Obama Asks Geithner to Find Way to Rescind AIG Payouts Obama Wants to Block AIG Bonuses

President Barack Obama, trying to contain a political firestorm, instructed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to "pursue every legal avenue" to block $165 million in bonuses to American International Group Inc. executives who were in part responsible for the company's near collapse. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Monday issued subpoenas to AIG seeking the names of those employees who received bonuses at the financial-products subsidiary. AIG has informed the attorney general's office that the bonus payments were made on Friday. "This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," Mr. Obama said Monday. "Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"