Greenspan blows the lights out at crisis hearing

WASHINGTON — The power was out for 23 minutes at a hearing where Alan Greenspan denied responsibility for the financial crisis before a panel investigating its roots.

The Capitol Hill room went dark at 11:44 a.m., near the end of testimony from the former Federal Reserve chairman. His testimony begins three days of hearings by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

Greenspan answered a question from panel chairman Phil Angelides in the dark, then blinked in the sunlight after aides pulled back drapes.

But moments later, Greenspan shrugged and shook his head when questioned by other commissioners, signaling he couldn't hear because the microphones weren't working.

"I just want to say, Mr. Greenspan, you gave a lights-out performance," Angelides said.