Networks Silence on
Corrupt Fannie Mae Continues
Only CBS reported $400M Fannie Mae fine,
while Clinton administration connections of top corporate officers
were omitted.
By Ken Shepherd
Business & Media Institute
May 24, 2006
On May 23, the federal government slapped a
$400 million fine on
Fannie Mae (NYSE:
FNM), a mortgage
brokerage led by Clinton administration alumni who cooked the books
to boost their pay. Of the evening newscasts, only CBS covered the
latest development in the companys accounting scandals, but without
any reference to its executives Democratic ties.
When Franklin Raines strode into Fannie Maes corporate board room
in 1998 to take over as CEO, he was met with applause,
correspondent Anthony Mason began his taped segment on the May 23
Evening News, adding that the government report out today says
Raines presided over an arrogant and unethical corporate culture.
Among the findings of the government investigation, Mason reported,
between 1998 and 2003, Fannie Mae overstated earnings by more than
$10 billion, manipulating them to maximize bonuses for company
executives, including Raines.
In all, Mason added, Raines received $90 million in bonuses during
those years, more than $52 million of which was tied to hitting
earnings targets.
Despite a tantalizing political angle, Mason left out Rainess
Democratic connections. Raines served as Clintons director of the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for two years before leaving
the White House to head Fannie Mae, and public records available at
fec.gov detail his campaign donation history totaling $62,500 to
politicians, mostly liberal Democrats.
Raines was not the only Clinton alumnus to profit from accounting
irregularities at the mortgage giant. Former Clinton Deputy Attorney
General Jamie Gorelick received $779,625 in executive bonuses in
1998, Washington Post reporters
Kathleen Day and Terence OHara noted in their April 7, 2005, story. In that report, Day and OHara
noted that falsified signatures on accounting transactions in 1998
had triggered multimillion-dollar bonuses for top officers like Gorelick, then the companys vice chairman.
The news networks have generally overlooked
Fannie Maes scandal, even as the mortgage lenders overstated
earnings are about
19 times larger
than Enrons accounting gimmickry. A Nexis search of the past six
months of ABC, CBS, and NBC showed 184 hits for Enron but only eight
for Fannie Mae.
The Business & Media Institute has
previously documented the medias
lack of interest in what amounts to a government-sponsored Enron.
