Mike Stern has found some answers to the question of how, and on what terms, did “Mark Patterson, the former Goldman Sachs lobbyist who now serves as chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, [] join the administration without a waiver of the Obama Executive Order regarding former lobbyists.”

Mr. Stern’s FOIA request to Treasury turned up 2 internal memos detailing what Mr. Patterson could — and could not — work on. But this raises further questions in Mr. Stern’s mind. How did Treasury come up with its list of verboten activities? Why doesn’t the ban on Mr. Patterson’s activities encompass all the tasks he performed for Goldman Sachs, as disclosed in its Lobbying Disclosure Form?

I must add, why wasn’t this done through a publicly disclosed waiver in the first place? I’ve found it hard to get answers from Treasury about other issues related to TARP, so I wonder if this is part of a pattern of behavior.