Gorelick Got a Sweetheart Deal From Countrywide


Wherever there is a problem, be it the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the financial industry meltdown, or the Duke rape hoax case, you can count on Jamie Gorelick to be involved in it. Now we learn that she got a mortgage loan on very favorable terms from Countrywide, one of the biggest culprits in the current mortgage meltdown

Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, made large, previously undisclosed home loans to two additional executives of Fannie Mae, the government-chartered firm at the center of the U.S. credit crisis.
One of Countrywide's previously undisclosed customers at Fannie was Jamie Gorelick, an influential Democratic Party figure whose $960,000 mortgage refinancing in 2003 was handled through a program reserved for influential figures and friends of Countrywide's chief executive at the time, Angelo Mozilo. Ms. Gorelick was Fannie Mae's vice chairman at the time.

Note the Clintonesque reply when she is asked about the matter:

In an interview, Ms. Gorelick said she had no knowledge of receiving special treatment. A financial adviser to Mr. Mudd said he received interest rates in line with the prevailing market.
The Fannie loans -- including a series of already reported preferential loans to former Fannie chief executives James Johnson and Franklin Raines -- underscore the close connections between Countrywide and Fannie Mae and raise potential conflict-of-interest issues.
Countrywide loans on preferential terms to influential figures are the subject of a federal grand jury investigation in Los Angeles, according to people involved in the inquiry. Prosecutors subpoenaed records of many of the so-called "Friends of Angelo" loans in August, lawyers and others familiar with the matter said.

Jamie learned the fine art of BS from two experts: her mentors Bill and Hillary Clinton.

"I do not believe there was any special treatment given," said Ms. Gorelick. A former Countrywide employee, Robert Feinberg, said that Ms. Gorelick's business was handled through the firm's VIP lending department in California, and the staff there was aware of her position as a senior Fannie executive.
"I know 100% she went through the VIP department," Mr Feinberg said, adding that VIP clients such as Ms. Gorelick typically received a one percentage point reduction in their interest rate.
Real estate records show that Ms. Gorelick received nearly the same interest rate that Countrywide provided to then-Fannie chief Franklin Raines, who received a similar loan about 40 days before Ms. Gorelick in the spring of 2003.

When congress finally gets around to appointing a commission to investigate the mortgage mess, will they put Jamie on it? Wouldn't surprise me one bit.