“House asks: Did Obama’s auto bailout chief say, ‘I did this all for the unions,'” Byron York of the Washington Examiner asks:

In September 2010, Rattner published a book entitled Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry.  He also described the dinner at Rosa Mexicano:

Such celebrations, I reminded my colleagues, are standard on Wall Street at the successful close of a deal.  But in those victories, the objective is private gain.  This victory was different.  I choked up as I spoke about our commitment to quality.  “I’ve worked with a lot of talented people in my life but never with a group smarter or more dedicated than Team Auto,” I said.  And I thanked my colleagues for the enormous sacrifices that each had made.  “In this deal, in this incarnation,” I said, “you have epitomized what it means to serve your country.”

Fortunately, after I spoke, Ron Bloom was there to lighten the mood.  “I did this all for the unions,” he jokingly declared.  Everyone laughed and the war stories began to fly…

The only difference between the two accounts is that Rattner says Bloom made the statement “jokingly.”  Readers can judge for themselves whether it was the kind of joke that is also true.  But in any event, Rattner says Bloom was joking.

Ahh, the ever-so-“unexpected” Botched Joke defense strikes once again. It’s the ultimate “liberal” Get Out of Jail Free Card.