Sen. Bob Graham says he never tried to delay the government seizure of CenTrust Bank, whose failure led to a record $1.7 billion bailout.

NBC reported Monday that Graham's special counsel Steve Josias arranged a 1987 meeting between banking regulators and CenTrust lawyers and used his position at the senator's office to bring pressure on regulators looking into the thrift.Graham, a Democrat and member of the Senate's powerful Banking Committee, said he first learned in March about the meeting. The senator said it was "bad judgment" for his aide - who had done legal work for the thrift - to attend.

But he said, "I would say categorically, (my office) did not have any effect on any action by federal regulators that would have affected their decisions."

Josias, who served as special counsel to Graham for six months and whose law firm had handled some real estate matters for CenTrust, called the NBC allegations "ludicrous."

He said he merely convened the meeting with regulators from the Federal Home Loan Bank Board at the request of CenTrust officials who felt government officials were failing to respond to questions on regulatory procedures.

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But Josias admitted he should have told all concerned about his firm's work for CenTrust.

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