New details have emerged on how the New York Federal Reserve under Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner helped orchestrate the “backdoor bailout” of major Wall Street firms through the insurance giant AIG. The Fed’s rescue of AIG helped secretly funnel nearly $70 billion to sixteen big US and European banks. According to the New York Times, recently disclosed documents show the government forced AIG to forfeit its right to sue several major banks, including Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, for any irregularities in the mortgage securities it had insured on their behalf. The documents also suggest regulators ignored advice from their own advisers to force banks to accept losses on the AIG deals instead of paying the banks in full. One regulator personally thanked Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein for his “patience” as the Fed worked to ensure Blankfein’s company would receive taxpayer money. In a November 2008 email to Blankfein, the regulator wrote, “Thanks for understanding.” The New York Times also reports the Treasury Department’s point man on the AIG bailout, Dan Jester, was himself a former Goldman executive who at the time still owned company stock.