Contact: Matt Lahr

Walberg asks Paulson, Bernanke to examine recent AIG spending sprees

Walberg calls for fiscal responsibility

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Washington, Oct 20 -
Recent news reports have surfaced that executives from AIG recklessly spent money shortly after the federal government bailed the giant insurance company out, including "a $400,000 retreat at a posh California resort."

Congressman Tim Walberg, who opposed taxpayer bailouts of the financial sector, joined a delegation of members concerned about AIG’s reckless spending and sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking the two leaders to ensure taxpayer dollars were not used by AIG on these spending sprees.

Full text of the letter is below:

Dear Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke:

We write to express strong concerns about AIG’s possible misuse of federal taxpayer funds.

It has come to our attention that, after the Federal Government provided a loan of $85 billion to AIG, the AIG executives hosted a lavish $440,000 retreat at the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California. Even more troubling, the day after this was revealed to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the New York branch of the Federal Reserve announced it will borrow $37.8 billion in investment-grade securities from AIG in exchange for cash.

At a time when many of our constituents have serious concerns about their own financial security, we demand that you ensure that no taxpayer funds were used by AIG to host this retreat. If taxpayer funds were used, we demand that AIG repay the American people in full. It is crucial that the American people be able to trust the actions of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury.