Video: Sen. Levin berates Goldman execs for ‘shitty deal’

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) gave every reporter and blogger an excuse to use four-letter words in headlines today when he confronted Goldman Sachs executives with emails focused on pushing what they admitted at the time was a “shitty deal.”

The deal referred to by Sen. Levin related to a fund called Timberwolf, which plummeted in value 80% within months of being issued. Although internal emails correctly identify the fund as “shitty,” Goldman Sachs execs told sales personnel that sales of the fund were a “top priority.” Timberwolf was what is known as a “collateralized debt obligation” (CDO)- an investment rooted “not on actual home mortgage bonds but instead on those bonds’ movements.”

In the clip below, Sen. Levin grills former Goldman mortgage head Daniel Sparks on his admission that Timberwolf was shitty and that Goldman intentionally lead investors to purchase the “shitty” investment. Which, we should add, is pretty shitty in and of itself. Levin says:

“You knew it was a shitty deal and that’s what your e-mails show. How much of this shitty deal did you continue to sell to your clients?”

As you can see in the video, Sparks attempts continually to dodge the question and is reticent to repeat the term back to Levin.