Goldman Sachs exec declares 'I did not mislead'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Goldman Sachs officials defended their conduct in the financial crisis today, flatly disputing the government's fraud allegations against the giant financial house.

"I did not mislead" investors, insisted a trading executive at the heart of the government's case.

But they ran into a wall of bipartisan wrath before a Senate panel investigating Goldman's role in the financial crisis and the Securities and Exchange Commission fraud suit against it and one of its traders.

Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan accused Goldman of making risky financial bets that "became the chips in a giant casino."

Fabrice Tourre, a 31-year-old trader at Goldman and the only company official directly accused in the SEC suit, testified that he does not recall telling investors that a Goldman hedge fund client had bought into an investment that soured.

Instead, the hedge fund, Paulson & Co., bet against the security — and profited handsomely.

"I deny - categorically - the SEC's allegation," Tourre said. "And I will defend myself in court against this false claim."