Legal Commentary

TARP IG Issues Scathing Report

By Big Tent Democrat

Via ZeroHedge, TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky issued a scathing 388 page report (PDF). Geithner's Treasury Department catches the brunt:

While SIGTARP offers no opinion on the appropriateness or accuracy of the valuation contained in the Retrospective, we believe that the Retrospective fails to meet basic transparency standards by failing to disclose: (1) that the new lower estimate followed a change in the methodology that Treasury previously used to calculate expected losses on its AIG investment; and (2) that Treasury would be required by its auditors to use the older, and presumably less favorable, methodology in the official audited financials statements. [. . .] This conduct has left the Treasury vulnerable to charges it has manipulated its methodology for calculating losses to present two different numbers depending on its audience [. . .] Here again, Treasury's unfortunate insensitivity to the values of transparency has led it to engage in conduct that risks further damaging public trust in the Government.

(Emphasis supplied.) There's more and worse. A stunning rebuke.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on October 25, 2010 (boomark / email).