Goldman's Gary Cohn to Testify Before Congress

Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein has served as Congress’ whipping boy in hours of testimony in congressional hearings about how the mortgage crisis of 2008 happened. Wednesday, another executive will suffer the klieg lights. Gary Cohn, Goldman’s No. 2, will testify before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission about the role of derivatives in the crisis. Meanwhile, The New York Times looks at documents that "suggest that regulators were overly punitive toward AIG and overly forgiving of banks during the bailout." The Times also says that "executives and shareholders are asking whether AIG may have been misled by Goldman into insuring mortgage deals that the bank and others may have known were flawed." Goldman's Cohn has done his fair share of damage control for his firm since the SEC sued it for fraud in April, but his maneuverings have been behind the scenes, meeting nervous clients. Cohn, 49, is known for having little patience for long meetings and deliberately keeping a low profile—two traits sure to cause a bit of friction in the hearings.