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The former Countrywide Financial Corp., whose subprime loans helped start the nation's foreclosure crisis, made hundreds of discount loans to buy influence with members of Congress, congressional staff, top government officials and executives of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, according to a House report.
The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said that the discounts — from January 1996 to June 2008, were not only aimed at gaining influence for the company but to help mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Countrywide's business depended largely on Fannie, which at the time was trying to fend off more government regulation but eventually had to come under government control.
Fannie was responsible for purchasing a large volume of Countrywide's subprime mortgages. Countrywide was taken over by Bank of America in January 2008, relieving the financial services industry and regulators from the messy task of cleaning up the bankruptcy of a company that was servicing 9 million U.S. home loans worth $1.5 trillion at a time when the nation faced a widening credit crisis, massive foreclosures and an economic downturn.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also named six current and former members of Congress who received discount loans, but all of their names had surfaced previously. Other previously mentioned names included former top executive branch officials and three chief executives of Fannie Mae........
Originally posted by xuenchen
One major U.S. Senator, Former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn was a "recipient". Dodd was famous for his efforts to pass the Dodd-Frank bill.
Mary Jane Collipriest, who was communications director for former Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, then a member of the Banking Committee.
_Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
_Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif.
_Former Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif.
Originally posted by Indigo5
Originally posted by xuenchen
One major U.S. Senator, Former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn was a "recipient". Dodd was famous for his efforts to pass the Dodd-Frank bill.
Appreciate the example, but lest folks get the idea this was a "D" scandal...
Mary Jane Collipriest, who was communications director for former Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, then a member of the Banking Committee.
_Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
_Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif.
_Former Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif.
www.huffingtonpost.com...
Influence peddling knows no political allegiance.
Originally posted by xuenchen
From what I know, there are dozens of people involved aside from these mentioned in the story.
....many Fannie Mae employees
"Friends of Angelo (FOA)" VIP program
The House Financial Services Committee plans to spend much of July focusing on the Dodd-Frank financial reform law and what committee Republicans say are the law's burdensome regulations on companies and consumers.
"With this month marking the second anniversary of passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Financial Services Committee is focusing attention throughout July on the burdens this law's 2,300 pages and more than 400 new rules layer on American companies, financial markets and consumers," committee Republicans said this week.