Peter Haller

Ex-Goldman Employee On Issa's Staff Says He Changed Name To Honor Transylvanian Heritage

Ryan J. Reilly | August 18, 2011, 2:20PM

A staffer working for Rep. Darrell Issa's Oversight Committee on financial regulation issues has come under scrutiny by ThinkProgress for changing his name after he left his previous position at Goldman Sachs. The story implied that he changed his name three years ago to hide his background with the company.

But Peter Haller, formerly known as Peter Simonyi, said in a statement to TPM that he and his sister switched their names a few years back to respect the last wish of his grandfather to carry on his mother's family name.

His mother's father, Alfred haller-koi gr Haller, was killed by fascists in Budapest in 1944 when he tried to stop children from being conscripted into the military, Haller said.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Darrell Issa, House Oversight, Peter Haller, Peter Simonyi