Statement One: Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae avoided criminal prosecution over its alleged multibillion-dollar accounting fraud, the latest twist in a saga of intrigue involving a politically potent company.
Statement Two: Fannie Mae's political clout is legendary, fostered by its large donations to lawmakers of both parties. Its roster of executives and directors long has featured Washington insiders.
Now, combine Statement One and Statement Two, and what do you have? You have a dead mackerel under the back seat but you just can’t figure out where the smell is coming from.
Both statements come from Marcy Gordon’s Associated Press report on August 24, 2006, in an article announcing that "federal prosecutors in Washington confirmed they had shut down their investigation of Fannie Mae's faulty accounting after two years."
Fannie Mae paid more than $400 million in fines for a scheme that "included manipulations to reach quarterly earnings targets so Fannie Mae executives could pocket hundreds of millions in bonuses" over a six-year period. Is it just me, or does something smell a little fishy?
