Ex-car czar under fire in NY pay-for-play scandal

Former Obama car czar Steven Rattner has agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle federal charges over his role in a "pay-to-play" scandal, but says he won't be "bullied" into accepting a harsher penalty from New York authorities.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed two lawsuits Thursday accusing Rattner of paying illegal kickbacks to help his private equity firm land a $150 million investment from the state pension fund.

Cuomo is seeking at least $26 million from Rattner, and a lifetime ban from the securities industry.

Rattner said in a statement that the Securities and Exchange Commission settlement was necessary, but he "will not be bullied" by Cuomo, the state's governor-elect.

He accused Cuomo's office of letting "political considerations" get in the way of "a reasoned assessment of the facts."