Ex-WaMu Execs Face Congress ; Bank Defended by Former CEO

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The former CEO of Washington Mutual, the biggest U.S. bank ever to fail, today defended the bank's actions to reduce risks from the looming housing bust.

Kerry Killinger, who led the Seattle-based thrift, also argued that WaMu had adequate capital and shouldn't have been seized by the government in September 2008.

The bank "should have been given a chance to work its way through the crisis," Killinger said in testimony prepared for a hearing by a Senate panel.

Former WaMu executives were appearing today before Congress for the first time since the bank's collapse. Their testimony follows the panel's 18-month investigation, which found …