Free Republic

The Wall Street Journal reports that a federal grand jury in Los Angeles is investigating the so-called "Friends of Angelo" loan program at Countrywide Financial, under which influential borrowers received preferential terms on home loans. The reported borrowers under the program have included U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), former Fannie Mae Chief Executive Franklin Raines, and California state appeals court judge Richard Aldrich.

Will there be a MORTGAGE-GATE controversy in the 2008 election? Judicial Watch has filed a complaint against the sweetheart deal that Senator Obama Barack has received in terms of a mortgage. So has Senator Christopher Dodd, D-CT, who is chair of the Senate Banking Committee. One must ask the question are these two Democrats: are they Dumb, Dishonest, or both -- to have accepted these sweetheart mortgage deals for their personal life? Should the US Justice Department start investigating these politicians and others for such deals to receive favorable treatment in legislation now that the mortgage industry is in serious...

This will be RW’s 29th post about Obama’s “Rezko” house. Two recent events have brought the mortgage of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his wife, Michelle Obama, who took theirs out with Northern Trust on their Hyde Park townhouse, back into the news. First, Countrywide mortgage lenders is being sued in Illinois by Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Second, The Politico asked all 100 Senators “about their home mortgages in the wake of the revelations that Senators Chris Dodd (D-Conn) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) received special treatment from their lenders. In Obama’s case, he stated that he did not receive any...

The Bourbon Room, courtesy of Fox Chicago producer Ruth Ravve, has received this formal comment on the Obama loan from Northern Trust. The statement is from John O’Connell, director of Northern Trust’s institutional public relations, North America. Northern Trust does not comment to the media on client matters, as a matter of policy. However, at the request of the Obama campaign we responded to an inquiry from the Washington Post on the Obama family’s home mortgage. Beyond confirming basic facts about the mortgage, which the campaign has posted on its Web site, Northern Trust told the Washington Post: - Northern...