A few weeks ago there was an op-ed in the New York Times saying that the key to unravelling any skulduggery that went on during the bailout of AIG is their emails and records. Now they'll get opened!

The op-ed was written by, among others, Eliot Spitzer. But don't let that put you off. It pointed out that we'd find out who gained, who messed up and lost billions, what they did to cover their asses, how generous the government was with Goldman Sachs etc. Spitzer and his co-authors Frank Partnoy and William Black argue that, as AIG was the center of the maelstrom, a dump of their documents for journalists and enthusiasts to pore over would go a long way to answering all the questions that Goldman Saches head Blankfein and co danced around in front of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission yesterday.

We won't get that. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has only subpoenaed materials between AIG and the New York Federal Reserve, according to an AP report they've asked for:

...e-mails, phone logs and meeting notes from Geithner; Stephen Friedman, who succeeded him as New York Fed president; New York Fed general counsel Thomas Baxter; and Sarah Dahlgren, the New York Fed's top manager on AIG.

The committee have also asked Geithner and Baxter to appear in front of them to answer questions about their actions in NY. Apparently it "remains unclear" whether they will appear. Or hide and obfuscate and mouth carefully parsed words as is the custom in such circumstances.