Mother Jones: Davis Death Watch Begins... Now!

[maddezmom]

Davis Death Watch Begins... Now!

A half dozen news outlets have the story today of the dirty dealing of John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis. It appears Freddie Mac kept Davis' firm, Davis Manafort, on contract to the tune of $15,000 a month up until Freddie was bailed out by the federal government and its lobbying contracts were forcibly dissolved.

What did Davis and his firm do for Freddie? Nothing. He was kept around explicitly because of his proximity to McCain.

Newsweek explains that after Davis' arrangement with the Homeownership Alliance, a lobbying group funded by Freddie and Fannie that was headed by Davis and fought for less regulation, was nixed, Davis went to Freddie to get more cash.

Davis himself approached Freddie Mac in 2006 and asked for a new consulting arrangement that would allow his firm to continue to be paid. The arrangement was approved by Hollis McLoughlin, Freddie Mac's senior vice president for external relations, because " was John McCain's campaign manager and it was felt you couldn't say no," said one of the sources.
It appears Davis got paid exclusively because of his connections to McCain, who was widely perceived as running for president in a few short years. He didn't do any actual work to earn the $15,000 a month. Again, Newsweek:

Freddie Mac has had no contact with Davis Manafort other than receiving monthly invoices from the firm and paying them.

~snip~
So... Davis gets fired when?



more:http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9892_davis_death_watch.html

[ladjf]

1. Extortion? Protection? This looks bad.