Hank Paulson tells Congress he threatened Ken Lewis

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he warned Bank of America (BAC) CEO Ken Lewis that regulators could remove him and other executives at the company if they pulled out of a deal to buy Merrill Lynch, he told a congressional committee investigating the deal.

Paulson told the House Oversight Committee that he "intended to deliver a strong message" to Lewis that "it would be unthinkable for Bank of America to take this destructive action for which there was no reasonable legal basis and which would show a lack of judgment."