Barack Obama has tapped Rahm Emanuel to be his Chief of Staff and ABC News provides the first little tidbit of news about Emanuel in a piece titled "Emanuel Was Director Of Freddie Mac During Scandal."
President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of directors of the federal mortgage firm Freddie Mac at a time when scandal was brewing at the troubled agency and the board failed to spot "red flags," according to government reports reviewed by ABCNews.com.According to a complaint later filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Freddie Mac, known formally as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, misreported profits by billions of dollars in order to deceive investors between the years 2000 and 2002.
Emanuel was not named in the SEC complaint (click here to read) but the entire board was later accused by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) (click here to read) of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention."
Change we can believe in huh?
Seems the hard left isn't exactly thrilled with this Chief of Staff pick either.
[Update] Another report shows that Emanuel was "one of the biggest recipients of Wall Street money in Congress, according to a Washington, D.C.-based “money-in-politics” watchdog group."
The Center for Responsive Politics has issued a report highlighting millions of dollars in campaign contributions that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) has raised from individuals working in the hedge fund industry, private equity firms, and large investment firms.
Emanuel has raised more money from individuals and political action committees in securities and investment businesses than from any other industry.
This comes after a presidential campaign that saw Obama frequently criticize Wall Street and blamed lack of government regulations for the economic crisis that hit the country in mid-September.
Read the rest about that at CNS News.
Don't forget Obama himself was also one of the top recipients of Fannie Mae monies as well.
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