A.I.G.: About That Retreat...

There has been outrage over an American International Group luxury spa retreat that took place less than a week after the Federal Reserve had to rescue the insurance giant with a $85 billion lifeline.

Even the White House has taken a stand. "It's pretty despicable," White House press secretary Dana Perino said today.

But the company says the event was "mischaracterized" in a House hearing on Tuesday.

The event was held by one of the company's subsidiaries for "independent life insurance agents, not for A.I.G. employees," The company's chief executive, Edward Liddy, said in a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Only 10 A.I.G. employees attended the event; not one was an executive from the parent company's headquarters.

Liddy also noted that the meeting was planned months before the Fed loan.

As Elizabeth Olson reported on Portfolio.com, members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee had great sport with the discovery of the weeklong retreat at the exclusive St. Regis Resort at Monarch Beach, California. Rooms at the resort can go for more than $1,000 a night.

The meeting cost about $500,000, including $23,000 on spa services, which prompted Representative Elijah Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, to contend that A.I.G. employees were "getting facials, manicures, and massages and the American people were footing the bill."

Now A.I.G. says it was wrong-footed by lawmakers.

Update: A.I.G. is planning another such event with independent brokers in northern California next week, Bloomberg News reports. About 50 A.I.G. employees are expected to attend that sales event.