Will Obama’s Chief of Staff Return Money From Stock Options ...from... Freddie Mac ?

Flopping Aces ^ | Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 8:07 am | Mike's America

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Will Obama’s Chief of Staff Return Money From Stock Options He Got While Helping to Drive Freddie Mac Into the Ground?

The Chicago Trib reports how Rahm Emanuel scored big at Freddie Mac!

The collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were key elements in the financial meltdown of 2008. It’s no secret that Democrats under Bill Clinton had used both organizations as personal piggybanks to reward loyal friends. Note: President Bush put a stop to such gross patronage during his Administration.

We all know about the tens of millions in bonuses Fannie Mae paid to Franklin Raines, former Clinton White House Budget Director and Jamie Gorelick, former Clinton Deputy Attorney General. (So far no angry ACORN protests outside their palatial homes and no demand by Democrats in Congress that the money be returned).

But what continues to go largely unreported is the role that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel played at Freddie Mac and the compensation he earned for showing up for board meetings six times a year. Later, as a candidate for congress Emanuel received more in campaign contributions from Freddie Mac than any other candidate.

Rahm Emanuel’s profitable stint at mortgage giant
By Bob Secter and Andrew Zajac

Chicago Tribune
March 26, 2009

…Because of Freddie Mac’s federal charter, the board in Emanuel’s day was a hybrid of directors elected by shareholders and those appointed by the president.

In his final year in office, Clinton tapped three close pals: Emanuel, Washington lobbyist and golfing partner James Free, and Harold Ickes, a former White House aide instrumental in securing the election of Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate. Free’s appointment was good for four months, and Ickes’ only three months.
…
Freddie Mac board did most of its work in committees. Yet proxy statements that detailed committee assignments showed none for Emanuel, Free or Ickes during the time they served in 2000 or 2001. Most other directors carried two committee assignments each.
…
[B]uried deep in corporate and government documents on the Freddie Mac Freddie Mac scandal is a little-known and very different story involving Emanuel.

He was named to the Freddie Mac board in February 2000 by Clinton, whom Emanuel had served as White House political director and vocal defender during the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals.

The board met no more than six times a year. Unlike most fellow directors, Emanuel was not assigned to any of the board’s working committees, according to company proxy statements. Immediately upon joining the board, Emanuel and other new directors qualified for $380,000 in stock and options plus a $20,000 annual fee, records indicate.

On Emanuel’s watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass.

The accounting scandal wasn’t the only one that brewed during Emanuel’s tenure.

[lilylangtree]

Damn! A bunch of crooks running this country. Egads!

[Velveeta]

btt

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest. Sounds like a trick question. Another one — will he actually pay taxes on the money he made?

[dr_who]

Kleptocracy.

[Conspiracy Guy]

It was just an honest mistake. At least he didn’t say anything racist. < sarcasm>

[Marine_Uncle]

So Rahm Emanuel is simply a crook, a common criminal by nature and act.

[CRBDeuce]

filed under: how to evade taxes legally....if you’re from Chicago....Democrat....have your own army.....are a puppetmaster for a US president. It’s a fairly small file.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

And nobody went to Jail ???,,,:0/,,,Ya’Rite!!!

[Candor7]

Yes, Freddie and Fannie mangagers were at the root of the Financial crisis. And the Dems are caterwalling and pointing their shite covered fingers at Wall Street Bankers. Talk about diverting attention away from the real crooks!

Its a riot!

The foudation of the crisis rests with the Senators of 5 states which had the fannie / freddie subprime mortgage rails greased with Dem/RINO porkers:

Florida,Wisconsin, Colorado,Arizona,Nevada.

Harry Reid and McCain were in the thick of it.

Those states represent the crux of the mortgage crisis, with Nevada havinga 48% residential mortgage default rate. Harry has this all over him, he is covered in stink.So is McCain.

This is why the Dem party is gonna get those "nasty" bankers!

The fault rests squarely with 10 Senators who pushed the subprime mortgage fiasco in their respective states.Harry Reid is the worst of them. They did this by pushing banks to get on the Fannie Freddie subprime wagon, and the Fannie /Freddies made banks take the "bad" mortgages in order to get the good ones. Oone can hardly blame "Wall Street."

Of course these senators will not be held "accountable." If the truth were widely known, they would be turfed from office.

Solve the mortgagage crisis in those 5 states, and there would be no mortgage crisis. Solve it by getting rid of the Senators who pushed it.

Then close down Fannie/Freddie, and set up a new agency without any political input anywhere, and for heavens sakes, Get rid of Barney Franks.He and his live in Fannie / Freddie Mgr. lover were responsible for a great part of the mess.

Yes indeedy. Get those Bankers, the dirty rats. LOL.

The same kind of sub prime mortgages continue to be written as we speak.

[Wisconsinlady]

Sadly not the GOP we used to know.

[Chgogal]

BTTT!!!!

[Chgogal]

From the archives..........

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1806555/posts?page=27#27

[GOPJ]

bttt

[GOPJ]

We all know about the tens of millions in bonuses Fannie Mae paid to Franklin Raines, former Clinton White House Budget Director and Jamie Gorelick, former Clinton Deputy Attorney General. (So far no angry ACORN protests outside their palatial homes and no demand by Democrats in Congress that the money be returned).

Is there a post dealing with JUST this subject?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Did some searching...did find this thread:

GOP rep says Fannie Mae exec got loan perks (Anyone surprised?)

And there is this at Slate:

Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines
Don't blame him for the mortgage giant's scandal … yet.

************************EXCERPT**********************

By Henry BlodgetPosted Thursday, Oct. 7, 2004, at 5:57 PM ET

On Wednesday, when Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines appeared before a House subcommittee to address allegations that he and his finance team had cooked the mortgage giant's books, he had three choices: One, he could do what other CEOs have done—take the Fifth (a prudent legal tactic, even for the innocent, albeit wimpy and unsatisfying). Two, he could claim he was shocked to discover that his finance department was staffed by hoodlums (also typical, even less admirable). Three, he could stand behind the accounting, his team, and his company, explain the decisions, and suggest that the allegations were wrong.

Raines chose option No. 3, which increased his personal risk and raised a for-now unanswerable question: Is he the perpetrator of an accounting crime, the target of a political witch hunt, or the victim of an overzealous bureaucracy?

The subcommittee collared Raines after Fannie Mae's regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (or OFHEO), published a 211-page diatribe citing a litany of sins: "pervasive and willful" earnings manipulation, lax controls, perverse incentives, unjust bonuses. The press pounced, likening Fannie Mae to Enron, calling for Raines' head. The Securities and Exchange Commission launched an inquiry, the Justice Department a criminal investigation.

[GOPJ]

Thanks Ernest.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I just saw this:

Freddie Mac records exempt from FOIA (Obama Admin Denies FOIA Request)

[CPT Clay]

Bump

[GOPJ]

Silence on this stuff in the media. They should be raising hell with all this corruption!!!

Has the MSM sold out so completely that there's no room for this kind of story?