Ever since the Federal Reserve bailed out AIG in late 2008, the true significance of the so-called Maiden Lane III component of the deal has escaped me.

For those new to my horribly "populist" interest in the Fed, the bank set up vehicles called Maiden Lane to hold the assets it bought from a number of bailed-out institutions, evidently thinking that parking dodgy assets in vehicles named after one of those dark and windy little streets in the downtown Manhattan shadows of the New York Fed was entirely appropriate.

Congress is acting like a nest of mad hornets on word that the New York Fed hid some details of AIG’s credit-default insurance payouts to big banks in late 2008.

Recall that the government was in the midst of pouring $180 billion of taxpayer bailout money into AIG at the time – and that company executives were simultaneously getting multimillion-dollar bonuses. It’s not exactly clear why NY Fed officials would actively try to keep things a secret, but it’s plain that they did, judging by an exchange of e-mail messages disclosed Thursday. The SEC was at odds with the decision and the information was released several weeks later, after things had blown over some.