Two AIG executives fingered by the New York Post as recipients of blood-money bonuses personally donated to the presidential campaign of Chris Dodd, who inserted language into the stimulus package allowing for their bonuses. AIG execs Douglas Poling and Jonathan Liebergall, both of Connecticut, each donated $2,100 to Chris Dodd for President in late 2006.
The stimulus package severely limited the ability of bailout-recipients to pay bonuses. But Dodd inserted language that provided an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009,” which allowed for the AIG payouts.
Update: Glenn Greenwald reports that this narrative is totally bogus:
There is a major push underway — engineered by Obama’s Treasury officials, enabled by a mindless media, and amplified by the right-wing press — to blame Chris Dodd for the AIG bonus payments. That would be perfectly fine if it were true. But it’s completely false, and the scheme to heap the blame on him for the AIG bonus payments is based on demonstrable falsehoods.
Dodd is the biggest recipient of AIG political contributions over the past decade, taking in $280,238, about $80,000 more than the second largest recipient (George W. Bush).
