Last April, Tim Geithner held a secret, never-before-disclosed meeting with TV host Jon Stewart, according to Bloomberg, citing the Treasury Secretary's calendar.

The reason, according to a Treasury spokesperson: “Jon Stewart is influential in America, so we took the opportunity for the two to meet and to discuss the economy.”

This basically ends any debate about whether Stewart is a comedian or a newsman. Presumably Geithner thought it important that Stewart be well-informed on aspects of policy, and Stewart felt the same way.

The more paranoid would note that Stewart has skewered big banks and bailouts, and that Geithner may have wanted the comedian to see the other side of the programs Geithner architected.

Thoughts?