New Documents Uncovered by Judicial Watch Show Congress Ignored Corruption at Fannie Mae and Freddie

[emilyg]

Washington, DC -- April 2, 2009
Congress Warned on Fannie and Freddie Misdeeds, yet Liberals in Congress Blocked Attempts to Rein in the Government Sponsored Enterprises
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that as part of its ongoing investigation of the government's role in the financial crisis it has uncovered new documents. The documents show that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even while liberals in Congress continued to block attempts to regulate the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs).

Judicial Watch obtained the documents from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated December 4, 2008. Judicial Watch requested records related to members of Congress activity regarding the policy of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase lending to individuals with poor credit risk, as well as correspondence and records about contacts between FHFA and Fannie and Freddie. Among the important documents:

FHFA letter, dated March 26, 2007, from the director of the Office of Housing Enterprise Oversight (OHFEO), James B. Lockhart, to U.S. Senators Elizabeth Dole, Chuck Hagel, Mel Martinez and John Sununu: "This is a very serious issue. Freddie Mac's inadequate systems and controls make it a significant supervisory concern. Furthermore, its lack of timely public disclosures deny market participants the essential financial information made available by all other publicly traded companies so that investors may make informed judgments." The letter also mentions, "...Fannie Mae still has not filed financial statements for 2005 and 2006 and thus

http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2009/apr/new-documents-uncovered-judicial-watch-show-congress-ignored-corruption-fannie-mae-and

[DURHAM D]

1. Bad source. Really bad source. n/t

[emilyg]

2. Not familiar with them - why bad?

[Luminous Animal]

3. A right wing org.

Did they provide any information that Dems in congress actively blocked efforts to regulate Fannie & Freddie? Or did they make that statement with hope that the reader would take it as a given.

By the way, it wouldn't surprise me if both Dems and Reps were part of the problem but I find JW's characterization of Republicans desiring to regulate but stymied by Democrats ludicrous.

[emilyg]

4. Thanks.

[Elwood P Dowd]

5. Think back to the 1990s when they tried to destroy Clinton. (nm)