Following revelations that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York instructed AIG not to do full disclosure of its swap deals with the big banks, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Edolphus Towns, has formally subpoenaed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for information relating to the AIG bailout. (Town’s statement is here.)

What is rather surprising is the level of arrogance involved in the bank’s response, where they say that, “We will work with the committee to provide relevant information as appropriate.”

No, that’s not how it works: When you get a subpoena, you don’t provide information that you deem “relevant” or appropriate, you turn over what they are demanding. That’s the definition of a subpoena, and so you turn over what is demanded.

The folks at Zero hedge have the full text of the subpoena:

All documents in the possession, custody, or control of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, relating to AIG credit default swap counterparty payments, the decision to compensate AIGs credit default swap counterparties at par, and public disclosure of the counterparty payments, including:

• Emails, phone logs, and meeting notes of the following people: Timothy Geithner, Stephen Friedman, Thomas Baxter, and Sarah Dahlgren;
• Term sheets, including drafts, relating to AIG’s payments to its CDS counterparties; and
• Emails, phone logs, and meeting notes relating to public disclosure of AIG’s payments to its CDS counterparties, including disclosure to the SEC.

(emphasis mine)

I think (hope) that Geithner is screwed. This specifically includes Geithner’s emails and phone logs as well.

If they disclose, he gets shown to be hip deep in a possibly illegal bailout, or completely incompetent, and if they stonewall, he has no credibility.

Unfortunately, I see Geithner’s trajectory mirroring that of Rumsfeld: He only gets fired only after a disastrous mid-term election.