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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner turns out to be the political target from the outrage at AIG bonuses, all three White House correspondents concluded. NBC's Chuck Todd sensed "a political storm gathering" and the "storm clouds potentially consuming" the Treasury Secretary. CBS' Chip Reid saw Geithner as "embattled." ABC's Jake Tapper (at the tail of the Jonathan Karl videostream) reported that Republicans are "calling for the head of the Treasury Secretary" while NBC's Todd saw them "setting their sights" on making the Secretary "the fall guy."
It is not clear why Geithner was being targeted. ABC's Tapper reported administration claims that neither Treasury Secretary nor President knew about the AIG bonuses until last week while the Federal Reserve Board, CEO Edward Liddy testified, was informed as early as last November. ABC's Betsy Stark stated that "it was disclosed in a variety of places:" Liddy "was very clear" that he had informed several Congressional staffers about the payments; and AIG itself had disclosed the information in SEC filings in May of 2008. ABC's Tapper quoted Barack Obama: "There is a whole bunch of folks now who are feigning outrage about these bonuses that a year ago--or two years ago or three years ago--said: 'Well, we should never meddle in these compensation plans.'" Obama, Tapper observed, "stood by Geithner literally and figuratively."
ABC's Stark suggested that everyone should calm down: "They have to keep sight of the fact that they are talking about $165m in bonuses and they have a $170bn investment to protect."
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