House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) spent more than $110,000 in legal fees this year to deal with a Securities Exchange Commission investigation of possible insider trading at student lender Sallie Mae.

Four staffers interviewed by SEC investigators were later issued clearance letters indicating no action would be taken against them, but the investigation is ongoing and the link to Boehner could highlight his political ties to the now-scandal-tarred student loan industry.

The SEC is investigating whether Sallie Mae Chairman Al Lord had inside information about President Bush’s budget proposal, which when it was released in February proposed cuts in subsidies for student loan companies.

Lord sold more than $18.3 million worth of Sallie Mae stock days before the budget rollout. Afterward, the stock price dropped 9 percent.

If he’d sold four days later, after the subsidy cuts were announced, Lord would have made $1.4 million less on the sale.

Sallie Mae officials have said the timing was coincidental, but the SEC launched an investigation.

On Feb. 26, Boehner’s office was notified by the House Counsel’s office that an SEC investigation of the transaction would include them, according to a source familiar with the situation. The SEC sought e-mails, notes, calendars and other records concerning Bush’s budget plans for student loan subsidies.

Boehner’s office voluntarily turned the information over to the SEC, including information from Boehner himself. The SEC did not ask to interview Boehner, but did request interviews with the four staffers.

Boehner’s office consented to the interviews, but hired the Texas-based law firm Baker Botts to represent the staffers because of the firm’s securities expertise. Boehner wound up paying $110,884 from his leadership office account to pay the firm. The payments are listed in House records.

 On Aug. 27, the staffers received letters, commonly called “5310” letters in SEC parlance, essentially clearing them.

The letters, signed by Associate Director Christopher Conte, state, “The investigation has been completed as you, against whom we do not intend to recommend any enforcement action by the commission.”

A House investigation into Lord’s stock sale by current Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) indicated that Sallie Mae was planning to seek help from Boehner as early as December 2006 to stave off the cuts.

Boehner has a history with the student loan industry. Prior to joining leadership, he was chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee and has received thousands of dollars from Al Lord, Sallie Mae and other student loan lenders.

Sallie Mae, formally known as SLM Corp., has contributed $55,000 to Boehner, according to Opensecrets.org, making the company Boehner’s 13th biggest career contributor.

Lord contributed to Boehner through his “Freedom Project” leadership political action committee. Lord contributed nearly $10,000 in 2002 and 2003, according to Opensecrets.org, while Boehner was chairman of the committee.

Critics of the student loan industry have claimed that the industry’s lobbying power has prevented government reforms that would have saved money for low-income college students but cost the industry millions.

In 2005, when student loan lenders were worried about a cut to their subsidies, Boehner told a lenders group, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Relax. Stay calm. Know that I have all of you in my two trusted hands.”

Critics of the student loan industry have cited that speech when blasting Boehner and the Republican Congress for being too close to the lending industry, but Boehner said his intent was misunderstood.

“The audience to which Mr. Boehner was speaking was concerned that the budget bill pending before Congress would threaten the student loan program and harm students,” said Kennedy. “As such, he was trying to make clear that the final legislation, while still trimming billions in excess subsidies paid to lenders, would not threaten the overall health of the student loan programs that enable millions of students to attend college each year.”

The House investigation unearthed a lobbying strategy document from Sallie Mae suggesting that company lobbyists would try to ask Boehner and Rep. Buck McKeon (Calif.), ranking Republican on the education panel, to plead the lender’s case to the White House budget office during the week of Dec. 11-15, 2006.