The money was loaned, not "given away". All of the emergency lending programs were announced in advance and the Fed regularly reported the total balance of the

The money was loaned, not "given away". All of the emergency lending programs were announced in advance and the Fed regularly reported the total balance of the programs. The only secret was who was getting each loan. The Fed did not want to reveal which banks were getting the loans because of the fear that the release of that information would cause those banks more problems, or even collapse. The details of who got the loans, how much, and when they repaid them was revealed because of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Bloomberg News, well in advance of this audit. This audit is not the "first-ever" GAO audit. The GAO has been doing audits of the Fed since its authority was expanded by the Federal Banking Agency Audit Act of 1978. There are some limitations on the extent of its audits. Lending to banks in a financial crisis is one of the main purposes of central banks. The Federal Reserve was established largely because of the Panic of 1907.