Ron Bloom backtracks in dispute over congressional testimony on auto bailout

Ron Bloom, the Obama administration’s former auto czar who orchestrated the bailout of General Motors Corp. in 2008, responded on Thursday to claims from lawmakers that he lied to Congress.

During a June 22 congressional hearing about the lasting implications of the bailout, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) asked Bloom if he ever said he “did this all for the unions,” a statement that Burton said came from two independent accounts. Bloom, now assistant to the president for manufacturing policy, replied at the time that he was misquoted.

Lawmakers later wrote a letter to Bloom asking him to clarify his remarks. He responded Thursday in a letter to Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Burton.

“I do not recall making the alleged comment that was the subject of Congressman Burton’s inquiry,” Bloom wrote. “Nonetheless, given the amount of time that has passed since the dinner in July of 2009 and the fact that others may have a different recollection, I cannot say with absolute certainty that I did not make the alleged comment.”

Issa’s office responded that the congressman, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, “appreciates Mr. Bloom’s reply and the revision of his account that was so clearly contradicted by other published sources.”

Bloom’s response does not bring to a close the committee’s broader investigation into the matters discussed at the hearing -- namely, some committee members’ belief that Bloom gave preferential treatment to union employees of Delphi Corp. after the bailout.