A new appointment

The Treasury Department tapped James H. Lambright, head of the Export-Import Bank, as the interim chief investment officer for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Under the rescue program authorized by Congress, the Treasury Department is injecting capital into banks through equity investments and is buying distressed assets, such as mortgage-backed securities. to strengthen their balance sheets.

The bailout program is being directed by Neel Kashkari, who had been senior advisor to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. Both men came to the government from Goldman Sachs & Co., the New York investment bank.

The Treasury Department previously announced that Reuben Jeffery, a State Department official, would fill the chief investment officer post. But Paulson and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice decided Jeffery should remain in his current position in order to participate in the upcoming global summit on financial markets, which will include the leaders from 20 of the world's biggest economies.

BailoutSleuth is looking into Lambright's history, accomplishments and connections, and will report on what we find.