OMG, this is rich

[ProSense]

Jane Hamsher and Grover Norquist are trying to revive something that has already been investigated, with hearings held during the Republican-controlled 108th Congress by the House SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, TRADE, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION when guess who was chair?

:rofl:

FREDDIE MAC: ACCOUNTING STANDARDS ISSUES RAISED IN THE DOTY REPORT

And it was already investigated:

Freddie Mac Misrepresented Income, Says SEC

[babylonsister]

1. She's sounding like Orly more and more to me, on the hunt! nt

[jefferson_dem]

3. My intial thought. Hamsher and Taitz...Separated at birth.

Hamsher -

Taitz -

[grantcart]

8. I wonder if Hamsher also does cavaties

[butterfly77]

5. My thoughts exactly..

[vaberella]

2. Perfect example of faux outrage.

You see...at this point I'm suspecting people are realizing it's more lucrative to manufacture the outrage so they get a platform to yell. I saw this in Jonathan Turley situation until he was thrown by his own crap with his statements on S.C.J. Sotomayor.

[firedupdem]

4. Teabagger jane......idiot n/t

[ProSense]

6. Where is everyone? n/t

[Phx_Dem]

7. What can you say about Jane, except that she's insane. n/t

[azmouse]

9. K&R

[ipaint]

10. No that's not it.

Ed Kelly , the inspector general was conducting an investigation into fannie and freddie and their part of the housing mess, which of course leads directly to Rahm's time on the board in 2000 and 2001, when Obama up and fired Kelly as IG, demoting him to an auditor. Obama also denied a freedom of information request by the chicago tribune to take a look at the minutes of the freddie board when Rahm was on it. He claimed it was commercial info even though it was federal government entity when rahm was on the board.
Rahm "can't remember" what happened when he was on the board.

Obama was able to demote Kelly because of a loophole in a law written and co-sponsored by none other than Rahm, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
Obama never replaced the fired inspector general, 16 months and counting and lo and behold on christmas eve gave fannie and freddie a blank check for bailouts through 2012. Fannie and freddie are responsible for 6 trillion in loans.

No inspector general, no oversight, no accountability, no congress, no FOIA.



From Jane's letter:

"We write to demand an immediate investigation into the activities of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. We believe there is an abundant public record which establishes that the actions of the White House have blocked any investigation into his activities while on the board of Freddie Mac from 2000-2001, and facilitated the cover up of potential malfeasance until the 10-year statute of limitations has run out.

The New York Times reports that the administration is negotiating to double the commitments to Fannie and Freddie for a total of $800 billion by December 31, in order to avoid the congressional approval that would be needed after that date. But there currently is no Inspector General exercising independent oversight of these entities. Acting Inspector General Ed Kelly was stripped of his authority earlier this year by the Justice Department, relying on a loophole in a bill Mr. Emanuel cosponsored and pushed through Congress shortly before he left for the White House. This effectively ended Mr. Kelly’s investigation into what happened at Fannie and Freddie.
Since that time, despite multiple warnings by Congress that having no independent Inspector General for a federal agency that oversees $6 trillion in mortgages is a serious oversight, the White House has not appointed one.

We recognize that these are extremely serious accusations, but the stonewalling by Mr. Emanuel and the White House has left us with no other redress. A 2003 report by Freddie Mac’s regulator indicated that Freddie Mac executives had informed the board of their intention to misstate the earnings to insure their own bonuses during the time Mr. Emanuel was a director. But the White House refused to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request from the Chicago Tribune for those board minutes on the grounds that Freddie Mac was a “commercial” entity, even though it was wholly owned by the government at the time the request was made.

...Before the White House commits any more money to Fannie and Freddie, we call on the Public Integrity Section in the Justice Department to begin an investigation into the cause of Fannie and Freddie’s conservatorship, into Rahm Emanuel’s activities on the board of Freddie Mac (including any violations of his fiduciary duties to shareholders), into the decision-making behind the continued vacancy of Fannie and Freddie’s Inspector General post, and into potential public corruption by Rahm Emanuel in connection with his time in Congress, in the White House, and on the board of Freddie Mac.

http://firedoglake.com/2009/12/23/jane-hamsher-grover-norquist-call-for-rahm-emmanuel%E2%80%99s-resignation/

The Public Integrity Section-
The Public Integrity Section oversees the federal effort to combat corruption through the prosecution of elected and appointed public officials at all levels of government. The Section has exclusive jurisdiction over allegations of criminal misconduct on the part of federal judges and also monitors the investigation and prosecution of election and conflict of interest crimes. Section attorneys prosecute selected cases against federal, state, and local officials, and are available as a source of advice and expertise to other prosecutors and investigators. Since 1978, the Section has supervised the administration of the Independent Counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act.

http://www.justice.gov/criminal/pin/



A bit of background about Rahm's time spent on the freddie board-

Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant

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.

During his brief time on the board, the company hatched a plan to enhance its political muscle. That scheme, also reviewed by the board, led to a record $3.8 million fine from the Federal Election Commission for illegally using corporate resources to host fundraisers for politicians. Emanuel was the beneficiary of one of those parties after he left the board and ran in 2002 for a seat in Congress from the North Side of Chicago.

The board was throttled for its acquiescence to the accounting manipulation in a 2003 report by Armando Falcon Jr., head of a federal oversight agency for Freddie Mac. The scandal forced Freddie Mac to restate $5 billion in earnings and pay $585 million in fines and legal settlements. It also foreshadowed even harder times at the firm.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-rahm-emanuel-profit-26-mar26,0,5682373.story


Your grasping at smears. Don't worry though plenty of folks are blind enough to bite.

[ProSense]

11. No, the OP is exactly it. This is what happens when idiots don't pay attention

"Before the White House commits any more money to Fannie and Freddie..."

Their script goes something like this: ACORN, Fannie, and Freddie worked with the Democratic Congress to pressure banks to lend to "risky" borrowers, using the Community Reinvestment Act as their leverage.

The RW's attempt to blame CRA for the mortgage crisis is despicable

[ipaint]

12. Wrong again.

"Jed Lewison says that the allegation “that Emmanuel and the White House are not only covering up past corrupt practices but are also creating an $800 billion slush fund with which they can carry out even more corruption — is reminiscent of the fanciful allegations that Bill Clinton killed Vince Foster and Ron Brown.”

He dismisses any inquiry into Fannie/Freddie malfeasance because — well, Republicans are racists:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are key elements in the right-wing narrative about the recession. Their script goes something like this: ACORN, Fannie, and Freddie worked with the Democratic Congress to pressure banks to lend to “risky” borrowers, using the Community Reinvestment Act as their leverage. This storyline is totally false, but wingers love it because it not only absolves the financial and real estate industries of responsibility for the financial crisis, but it puts the blame squarely on the backs of blacks and Latinos. Absent evidence, lending credibility to the this right-wing shibboleth is a great disservice.

Rather than parrot right-wing myths that have nothing to do with the question at hand, let’s look at the evidence. The fact that the White House is contemplating doubling the limit of their commitment to Fannie/Freddie to $800 billion (even though they’ve only used $112 billion) was reported by that famous right-wing rag the New York Times on December 16:

Now, according to people close to the talks, officials are discussing the possibility of increasing that commitment, possibly to $400 billion for each company, by year-end, after which the Treasury would need Congressional approval to extend it. Company and government officials declined to comment.”

This is somehow meaningless because Michelle Malkin hates ACORN.

http://firedoglake.com/2009/12/24/so-you-want-to-defend-rahm-on-fanniefreddie/


So as usual, as long as there are crumbs for the poor (the CRA which was a responsible lender) the facts surrounding Rahm's time on the board and the Obama administrations further obstruction and subsequent unlimited, unsupervised and undercover bailout of fannie and freddie on christmas eve is just a minor point and certainly nothing to worry your beautiful minds over when compared to the racist rantings of the right against the CRA and acorn, both of which have nothing to do with the massive unlimited bailout. Oh and don't tell anyone fannie and freddie have 6 trillion in loans on the books.

And I'm supposed to believe that the center is all of sudden and oh so conveniently jumping to the defense of acorn.

Sorry I'm not that much of an idiot.

[ProSense]

15. "Sorry I'm not that much of an idiot."

Then stop posting the opinions of idiots.

[billh58]

13. K&R!

Birds of a feather: Orly, Grover, and Jane.

[Cha]

14. Lots of suckers' bucks being thrown at them to

investigate, Investigate some more! Keep goin'. .Milk it dry.

[THUNDER HANDS]

16. i still don't know who this lady is

or why I should care about her. Never heard of her before a few days ago.