OBAMA'S BUS

It's getting a little crowded under Bar ack Obama's bus. Washington power broker James Johnson got tossed under yesterday - joining Chicago wheeler-dealer Tony Rezko, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the entire Trinity United Church of Christ. Officially, Johnson said he was leaving a three-member committee charged with vetting potential Obama running mates so that his ties to a mortgage company wouldn't become a campaign distraction. Fact is, Johnson had already become radioactive; the campaign would've been nuts not to jettison him. Now Obama needs to turn his attention to another member of that committee - Eric Holder, a former No. 2 in the Clinton Justice Department who played a key role in processing the infamous last-minute pardon of the notorious tax-cheat fugitive Marc Rich. (The committee's third member is the dowager princess of American politics, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg - by definition, above reproach.) Johnson once headed the quasi-governmental mortgage agency Fannie Mae; his parting compensation totaled $21 million - rather than the $6 million that was publicly reported. He was also part of an elite group that got more than $7 million in below-market-rate personal loans from Countryside Financial, a key player in the subprime mortgage meltdown. The lucky borrowers were all designated by the company as "Friends of Angelo" - Angelo being Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. This is significant for two reasons: * Fannie Mae is in the business of buying up mortgages - and Countrywide is the nation's No. 1 mortgage lender. * Obama on the stump has castigated Countrywide. Indeed, his campaign attacked Hillary Clinton because one of her strategists did PR work for the company. As for Holder, he helped push the pardon on behalf of Rich's lawyer, former Clinton White House counsel Jack Quinn

It's getting a little crowded under Bar ack Obama's bus.

Washington power broker James Johnson got tossed under yesterday - joining Chicago wheeler-dealer Tony Rezko, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the entire Trinity United Church of Christ.

Officially, Johnson said he was leaving a three-member committee charged with vetting potential Obama running mates so that his ties to a mortgage company wouldn't become a campaign distraction. Fact is, Johnson had already become radioactive; the campaign would've been nuts not to jettison him.

Now Obama needs to turn his attention to another member of that committee - Eric Holder, a former No. 2 in the Clinton Justice Department who played a key role in processing the infamous last-minute pardon of the notorious tax-cheat fugitive Marc Rich. (The committee's third member is the dowager princess of American politics, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg - by definition, above reproach.)

Johnson once headed the quasi-governmental mortgage agency Fannie Mae; his parting compensation totaled $21 million - rather than the $6 million that was publicly reported. He was also part of an elite group that got more than $7 million in below-market-rate personal loans from Countryside Financial, a key player in the subprime mortgage meltdown.

The lucky borrowers were all designated by the company as "Friends of Angelo" - Angelo being Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. This is significant for two reasons:

* Fannie Mae is in the business of buying up mortgages - and Countrywide is the nation's No. 1 mortgage lender.

* Obama on the stump has castigated Countrywide.

Indeed, his campaign attacked Hillary Clinton because one of her strategists did PR work for the company.

As for Holder, he helped push the pardon on behalf of Rich's lawyer, former Clinton White House counsel Jack Quinn

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...

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