A House committee is looking into Treasury Secretary Tim Giethner's role in sending billions of dollars in bailout money to big banks while he was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

A subpoeana from the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee demands Geithner's e-mails, phone logs, and meeting notes during the American International Group bailout.

Geithner and other Fed leaders made the decision to pay off business partners of AIG, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Lawmakers question why Geithner did not seek concessions from the big banks and why the payoffs were kept secret.

The Obama administration and the New York Federal Reserve Bank have said Geithner was not aware of any e-mailed advice by lawyers of the New York Fed to AIG to limit information about payments it was making to banks on derivatives contracts.

Giethner has also been invited to testify before the committee.