Paulson's Phone Calls to Goldman

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson contacted Goldman Chief Lloyd Blankfein many more times than he contacted other bank heads during the beginning of the financial crisis last September, The New York Times reports. Paulson, who was the head of Goldman before handing over the reins to Blankfein, obtained an ethics waver from the government to talk to Goldman executives a day after the government loaned $85 billion to AIG. AIG used the money to pay off Goldman and other banks, which could have collasped along with the insurance giant. During the week of AIG's bailout, Paulson talked to Blankfein two dozen times while speaking to Morgan Stanley's chief only 12, and Merrill Lynch's John Thain three times. Paulson spoke with Blankfein 26 times in 2007 and 2008 before receiving the ethics waiver on Sept 17. Paulson's spokeswoman said today that he had no intention of helping Goldman specifically by bailing out AIG. "Suggesting that AIG was saved for the sake of one firm is as ridiculous as saying firemen put out a fire in a skyscraper to protect just one of the thousands of people in the building," she said in a statement. Last month, Paulson was grilled by members of Congress about his relationship with Goldman.