Treasury responds to Issa’s invite for TARP hearing

In a statement responding to the invite, the Treasury continued to tout the program as a success, noting its shrinking price tag.

“The Secretary welcomes the Committee’s interest in our management of TARP, a successful program that was initiated under the prior administration and which [Congressional Budget Office] now estimates will cost roughly $25 billion, a fraction of what the critics once feared,” said Treasury Spokesman Steve Adamske. “We are happy to make Acting Assistant Secretary Tim Massad, the official with direct responsibility for the TARP Program, available for the quarterly updates that the Committee is planning.”

However, Adamske also said the Treasury would be pleased to have Geithner talk to the committee about TARP at “the earliest possible date that is mutually convenient.”

According to the hearing announcement, Issa’s panel plans on exploring transparency failures surrounding TARP, the Treasury’s failures to help ailing homeowners via the Home Affordable Mortgage Program, and the department’s “deceptive public statements” about the bailout of the American International Group (AIG).

But the Treasury maintains that it has been transparent on TARP. According to the department, nearly 25 percent of Geithner’s Congressional testimony has centered on the program. The department has also responded to 72 separate TARP reports, while posting hundreds of TARP-related documents online.