Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner alleges in a new memoir that the White House asked him to lie during television appearances.

Geithner, who led the Treasury Department from 2009 to 2013, said Obama administration officials routinely directed his talking points ahead of interviews scheduled on Sunday morning political talk shows.

“I remember during one Roosevelt Room prep session before I appeared on the Sunday shows, I objected when Dan Pfeiffer wanted me to say Social Security didn’t contribute to the deficit,” Geithner wrote in his new memoir, “Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises.” “It wasn’t a main driver of our future deficits, but it did contribute. Pfeiffer said the line was a ‘dog whistle’ to the left, a phrase I had never heard before. He had to explain that the phrase was code to the Democratic base, signaling that we intended to protect Social Security.”

The eye-opening revelation is one of many made by Geithner in the new book, which provides a behind-the-scenes look of his decision making throughout the financial crisis.

Geithner writes that he repeatedly offered his resignation to the President after the darkest period of the recession had passed but was rebuffed by Obama.

But when Obama did finally agree with Geithner that it was time to move on, he offered the President a list of potential successors that, surprisingly, included Hillary Clinton.

“I gave the President a long list of potential replacements for me. Jack Lew, who had just replaced (Peter) Orszag as budget director, was an experienced fiscal negotiator. Erskine Bowles would have credibility with many Republicans, which would be important with a divided government,” Geithner wrote. “I even suggested asking Hillary Clinton to take her star power from State to Treasury; among her many strengths, she had an underappreciated ability to reach across the aisle.”

“Stress Test” was released Monday by Random House Large Print.