Bachmann accuses U.S. Treasury of lying about debt

WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., accused the U.S. Treasury of lying about the size of the federal debt, citing a report that it has not increased.

Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite who has announced she will not seek a fifth term next year, made the accusation Wednesday on the House floor, The Hill reported.

She said the government has kept on borrowing while the Treasury said last week that the debt was about the same as it was two months ago.

"That would be called a lie in our house. That is not acceptable to my husband and I. You don't lie to us," Bachmann said. "One thing that the federal government should never do to the people who pay the bills in this country is lie to them. And it seems to me that that's what this number is. For 56 days they're pretending that we aren't adding any debt?"

TreasuryDirect.gov, the website that allows investors to purchase T-bills and other Treasury securities online, puts the national debt at $16.738 trillion, while the report Bachmann cited gave the figure $16.699 trillion.

Bachmann said she asked Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke how the debt could stay the same while borrowing persists.

"Even though he's been the Federal Reserve chair for 10 years, he had no idea how that can happen," she said. "In fact, he didn't even know that it had happened."

The Hill did not specify what report Bachmann was referring to, or report details on the conversation she spoke of with Bernanke.