Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann criticized rival contender and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich over his involvement with the mortgage firm Freddie Mac.
“Fannie [Mae] and Freddie, as you know, have been the epicenter of the financial meltdown in this country, and whether former Speaker Gingrich made $300,000 or whether he made $2 million, the point is he took money to also influence senior Republicans to be favorable toward
Fannie and Freddie,” Bachmann said Wednesday after a campaign event in Webster City, Iowa, according to published reports.
Gingrich has strongly denied lobbying on behalf of Freddie Mac, despite reports that his consulting firm earned between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees from the mortgage giant. Gingrich says he merely offered “strategic advice” to the public corporation which he has strongly criticized and which many conservatives blame
for fueling the 2007 mortgage crisis.
The reported amount is significantly higher than the payment of $300,000 that Gingrich has acknowledged in the past.
Bachmann said she wants to place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into receivership and move to shut them down.
— Justin Sink contributed to this story.
