In The Blogs

Rick and Freddie

RICK AND FREDDIE....John McCain says his campaign manager, Rick Davis, hasn't worked for Freddie Mac for several years. However, according to "two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement," that's not true. In fact, his lobbying firm been receiving $15,000 from Freddie every month since 2005:

Mr. Davis's firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

They said they did not recall Mr. Davis's doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis's firm, Davis & Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of Mr. Davis's close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House....No one at Davis & Manafort other than Mr. Davis was involved in efforts on Freddie Mac's behalf, the people familiar with the arrangement said.

You know, I'm basically willing to concede that Fannie and Freddie were bipartisan clusterfucks and just call it even as far as the campaigns are concerned. But only if they fess up to their sins and stop regaling us with ridiculous lies about their relationships. Rick Davis either needs to tell us what his firm was doing for its $15,000 a month or else he needs to provide a plausible explanation for why his firm continued to receive that sum for doing nothing. Come on, folks.

image
image
Get Mother Jones by Email - Free. Like what you're reading? Get the best of MoJo three times a week.
Comments
no profile pic for comment author

Perhaps more importantly, John McCain needs to explain just exactly what his conflict of interest policy is now, and what it will be in the unfortunate event he becomes President.

no profile pic for comment author

John McCain does not listen to lobbyist, they have no influence on him. That's why his campaign staff if full of lobbyist - just so he can tell them to fuck off.

no profile pic for comment author

This old fart is a joke, how is he even within 20 pts?

no profile pic for comment author

It's like I told the wife. The way you can tell if a Republican is lying is if their lips are moving.

no profile pic for comment author

$15,000 a month is more than three times median American household income.

For doing nothing.

How is this not an out-and-out bribe?

no profile pic for comment author

Still reading the Völkischer Beobachter ?

It would be a scandal .. if it were true.

no profile pic for comment author

I'll note that Rick Davis has not offered to give the taxpayers of America a refund for the lack of services rendered. (Now that we own FNME and such.)

no profile pic for comment author

It's clear, of course, that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were buying access to the possible future President of the United States. Davis was being paid for his close relationship to McCain.

More typical Washington D.C. crony capitalism. You know, it's the kind of crooked insiderism that John McCain claims he is running against and which is practiced by a large part of his campaign staff.

Post a comment
Alternately, you may login to or register an account
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <ul> <ol> <li> <blockquote> <img>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options


Jail.org - Inmate Search
Criminal records, instant public records & people search & current court records. www.jail.org

U.S. Public Records Search
Search County & State Court Records, Criminal records, Vital and Adoption Records www.PublicRecordsInfo.com

Records.com - People Search
Public Records and Background Checks. Instantly Search Criminal Records, Addresses and Court Records www.Records.com

Court Records & County Records
Find Instant Public Records, Criminal Records as Well as County Property Records Search. www.PublicRecordsIndex.com

Mother Jones Podcast
Get in on the conversation! We talk about culture, politics, the environment, the economy and more. Listen now!

TalkBackTees.com
A treasure trove of liberal wit, wisdom and quotations, from ancient to modern, on colorful, cotton tees.

Support Independent Artists
Amazing art, crafts, apparel, paper-goods and more. A carefully curated selection of sundries since 1999.

FREE CONNECTIONS FOR GREEN SINGLES
Meet progressive singles in the environmental, vegetarian & animal rights community who share your values