Report: Federal Reserve informed Treasury staffers of AIG bonuses earlier than Geithner claimed.

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders that he did not learn of AIG’s plans to award $160 billion in retention bonuses to employees in its “troubled” financial products division until March 10. But as Time magazine reports today, the New York Federal Reserve “informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on February 28,” at least 10 days “before Treasury staffers say they first learned ‘full details’ of the bonus plan, and three days before the Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG.” Time explains that “the fault [for the delay] appears to lie with career staffers at the department who failed to report the imminent bonus deadline up the chain to Geithner.”