(Image source: The New York Times)
BY ZACH TOOMBS
If you saw this moment in CNBC’s Republican presidential debate last week, you might have been left with some questions about Newt Gingrich and his somewhat mysterious ties to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
HARWOOD: Since -- since you mentioned Fannie and Freddie, Speaker Gingrich, 30 seconds to you, your firm was paid $300,000 by Freddie Mac in 2006. What did you do for that money?
GINGRICH: Were you asking me?
HARWOOD: Yes.
GINGRICH: I offer them advice on precisely what they didn't do...
GINGRICH: And my advice as a historian, when they walked in and said to me, "We are now making loans to people who have no credit history and have no record of paying back anything, but that's what the government wants us to do," as I said to them at the time, this is a bubble. This is insane. This is impossible.
With the former house speaker rising in the polls, Gingrich is also attracting more scrutiny of his private sector years. Here’s Bloomberg...
“Former Freddie Mac officials -- they remember it at little bit differently. They say that if Gingrich had concerns about the company’s business model or about a bubble in the housing sector, he never shared those concerns with then-CEO Richard Syron. Instead, they say the former House speaker was asked to build bridges to hill Republicans and develop an argument on behalf of the company’s unique private-public structure that would resonate with conservatives that were at the time trying to dismantle Freddie Mac.”
Pressed by FOX News’ Sean Hannity, Gingrich cited a confidentiality agreement but maintains that he never did any lobbying.
HANNITY: “I wanted you to explain the $300,000 you said you (got from) Freddie Mac, that they did not take your advice. You were not a lobbyist for them?”
GINGRICH: “I have never been a lobbyist for anyone. In fact, my contracts exclude me from lobbying... But I also want to say there’s a confidentiality agreement there that I can’t go into detail with, but I never did any lobbying for anyone.”
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough says withholding details is the last thing Gingrich should do right now.
“Bottom line, Michael Steele: Republicans aren’t big fans of Freddie Mac, and Newt’s going to have to explain why he got paid $300,000 for an entity that a lot of conservatives consider to be one of the great causes of our financial collapse.”
CNN says this could be just the first chapter in a long process of uncovering Mr. Gingrich’s various political baggage.
“The bigger issue in this whole Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac advocacy or history lesson payment is that it becomes symbolic of what we have to learn about Newt Gingrich. Up to this point, Newt has been able to stand on the sides of the during the debates and play on offense, never having to play on defense. But look, Newt has a very long history.”
