Interesting WSJ story HERE, details the special loan terms available to "Friends" of Countrywide CEO, Angelo Mozilo.
Three Fannie Mae CEO's Got Countrywide Loans, Two Got "Friend" Loan Terms
One of the "friends" loan recipients ($7 million in loans) is Jim Johnson, a former Fannie Mae CEO. Johnson is now one of the vice presidential candidate screeners for my candidate for President, Barack Obama. (It appears that one of the three loans to Johnson happened during his service as Fannie Mae CEO).
Another former Fannie Mae CEO, Franklin Raines, also received special loan terms for his more than $2.6 million in Countrywide loans according to the WSJ story. All four of the Raines loans appear to have occurred while he was Fannie Mae CEO.
The CEO successor to Raines, Danile Mudd, has also received $6 million in Countrywide loans the story says. However the claim is that the Mudd loan terms were all market based and that Mudd had not spoken to the Countrywide CEO to arrange the loans.
The story does not provide any information that indicate any of these loans were illegal. Whether they were properly disclosed is unknown.
It seems highly likely that the Johnson loans will be, at a minimum, a distracting story for the Obama campaign to deal with. While Countrywide was not troubled at the time the loans to Johnson and Raines were made, the appearance of favoritism for highly paid execs during now troubled economic times and a heated presidential election cycle is problematic.
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