Perry: I'd Fire Geithner, Bernanke Over New Bailout Figures

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry says that, if elected, he would ask for the resignations of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. And he’d fire them if they didn’t agree to quit.

The Texas governor made the strong statements during an interview with Iowa radio station WHO on Monday in response to the revelation that the Federal Reserve bank bailouts totaled $7.77 trillion, a figure that had not been released previously, according to the National Journal.

Bloomberg Markets magazine reported on Monday that the Fed paid out $1.2 trillion to banks on one day, Dec. 5, 2008. The dollar amounts and the names of the banks receiving the bailouts were not disclosed at the time, even to members of Congress.

“I’m not a lawyer to begin with,” Perry said. “I’m sure not a criminal lawyer, but as an American citizen, I consider that criminal.”