DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
President Barack Obama has confidence in Steven Rattner, head of
his administration's task force on the U.S. auto industry, who has
been linked to an investigation of a pension kickback scheme,
Reuters quoted a White House spokesman as saying Friday.
"He's not accused of doing any wrongdoing and he's not likely to
face any criminal or civil charges as it relates to this. And the
pending investigation was something that he brought up to us,"
spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One
accompanying Obama on his trip to Trinidad for the Summit of the
Americas.
Asked if Obama has confidence in Rattner, Gibbs answered, "Yes,"
adding that he doesn't expect the revelations to impair
administration efforts to restructure the auto sector.
As reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal, citing a person
familiar with the matter, Rattner is among executives named in a
Securities and Exchange Commission complaint regarding payments
under scrutiny in a probe of an alleged scheme involving New York
state's pension fund.
Web site: www.reuters.com
-Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5500