Rep. King won't return AIG money

WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., plans to keep a campaign contribution from insurance giant American International Group Inc., a spokesman for King said.

However, Rep. Mike McMahon, D-N.Y., plans to return an AIG donation to his campaign that was recorded the same day AIG received a U.S. government bailout. The Hill reported Thursday.

The Capitol Hill newspaper reported earlier Thursday that Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., planned to keep a donation from AIG, but the newspaper later removed that reference from its story.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, plans to give back at least some of the $103,900 he received from AIG in 2008, when he ran unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination. Dodd has been under fire for putting language into the stimulus bill that Republicans say authorizes AIG employee bonuses.

Revelations last weekend that AIG had paid or planned to pay some of its employees $165 million in bonuses made the company the target of public wrath.

CQMoneyline said King got an $843 contribution from the AIG Political Action Committee in September, a contribution that was recorded the day before the Federal Reserve Bank announced AIG was getting $85 billion in public funds. A spokesman for King told The Hill the congressman will not return the contribution because it was given before AIG received bailout money.

McMahon received a $1,000 donation from AIG Sept. 16, campaign finance records indicate.