CNBC Interview - Transcript
Interview
CNBC Interview - Transcript
CNBC Interview With Rep. Darrell Issa
Subject: Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke Interviewers: Erin Burnett, Steve Liesman
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MS. BURNETT: Good to have you with us, sir.
REP. ISSA: Thank you.
MS. BURNETT: And let me just get straight to the point here. Your statement says the Federal Reserve engaged in a cover-up and deliberately hid concerns and details regarding the merger from other federal regulatory agencies.
How do you know this?
REP. ISSA: Well, we found it. We can make the background material available. Obviously, this is a question we're going to have tomorrow and beyond. We're very concerned that now as we've gone from Ken Lewis to the next step and eventually to former Secretary Paulson that what we see is threats being made in private, cover-up of the concerns in order to get the deal done. That's exactly what we don't let the private sector do. We can't tolerate government officials using their power to do.
We stand by the statement we hope that we'll be vindicated all throughout the process as we ask our witnesses to answer some tough questions.
MS. BURNETT: Who did the threats? I mean, your statement did not mention Ben Bernanke by name.
REP. ISSA: Well, we believe that, well, we believe in questioning he's going to have to answer for his role. I don't want to pre-suppose how he'll answer or not answer, but yes, we think that he overstepped and used his position to support both he and Paulson's attempt to make this happen.
You know, there's nothing wrong with the deal as it turns out, but there is something wrong with interfering with businesses making normal due diligence and informing their stockholders and this was the first hearings real crux was -- Ken Lewis is on the hot seat because when he was threatened, should he have told his stockholders? He certainly feared to tell his stockholders and his board he was being threatened, but ultimately, that taints the whole merger in this case.
MS. BURNETT: Steve?
MR. LIESMAN: Representative Issa?
REP. ISSA: Yes.
MR. LIESMAN: Cover-up is a very strong word. My first question is this: Do you mean an illegal cover-up?
REP. ISSA: At this point, we're saying fail to disclose. Certainly, as we take additional witnesses, we expect to have honest answers and at that point, I would say that the failure to disclose will turn into a fair and full disclosure.
MR. LIESMAN: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Representative. The memo I have from your office says the word, cover-up. Do you not mean that with the memo that you wrote?
REP. ISSA: Well, certainly, as Ken Lewis was on the hot seat, we're seeing that there was a failure to disclose.
MR. LIESMAN: Okay.
REP. ISSA: We think it goes to the level of a cover-up because we think that they made a conscious decision not to make these facts known.
MR. LIESMAN: When you say cover-up, do you mean the failure to tell the SEC, the failure to tell the OCC as is detailed in the minority memo that has now been made public?
REP. ISSA: That is correct. Erin?
MS. BURNETT: Representative Issa, you realize by what you're saying here that, I mean, potentially, we are talking about something which could go all the way to the top of the Fed, I know I keep coming back to this. But Ben Bernanke, it's his credibility; he has said that he didn't pressure them. This is his job on the line, I mean, you realize this and wrote this and used the word, cover-up, with full knowledge of that.
REP. ISSA: And we did. You know, not pressuring is a pretty strong statement because the evidence is that he was part of the pressuring of Ken Lewis. So you go back to that same point. He's going to have to answer the tough questions of how he defines pressuring just as Ken Lewis had to answer the question of whether when he was threatened, he felt threatened and you saw that being --
MR. LIESMAN: Should he be disqualified? Should he be disqualified from being re-appointed by President Obama do you think, Representative?
REP. ISSA: We have seen in retrospect that nobody should saw what was coming in this wreck. The fact is that Bernanke has to be held accountable for how he handled this wreck, both publicly and privately, and right now, there's serious doubt about whether privately he, in fact, handled it correctly.
MS. BURNETT: Representative Issa, thank you very much.
REP. ISSA: You're very welcome.
MS. BURNETT: We appreciate you taking the time answering our questions and we'll continue, obviously, to very closely follow this story.
END.
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