WaPo plays CYA on Raines-Obama campaign connection

Washington Post ^ | 9/19/2008 | GVnana

[GVnana]

Here is the LEAD PARAGRAPH from a Washington Post article published July 17, 2008:

"Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself. He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case's D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters."

See FR post, "On the Outside Now": http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2085965/posts

TODAY, the Washington Post's "Fact Checker" (HA!)column by Michael Dobbs, entitled "Obama's Fannie Mae 'Connection'" makes an attempt for the world's record in backpedaling with this statement:

I asked Huslin to provide the exact circumstances of the quote. She explained that she was chatting with Raines during the photo shoot, and asked "if he was engaged at all with the Democrats' quest for the White House. He said that he had gotten a couple of calls from the Obama campaign. I asked him about what, and he said 'oh, general housing, economy issues.' ('Not mortgage/foreclosure meltdown or Fannie-specific,' I asked, and he said 'no.')"

See column here:http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/09/obamas_fannie_mae_connection.html

Can't have it both ways to suit your convenience, WaPo.

As a member of the "unwashed masses" allow me to offer my services as your fact checker.

[GVnana]

Freep 'em good.

[xcamel]

see:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086089/posts
post #8

Still laughing...

[dep]

what’s hilarious, of course, is that the washpost invokes a “fact checker” after, rather than before, publication.

[Parley Baer]

.....and the Hussien O’biden campaign did not try to correct the original story. They did not see anything wrong with it at the time. Hahahaha

[TigersEye]

Mr. Community Organizer did wonders with Federal money for low-cost housing.

Grim proving ground for Obama's housing policy

"About 99 of the units are vacant, many rendered uninhabitable by unfixed problems, such as collapsed roofs and fire damage. Mice scamper through the halls. Battered mailboxes hang open. Sewage backs up into kitchen sinks. In 2006, federal inspectors graded the condition of the complex an 11 on a 100-point scale - a score so bad the buildings now face demolition."

Explosive Video, Fannie Mae CEO calling Obama and the Dems the "Family" and "Conscience" of Fannie Mae

July 17, '08

Fannie, Freddie spent millions on lobbying

Raines, the company's former chief financial officer, Timothy Howard, and former controller Leanne Spencer were accused in a civil lawsuit of manipulating earnings over a six-year period at Fannie. Raines was appointed by Clinton, after serving as White House budget director under Clinton.

Raines' predecessor, former Fannie Mae chief James Johnson, is a prominent Democrat who was an adviser to 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and was selected by Obama to help vet his vice presidential prospects. But controversy over favorable loan deals he obtained with Countrywide Financial Corp., a bank seriously damaged by the mortgage meltdown decline, prompted him to abruptly resign that post in June.

From April '08

Former Fannie chief agrees to $24.7 million settlement

WASHINGTON — Former Fannie Mae chief Franklin Raines and two other top executives have agreed to a $31.4 million settlement with the government announced Friday over their roles in a 2004 accounting scandal.

Raines, former Fannie chief financial officer Timothy Howard and former controller Leanne Spencer were accused in a civil lawsuit in December 2006 with manipulating earnings over a six-year period at the company, the largest U.S. financer and guarantor of home mortgages.

Raines, a prominent Washington figure who was President Clinton's budget director, is relinquishing company stock options, proceeds from stock sales and other benefits. His part of the settlement is worth $24.7 million,

Tough Decision Coming August 28th '08

"Two members of Mr. Obama's political circle, James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae."

[bushfamfan]

The evidence is all there and it doesn’t look good for the WaPo and the Obama campaign. They have been fact checked and the fact is they are part of the Obama campaign. There are other connections and let us not forget the money$$$ connection! Obama and his press cohorts are about to have it come right back in their faces.

[tanknetter]

.....and the Hussien O’biden campaign did not try to correct the original story. They did not see anything wrong with it at the time. Hahahaha

And how long did Raine's wikipedia entry have him listed as an Obama advisor ... before it got scrubbed yesterday?