Treasury Secretary's Secret Talking Points Reveal That Banks Were Forced to Surrender Ownership Stakes to Government

By Monica Gabriel / CNSNews.com | Link

Judicial Watch, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the internal Treasury Department "talking points" that were prepared for Paulson to use at his Oct. 13, 2008 meeting with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the nine banks…

"According to the treasury secretary's confidential talking points, the nine banks were not failing financial institutions that had come to the federal government in desperate need of a bailout from the taxpayers to stay in business.

"Instead, they were healthy institutions that were being compelled to surrender ownership stakes to the government in order to help the government carry out a government policy."

...

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton – in announcing release of the document – said that "despite promises of transparency as part of TARP legislation, the Treasury Department has been evasive regarding the meeting on October 13, 2008."

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Link: CNSNews.com

TAGS: Bank_of_America, Bank_of_New_York, Citigroup, Goldman_Sachs, Henry_Paulson, JP_Morgan, Morgan_Stanley, Richard Kovacevich, State_Street_Bank, TARP, Treasury_Department, Treasury_Secretary, US_Treasury, Wells Fargo