Connecticut Lawmakers AIG-itated

Connecticut officials say insurance giant AIG is not cooperating with state subpoenas compelling more than a dozen executives to testify Thursday about the company's controversial retention bonuses. 

Also Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he was willing to file a lawsuit to block the bonus payments, but his legal counsel was concerned about the Connecticut law that would have allowed the execs to sue for punitive damages.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said, “The Federal Reserve never contacted me or my office concerning the applicability of the Connecticut wage law to the AIG bonuses."

Had they, he says, he would have told them that "these bonuses were not wages under the Connecticut Wage Protection statute."

Meanwhile, lawmakers are agitated that the AIG execs don't appear to be anxious to visit the state capitol.

Rep. Ryan Barry, co-chairman of the General Assembly's Banks Committee, released a statement saying he and others have been willing to accommodate the AIG employees who have expressed concerns about testifying in public because they've received death threats.

Barry says the committee is willing to have a senior AIG representative appear Thursday to explain the company's compensation and bonus practices. The lawmakers would then privately interview the subpoenaed employees as part of a Banks Committee investigation.

A call to AIG was not immediately returned Tuesday.
 

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut

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