The former Democratic senator and governor from New Jersey, once a rising star in his party, endured a bipartisan grilling by members of the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday over the collapse of MF Global, the brokerage firm Corzine headed until last month.

It was not only an embarrassing chapter for this former powerhouse financier and politician, it was a dubious historical moment: Corzine is the first former senator subpoenaed in more than 100 years, according to congressional historians. Lawmakers at the hearing weren’t even sure what to call him.

“Governor or senator — I don’t know know what to call you,” joked Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) at the beginning of his question period. A somber Corzine didn’t smile. In the end, Peterson and other members addressed him as “Mr. Corzine,” although some Republicans used “Mr. Governor” as a kind of veiled insult.

Accompanied by his wife and lawyers, Corzine faced 2½ hours of tough questioning. He was asked about roughly $1.2 billion in missing customer funds that have attracted the attention of the FBI, federal prosecutors and Congress. He was questioned about whether he fired MF Global’s risk officer after that executive objected to the company’s multibillion-dollar bet on eurozone debt, and whether, as part of the “Goldman Sachs fraternity,” he helped block federal rules that would have harmed MF Global.

And lawmakers asked him whether he thought he acted in honorably and ethically during his 18 months running the firm.

For Corzine, it must have seemed like hitting bottom. There were lawmakers, some of whom have never held any other job but politician, portraying him as an incompetent, wild-eyed “risk taker” who drove MF Global into bankruptcy by betting on unsafe European debt offerings.

“How do you explain taking a 230-year company into bankruptcy within 18 months?” asked an incredulous Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio).

A contrite Corzine was forced to acknowledge that “it would have been better” if the firm had made different investments, something you would not hear from one of Tom Wolfe’s “Masters of the Universe.”

Corzine, who made as much as $400 million during his 25 years at Goldman Sachs, was even forced to admit that he lost at least $3 million of his own in MF Global, plus millions in stock options now all but worthless. Corzine has already waived his severance package from MF Global, worth about $12 million, according to media reports

With lawmakers smelling blood — albeit politely — Corzine threw himself on his sword even before he walked in the door, though he tried to shift blame for some of the alleged wrongdoing at MF Global to others.

“As the chief executive officer of MF Global, I tried to exercise my best judgment on behalf of MF Global’s customers, employees and shareholders,” Corzine said. “Once again, let me go back to where I started: I sincerely apologize, both personally and on behalf of the company, to our customers, our employees and our investors, who are bearing the brunt of the impact of the firm’s bankruptcy.”

Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Ill.), who had earlier warned about the “Goldman Sachs fraternity” and its role in MF Global’s failure, raised the issue of Corzine’s ties to Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who worked at Goldman at the same time as Corzine, and whether they played a role in MF Global’s implosion.

Johnson suggested the wealthy Corzine would be able to shrug off financial losses from MF Global’s failure while thousands of farmers are seeing their livelihoods imperiled.

“I haven’t done a net-worth analysis of individuals who have testified before this committee, but at least according to any [public] accounts, you’re a person of substantial wealth, and I congratulate you on your acquisitions,” Johnson said.

Johnson asked Corzine whether he would “pledge his personal fortune” to help cover the losses of MF Global investors. Corzine declared he would.

Corzine announced that he would not invoke the Fifth Amendment or refuse to testify, and he complained that he would have appeared voluntarily in January if allowed to do so.

But with MF Global’s demise being felt across Farm Belt states, Congress wasn’t going to allow that kind of delay wasn’t going to be allowed by Congress.

“Considering the circumstances, many people in my situation would almost certainly invoke their constitutional right to remain silent — a fundamental right that exists for the purpose of protecting the innocent,” Corzine said in a prepared statement. “Nonetheless, as a former United States senator who recognizes the importance of congressional oversight, and recognizing my position as former chief executive officer in these terrible circumstances, I believe it is appropriate that I attempt to respond to your inquiries.”

Corzine was extremely cautious in his answers, peppering his responses with phrases like “I don’t recall,” “to the best of my recollection,” “not to my knowledge,” and “it was not my intention.” Some members and staffers rolled their eyes or shook their heads as when Corzine made such statements.

“Every effort and intent in my actions was to do the right thing,” Corzine declared at one point.

Yet members weren’t buying it.

When asked by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) whether he gave anyone at MF Global permission to use customers’ funds to cover the firm’s own investment losses, Corzine hedged.

“There were people who handled the transfer of funds. I’m not one of those,” Corzine insisted. “I never intended to authorize anyone” to use customer funds. “If I did, it was a misunderstanding.”

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) said he could not believe that Corzine, with his experience running super-sophisticated Goldman Sachs, would not know that hundreds of millions in customer funds were being improperly diverted at MF Global.

“Tell me this: What did you do at this company? Was it run by the board? What did you do?” Scott asked.

“I was stunned when I was told on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011, that MF Global could not account for many hundreds of millions of dollars of client money,” Corzine said in a statement.

Corzine added, “I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date. I do not know which accounts are unreconciled or whether the unreconciled accounts were or were not subject to the segregation rules.”

Corzine said, “There were an extraordinary number of transactions during MF Global’s last few days, and I do not know, for example, whether there were operational errors at MF Global or elsewhere, or whether banks and counterparties have held onto funds that should rightfully have been returned to MF Global.”