Probe Clouds Star Turn For Auto Negotiator Rattner

DAVID B. CARUSO

NEW YORK (AP) — Steven Rattner had but one assignment when the president brought him to Washington in February. But it was a big one: Save the American auto industry.

The job has consumed the 56-year-old investment banker. Working long days out of a basement office in the Treasury, the task force Rattner leads with former steelworkers official Ron Bloom has orchestrated near-complete overhauls of two of the nation's most storied companies, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

The stakes are high, but so is the potential prize. Along with potentially saving thousands of jobs, Rattner, whose career already includes star turns as a New York Times reporter, Wall Street brainiac and Democratic Party fundraiser, could be in line for a permanent place in the administration and maybe in U.S. history.

And yet, his big moment has occurred under a cloud. Back home in New York, Rattner has emerged as a player in an influence peddling scandal involving a giant state pension fund that provides retirement benefits for more than 1 million government employees.

The case has already led to criminal charges against six people, including the retirement system's former top investment official.