Treasury Department Worries Public Disclosure Of GM's Dirty Laundry Might Discourage Future Bailouts

The U.S. Treasury says confidential information it got in the bailout of General Motors Co. (GM) should stay secret, otherwise at-risk companies needing government help in the future might not be willing to share data.

The Center for Auto Safety, now researching GM’s ignition-switch defects, sued in 2011 for information the government obtained before investing $49.5 billion in the automaker. It got more than 50,000 documents and wants additional records on the U.S. role in a judge’s ban on lawsuits over older GM cars. The Treasury asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit.