Paulson Swears He Had Nothing to Do ith Fed’s Rescue of AIG

Paulson’s calls to Goldman tested ethics (NYT) Grethchen Morgenson got copies of Hank Paulson’s call schedule via a Freedom of Information Act request. Paulson swears he had nothing to do with the Fed’s rescue of AIG and the $13 billion worth of bailout money that Goldman received for contracts it had with AIG, but he made absolutely sure to seek an “ethics waiver” to speak with Goldman CEO Blankfein on Sept 16th, the day AIG was bailed out. “At the height of the financial crisis, Mr. Paulson spoke far more often with Mr. Blankfein than any other executive, according to entries in his calendars.” 24 times between Sept 16th and Sept 21st. And that’s just on his office phone. It doesn’t include calls Paulson might have made from his cell or home phones , Reuters Blogs reports.

"Suggesting that AIG was saved for the sake of one firm is as ridiculous as saying firemen put out a fire in a skyscraper to protect just one of the thousands of people in the building," Davis said in a statement , Washington Post reports.

Goldman executives are dismissive, even defiant, when critics argue that the bank is playing a heads-we-win, tails-you-lose game with American taxpayers. And yet the questions keep coming. Last month the story of Goldman’s post-crisis success — and conspiracy theories surrounding it — leapt from the business pages to the cover of Rolling Stone , The Times reports.