Hank Paulson may be leaving Goldman Sachs for the U.S. Treasury Department, but that doesn't mean he can escape testifying in the Dick Grasso pay package trail scheduled for October 30th of this year.

        CNBC has learned that last week, Grasso, the former Chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, sent out 20 so-called "trial subpoenas" to various Wall Street executives who also served on the NYSE board involved in the dispute over his $140 million pay package, which is the subject of a civil suit by N.Y. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. 

        Among those receiving the subpoenas was former Merrill CEO Dave Komansky, and a host of other CEOs even though his trial isn’t scheduled to begin for months. But Grasso's real target, according to people close to the case, is Paulson, who once  confirmed, will be the new Treasury Secretary replacing John Snow.

        Grasso's legal team, headed by prominent attorney Brendan Sullivan, is afraid that Paulson will claim some kind of privilege if they subpoena him after he's confirmed as Treasury Secretary. By subpoenaing him now, they believe it makes it virtually impossible for him to skip the trial.

        Paulson figures to will be a key witness for Grasso. Spitzer is seeking the return of around $100 million of the $140 million Grasso received before he was ousted as stock exchange chairman in Sept., 2003. Spitzer says the pay package violated a New York State law that says the compensation of officials at non-profits (at the time the NYSE was a non-profit corporation) must be reasonable.

        Even though Paulson led the charge to get rid of Grasso back in the summer of 2003 when the pay package first became news, in his depositions he has said good things about the former NYSE chief. He called him an A-plus CEO, and has said separately that the main reason why wanted Grasso out was because of all the bad publicity, not because Grasso was doing a bad job.

        A spokesman for Paulson had no comment on the matter, other than to say that his boss has bigger things on his plate these days, like his upcoming confirmation hearings.

Charles Gasparino - CNBC