In a letter to Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended his obscenity-laden criticism of bank regulators at a July 30 meeting for not supporting his regulatory reform plan.
GOP lawmakers have accused Geithner of attempting to bully independent agencies. In his letter, Geithner said the purpose of the meeting was only to express to regulators that they should not let their efforts to defend their agencies' turf get in the way of reform.
"I have always acknowledged, both privately and publicly, that the regulators are independent and have every right to hold and express their particular views," Geithner wrote in the letter dated Aug. 7. "While they have existing authorities that they feel compelled to protect, we have shared goals and a tremendous amount of common ground."
