United States, who helped write the health care bill and cap-and-trade bill and who has billions of dollars at stake: Jeffrey Immelt.

Immelt has been appointed by president to the board of directors to the New York Federal Reserve.

Geithner will remain as TSec, at least until elections, for several reasons, not the least of which is this:

If Geithner Goes, The Top Two Contenders - CNBC, 2010 January 20, by Lee Brodie

Tim Geithner will soon find himself on the hot seat again, as he’s summoned to Congress. Considering the mood in DC, could his job be on the line?
The latest storm of controversy stems from Geithner’s role involving AIG payments to banks when he headed the New York Federal Reserve. Specifically, lawmakers want to hear about his decision to pay banks in full to retire $62.1 billion in credit default swaps sold by AIG, and whether Geither disclosed information about those payments properly.
At a hearing on AIG in November, one lawmaker had called on Geithner to step down. If Geithner were to be replaced, "it would have to be someone outside Wall Street," explains Daniel Clifton of Strategas Research Partners. “The argument is that Geithner is too Wall Street.”
And although nobody is tossing their hat in the ring officially, Clifton tells the desk that insiders are whispering about a short list; and the names being floated are Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and former NJ Governor Jon Corzine.
However, Geithner probably isn't going anywhere -- at least not yet. Absent a "smoking gun" most analysts agree that the results of the inquiry won’t trigger a resignation. .....

If Geithner is forced out, it would not be because of AIG issue or pressure from Congress (though Dems on the Hill could be used by Obama to do the deed, while he is publicly wringing and washing his hands) - it would be because he is regularly a big thorn in the side of another Obama's close advisor, FDIC's Sheila Bair, and because he had the temerity to publicly question and express his disagreement with some of Obama's programs, regulations or trial balloons:

Geithner on the outs with Obama - NYP, 2010 January 24, by Mark DeCambre

Call him "Tiny" Tim.
As President Obama turns up the heat on Wall Street, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appears to have a diminished role in shaping policies pertaining to the financial sector amid talk that he has reservations about the tack that the White House is taking to try to rein in firms.
Signs that Geithner might be on the outside looking in were visible Thursday, as the Treasury secretary stood two people away from Obama while the president outlined the broad strokes of a plan that could effectively separate commercial banking from investment banking and curb consolidation in the financial-services industry.
Customarily, Geithner has been at Obama's side whenever the president discussed topics related to Wall Street. .....

That's what used to be known as Kremlinology, in the "good old days" of Cold War, when all were looking at the order of Comrades standing left and right from the Soviet leader.

The latest Kremlinology signs doesn't look good for Tim, but this is Obama's call and he'll make it for internal reasons, not because of supposed pressure from Congress.

Re Biden's family ties with Stanford's and other funds - it's probably one of the reasons why Beau Biden would not run for his father's Senate seat. Another may be this poll by a prominent and rabid Dem pollster:

Health Care BS - LEFTY POLL ANALYST PREDICTS SEVEN-SEAT SENATE LOSS FOR DEMS :

Nate Silver, a poll analyst much beloved of the Left, has some bad news for the Democrats. His latest statistical model suggests that, when the smoke clears after November’s midterms, the Democrat Senate majority will be down to 52 seats. Here’s his chart showing the statistical probability of various electoral outcomes: [chart]
In terms of individual Senate seats, Silver’s model suggests that seven Democrat seats will go Republican. Here are the statistical probabilities produced by his algorithm for those seats. The percentage to the right of each state is the statistical probability that one of its seats will flip to Republican hands:

North Dakota———-99%
Arkansas—————–73%
Nevada——————–73%
Pennylvania ———–72%
Colorado——————70%
Deleware—————–66%
Illinois——————–51%

This is, of course, highly speculative stuff. But Silver has a pretty decent track record for accuracy, and he most assuredly is not biased in favor of the GOP. Considering the stubborn refusal of the Democrats to face the grim political realities highlighted by the Massachusetts Senate election, things could turn out even worse than he predicts.

Above chart might also explain while Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) is having a sudden conference on Tuesday.

LEFTY POLL ANALYST PREDICTS SEVEN-SEAT SENATE LOSS FOR DEMS Nate Silver, a much beloved poll analyst of the Left, has some bad news for Dems. His latest statistical model suggests that, when the smoke clears after November’s midterms, the Dem Senate majority will be down to 52 seats. Here’s his chart showing the statistical probability of various electoral outcomes:

In terms of individual Senate seats, Silver’s model suggests that seven Democrat seats will go Republican. Here are the statistical probabilities produced by his algorithm for those seats. The percentage to the right of each state is the statistical probability that one of its seats will flip to Republican hands:

North Dakota———-99%
Arkansas—————–73%
Nevada——————–73%
Pennylvania ———–72%
Colorado——————70%
Delaware—————–66%
Illinois——————–51%

This is, of course, highly speculative stuff. But Silver has a pretty decent track record for accuracy, and he most assuredly is not biased in favor of the GOP. Considering the stubborn refusal of the Democrats to face the grim political realities highlighted by the Massachusetts Senate election, things could turn out even worse than he predicts.

The chart might also explain why Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) is having a sudden news conference on Tuesday (to announce she's quitting).

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