Gibbs takes Fire for AIG - Obama Admin Caught in a Lie?

This was not an easy day on the job for White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who compared his treatement from the press corps today to torture.

“I would posit that the CIA should look at the process in which I'm undergoing [questioning],” Gibbs joked following 20 minutes of hard questions about the Obama administration’s handling of the large bonuses being paid out by insurance company AIG.

The briefing went on for nearly an hour; the vast majority of the questions revolved around AIG, which has received billions of bailout dollars from the government. Many were premised on the notion that President Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the administration have mishandled the revelations about the company, which have fueled populist anger and potentially lessened the president’s political capital.

Early on, Gibbs told reporters that the White House and President Obama continue to have “complete confidence” in Geithner and are unconcerned about the oversight process of the Treasury Department.

“The secretary of Treasury did as much in his legal power at the time to lessen the impact of what we all understand is outrageous,” he said, latter adding that Geithner “took extraordinary steps, based on contracts that were in existence in April of last year, in order to do all that he could to protect the taxpayer.”

Gibbs noted that the White House is seeking ways to keep the bonuses from being paid out, something that may not be possible because the bonuses were guaranteed in preexisting contracts.

That did not satisfy the White House press corps, however. Reporters noted that the administration apparently knew about the situation back in January, but that Geithner said he only found out about it last week.

“And the question is, why didn't he know about it sooner?,” one questioner asked. “Did he talk to the president about it? And why didn't the president start talking about it until, you know, yesterday and officials over the weekend?”

That was followed up with questions about whether Geithner failed to foresee the public relations problem the situation created. One reporter said “clearly somebody dropped the ball,” while another, frustrated with Gibbs’ responses, said “maybe I’m beating a dead horse here, but I’m not hearing the answer.” - CBS News

I guess it isn't as easy when you are the one taking the heat. Blast away at the people who stood before you, now you own the hot seat.