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House Democrats have postponed until after the election a hearing to investigate the role of hedge funds in the credit meltdown to accommodate witnesses, who include billionaire financier George Soros. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced late Friday that its hearing on hedge funds would include Soros, a major Democratic financial backer. At the same time, it announced that the Oct 16 hearing would be rescheduled for Nov. 13.A statement from the committee said, “the committee has postponed the hearing in order to accommodate the schedules of witnesses.” Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman is holding a series of hearings to look into the causes of the instability plaguing markets and freezing lending across the country and around the world. Earlier this week, he grilled the former CEOs of Lehman Brothers, which is in bankruptcy, and American International Group, which got an $80 billion federal bailout.
Waxman has also indicated he’ll look into the bailout of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. During the debate about the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout plan, Soros floated a plan for government funds to be used to recapitalize the American banking system by purchasing equity in banks and investment firms. Other witnesses for the Nov. 13 hearing include: John A. Paulson, president, Paulson & Co., Inc; Philip A. Falcone, senior managing director, Harbinger Capital Partners; James Simons, president, Renaissance Technologies, LLC; and Kenneth C. Griffin, chief executive officer and president, Citadel Investment Group
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