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CREW Launches TARPtales.org – Monitoring All-Things TARP

by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - 03/25/09 4:08 PM ET

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is keeping tabs on the federal government’s efforts to bail out failing financial institutions.

Yesterday, we launched TARPtales.org, a new website that will serve as a central repository for the latest news, reports, and congressional hearings related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Since its inception, the taxpayer-funded, $700 billion TARP has come under criticism for a lack of transparency, oversight, and effectiveness. CREW launched TARPtales.org to both educate the public and hold the government accountable for its spending of billions of dollars in taxpayer money.

CREW also files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to ensure proper oversight over the government’s bailout efforts. After the AIG bonus scandal broke last week, we filed a FOIA request with the Department of the Treasury, questioning whether the government knew in advance that AIG intended to go forward with taxpayer-funded bonus payments. CREW also filed a FOIA request with the Federal Reserve Board, seeking the names of recipients of over $2 trillion in financial assistance that the Board has paid out over the past two years.

Check out TARPtales.org for the latest information on TARP and CREW’s efforts to hold government officials accountable to the American public.