NU Online News Service, April 15, 4:15 p.m.EDT
|WASHINGTON–A House committee is demanding informationon whether American International Group used government money tohire outside public relations help to wage campaigns againstcritics of the government bailout of AIG.
|Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Committee onOversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to AIG yesterdaydemanding detailed data on whether public funds were used toconduct the campaign.
|The letter came after the committee received information thatoutside public relations firms were being used by AIG to discountthe criticism of Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, who was forced out asAIG chairman and chief executive officer and has been attacking AIGmanagement ever since.
|The letter arrived prior to a hearing by Mr. Towns' committeeconcerning facts surrounding AIG's troubled financial situation atwhich Mr. Greenberg testified.
|Mr. Towns' request letter was addressed to current AIG Chairmanand CEO Edward Liddy. It demanded copies of any contracts betweenAIG and two public relations firms, Burston-Marsteller and Hill& Knowlton.
|It specifically asked whether a paper titled "The GreenbergLegacy" was "authored and circulated by, or at the behest of,AIG."
|During his April 2 committee hearing appearance Mr. Greenbergheavily criticized the government's decision to pay off thecounterparties to AIG's derivatives and credit defaulttransactions. He said contracts would have allowed the firm tosimply post collateral.
|The letter said Rep. Towns "would be extremely disappointed tolearn that any of the billions of taxpayer dollars invested tosupport AIG may have been diverted to finance a public relationscampaign against critics of the AIG bailout."
|"In my view, these allegations warrant further inquiry to ensurethat federal funds are not being misused," Rep. Towns said.
|He is asking that the information and records requested in theletter, "which will aid in the committee's ongoing investigationinto the federal bailout," be delivered no later than April 28.
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