Bernanke says he didn’t bully bank to buy Merrill

Bernanke denied to a House committee investigating the matter that he threatened action against Bank of America’s chief executive, Kenneth Lewis, or the bank’s board members if they abandoned the takeover.

It marked Bernanke’s first public comments since the panel began an investigation this year into whether he or other government officials bullied Bank of America to stick with its plan to combine the two financial powers after Lewis learned of Merrill’s financial woes.

During the three-hour hearing, Bernanke faced skepticism and often-hostile questioning - unusual for a Fed chairman, who typically commands deference in public settings.

Republicans in particular have turned aggressive, trying to link Bernanke to the Obama administration as advocates of government meddling in private industry. Many Republicans are suspicious of the administration’s plan to expand the Fed’s power.

Bernanke is a Republican appointee, and many of his key advocates are Democrats. And it comes at a pivotal time: Bernanke’s term expires early next year, and President Obama will have to decide whether to pick his own Fed chief or reappoint Bernanke.

Earlier this month, Lewis testified his job had been threatened after he expressed second thoughts about the deal. Lewis said then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other federal regulators made clear that if Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. reneged on its promise, he and the bank’s board members would be ousted.

But in his testimony yesterday, Bernanke said he never told the executives the Fed would punish them or the bank’s board if they tried to stop the deal. And he said he never told anyone else to send such a message.

Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah, said of Bernanke’s denial that he threatened Lewis’ job: “With all due respect, I’m just not buying that.’’