The House Oversight Panel is examining whether Treasury officials tried to influence Standard & Poor's prior to its news release regarding a possible downgrade of U.S. debt.  Under Chairman Randy Neugebauer, a Republican, the panel released a trove of emails among S&P sovereign credit analysts, S&P President Deven Sharma, and senior Treasury officials - including Under Secretary Jeffrey Goldstein.

The Allegations.  The investigation centers around an incident that occurred during discussions between S&P and the Treasury regarding the rating agency's outlook review on the state of its U.S. credit rating.  The Treasury allegedly requested a draft of a press release announcing S&P's change in outlook to "negative," which the agency provided.  The draft was returned prior to its official release - although it's not clear what, if any, response from Treasury officials accompanied the returned document.  That is what the panel wants to ascertain - so as to evaluate whether members of the Obama administration attempted to unduly influence the S&P position.

The Counter.  During a hearing Wednesday, S&P President Sharma said it was standard procedure for agencies to swap press releases prior to major announcements so as to ensure that all facts are correct.  Reuters examined the emails in question and didn't find any evidence that the Treasury was annoyed or angry with the discussions leading up to the S&P's changed outlook.  The bulk of the emails concerned scheduling times to discuss the S&P credit rating.

As of now, Mr. Sharma takes the position that S&P's exchange of press releases for fact confirmation "is an appropriate process."  Representative Neugebauer has acknowledged that Sharma said it is common practice, and that piece of information will be considered by the panel before it issues its findings. 

For further details, go to:   [CNBC, 7/28/11]