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Top Wall Street Execs Have Direct Line to Geithner

Treasury chief's calendars show frequent contact with big players

By the Associated Press

Posted Oct 8, 2009 6:22 PM CDT

(AP) – A look at Timothy Geithner's phone calendars show the Treasury secretary has maintained close ties with Wall Street executives he has known for years. Executives at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Citigroup can reach the nation's most powerful economic official at will. While there's nothing inherently wrong with keeping tabs on the market's biggest players, the calendars could offer fodder for critics who say Geithner is too close to firms he helped bail out.

In the first seven months of Geithner's tenure, his calendars reflect at least 80 contacts with Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein, JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon, and Citigroup's Richard Parsons and Vikram Pandit. (Bank of America and Morgan Stanley execs appear only six times in total.) Geithner had more contacts with Citigroup than with Barney Frank, who leads the effort to approve Geithner's overhaul. And his contacts with Blankfein alone outnumber his contacts with Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

In this March 27, 2009, file photo, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, left, and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein leave the White House.
In this March 27, 2009, file photo, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, left, and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein leave the White House.   (Evan Vucci)
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.   (Susan Walsh)
In this Sept. 25, 2009, file photo, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner talks on his cell phone during President Barack Obama's news conference at the conclusion of the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh.
In this Sept. 25, 2009, file photo, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner talks on his cell phone during President Barack Obama's news conference at the conclusion of the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh.   (Gerald Herbert)
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They're people he has relationships with and who he can trust. There's only so much time in the day and you can only talk to so many people. You choose the people whose point of view you value.
- Taylor Griffin, former Treasury Department spokesman

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
brawne
Oct 9, 2009 12:35 PM CDT
Nooooooo! I can't stop myself. I don't want to do it, but I'm too weak--- It shows much better judgment to be able to spell judgment. I'm appalled by my own pettiness.
brawne
Oct 9, 2009 12:27 PM CDT
You are so right piyrwq. I think Karl Marx said it best--socialism is when the government takes money from the people and gives banks 100 pennies back for every dollar they lost, and you the people can suck an egg on your loses. Hate that redistributing the wealth. :)
RobN
Oct 9, 2009 12:17 PM CDT
Isn't this kinda his job? And you can't fault a man for not wanting too much contact with Barney Frank. That just shows good judgement.

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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