For U.S. Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Steve LaTourette, the avalanche of newly released court documents about National City Corp. is bittersweet vindication.

The pair of Northeast Ohio congressmen loudly opposed last year's forced sale of National City, in part because the region stands to lose thousands of its 8,000 National City jobs. Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat, and LaTourette, a Bainbridge Township Republican, insisted on hearings and inquiries but couldn't undo the deal.

The court documents show all that Kucinich and LaTourette suspected, and more. Primarily, National City was forced into a low-ball sale under a deadline set by the U.S. Treasury.

"We saw it from the start, that National City could have been saved," Kucinich said Friday. "The federal government could have made it possible for National City to continue."

LaTourette agreed: "These records confirm the narrative we feared last fall, that there was a Wild West atmosphere where the regulators and Treasury did what they wanted, when they wanted, and National City was in the crosshairs.

"Regulators and Treasury played God with TARP money and strong-armed National City into a sale in a matter of days, with little concern how shareholders would fare and no regard for the thousands of jobs and lives that would be forever changed," he said.

National City might have eventually decided to sell, Kucinich said. But it could have been at a much higher price.

National City at one point was negotiating an offer of 92 cents a share. The board approved a sale for $2.23 a share to avoid possibly being seized by the government.

"Treasury set a false deadline that put extraordinary pressure on National City and forced them to sell at a point where shareholders took a great loss," Kucinich said. Shares of National City traded at $39 at their height in 2007.

"The government should never, never, never be in position of picking winners and losers. That's what happened here."