Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is due to testify in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Thursday where he will be grilled about whether he inappropriately threatened to oust Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) CEO Ken Lewis for trying to back out of buying ailing Merrill Lynch & Co. last December.
Paulson's response, according to his prepared testimony is: Yes, he sort of threatened Lewis. He said he sent Lewis a "strong message" not to abandon the Merrill takeover, indicating that such a move could cost Lewis and other bank executives their jobs. Paulson also said that the bank would have shown "a colossal lack of judgment" if it had abandoned the Merrill deal and that his remarks to Lewis were "appropriate." The fireworks started at 10:00 a.m. Listen to it live now. - Donna BlockHenry M. Paulson Jr.'s Prepared Testimony
