a former official at freddie mac told us that gingrich was consulted about freddie mac's efforts to becomearent about risk and capital management and how the efforts would be received by republicans in congress. this person said gingrich was also consulted at one point about the company's efforts to bond with the bush administration, bringing more minorities into homeownership, this at a time when republicans overall were really against the whole idea of having a fannie and freddie there. again, important work and important work as far as the political implications with republicans. technically, not physically lobbying for them. >> who els was freddie mac paying? fannie mae paying for that matter even as both of those operations are in serious financial trouble? lisa sylvester is here with that part of the story giving us a little bit more perspective. >> that's right, wolf. newt gingrich has spoken out blaming fannie mae and freddie mac for contributing to the housing crisis. he has received more than $1.5 million from freddie mac. it turns out he was not the only congressional lawmaker w

huge paychecks and bonuses for top executives at fannie mae and freddie mac when those two agencies combined have cost taxpayers $169 billion with the losses still mounting. the two c.e.o.s who faced the heat, fannie's michael williams and freddie's charles haldeman, earned $9.3 million and $7.8 million over two years, which gives them, republican darrell issa said, the best taxpayer- financed jobs ever. >> you made $9.3 million in the last two years. while, the president made $800,000. you think that's okay? >> reporter: democrats railed that those million-dollar payouts could have helped more americans keep their homes. congressman adolfus towns: >> then you look at these salaries and one would say, wait a minute. why don't we take this salary and save a whole block? >> reporter: haldeman of freddie mac said he got the message but he defended the bonuses. executives juggling $900 billion in taxpayer-backed mortgages, he said, had to be the best. >> the people that are required are highly skilled, sophisticated, seasoned people that have many, many opportunities for high-paying jobs. >> rep

compared to the exposure that freddie mac and fannie mae have? >> i appreciate the question, but that is something, given that i'm in a litigation, it is impossible for me to answer. we are seeking to recover appropriate funds. >> thank you. right now, the fhfa is funded through the fields -- through the fees that the tse has received -- that the gsc has received. you would need considerable staffing up to fill the space. under this bill, how would you fond the gsc's? >> i'm not sure there would be gsc's. it is not determined in this bill. that would be something that would have to be figured out. >> is it a gap or a tavern? a small gap or a significant thing? >> for me, it is a significant thing because i want to know where the funds are coming from. >> how much as a cause right now? >> our budget today is on the order of $180 million. i am being told it is probably less than that. but we are funded to assessments on freddie mac and fannie mae but also on the 12 main banks. >> thank you. right now, the investors in fannie mae and freddie mac sec

he denies he ever lobbied for freddie mac. we asked freddie mac.y for them. it's a fact gingrich was never a registered lobbyist. but many of his critics and his opponents say that's a matter of semantics. gingrich has said he'll make his freddie mac records public to the extent that he can. instead, late today his campaign released a list of what they called a fact sheet about gingrich's ties to freddie mac. they said that is all they will be releasing. joining me now political contributors ari fleischer. you can follow him on twitter @arifleischer. and hillary rosen. how big a problem is this for newt gingrich? >> anderson, i think this is neither a tempest nor a teapot. i think there's any number of people who worked for these companies and gave strategic advice to them. which is what newt acknowledged he did. he said he didn't lobby for them. i think it's problematic the 2008 interview we are said president obama should return the money. obviously, that's a little inconsistent with him keeping the money. but you know, on the day that the debt t

their support to keep freddie mac alive. gingrich's total compensation for his services to freddie ranged between 1.6 and $1.8 million. gingrich says he acted as an advisor to freddie mack, but never lobbied lawmakers on freddie mac's baffle. >> advice over long period of time. someone aimed at how to you explain what you're doing? i did no lobby of any kind. >> critics accuse gingrich of political hypocrisy. but taking money from freddie mac as a private citizen and then blaming freddie mac for causing the housing crisis, when he was a presidential candidate. others accuse gingrich of using his political experience, namely four years as speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, to cash in. so says washington examiner columnist tim carney. >> are you prepared to live by your statement there. >> absolutely. and newt's statement that he never did lobbying doesn't hold up to any normal definition of the world lobby. i've been talk to republican hill staffers who were will in 2003 which while newell was being paid by drug com

fend off the effort by the bush administration to curb freddie mac. >> no, no -- >> to curb freddie mac? >> reporter: some say gingrich did a lot more. >> it's a way for a former member of congress to back door lobby. they call themselves a consultant, they don't meet any definitions of a lobbyist, but they're still influencing policy. >> reporter: while gingrich was privately taking freddie mac's checks he was publicly railing against other politicians including barack obama for accepting campaign contributions from the mortgage giants. >> what you have is the rich on wall street and the powerful at fannie mae and freddie mac, had so many politicians beholden to them, that in fact nobody was going to check them. there is something profoundly wrong about the current system. >> reporter: gingrich's campaign has already overcome criticism of his lifestyle, tiffany purchases and a vacation cruise. now the charge that he's just another washington politician. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> now, at the same time, congress is looking into huge bonuses that fannie mae and freddi

freddie mac, he's a liar. a hypocrite, and i think he's done with the tea party. >> yeah. join the powers that are attacking freddie mac and get paid to defend them. what a brilliant washington game, and now he's been caught the price of front-runnership, newt. >> exactly. >> thank you joan walsh. had to have you two here. i think it's so great. you two are the best at understanding washington. thank you david corn and joan. >>> coming up, from herman cain's brain freeze, that's a nice word for it, to rick perry's oops last week, to michele bachmann on just about everything she tries to handle, how many blunders can a political party stand and still stand up? and how damaging to the republican brand name are endless gaffes on everything from the important to the $opeless? you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets yo

freddie mac, he's a liar.a hypocrite, and i think he's done with the tea party. >> yeah. join the powers that are attacking freddie mac and get paid to defend them. what an unbelievable washington game and now he's been caught. the price of front-runnership, newt. >> exactly. >> thank you joan walsh. had to have you two here. you two are the best at understanding washington. thank you david corn and joan. from herman cain's brain freeze, a thighs word to it, to rick perry's oops last week, to michele bachmann on just about everything she tries to handle, how many blunders can a political party stand and still stand up? and how damaging to the republican brand name are endless gaffes on everything from the important to the hopeless? you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout.

newt gingrich's ties to freddie mac could mean trouble with those who blame freddie mac for the housing crisis. his company was charged $1.6 million for consulting with the group. >> it's a consulting group. they offer strategic advice to other countries. i did no lobbying of any kind. i have no interest in lobbying. >> msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com chris alissa has our daily fix. this is not what he wanted to talk about in iowa today. >> i get this is what he's trying to do. he was confronted about fees charged freddie mac. he's trying to say, yes, i was paid as a strategic consultant but never lobbied. lobbying is a dirty word. for voters is that a distinctioç without a different? most people aren't paid $1.6 million for anything. i think it gets him off message and reminds people this is someone who spent a long time in washington, who's been around the block and is not a great kid for the outsider candidate that appears to be what a lot of conservatives want. >> what he said to john harwood last week during the debate is he was advising them to do the rig

here's abc's jon karl. >> reporter: government-backed mortgage company freddie mac was at the center of the financial crisis, receiving more bailout money, by far, then any of the banks. and today we learned, in the years leading up to the financial crisis, freddie mac paid newt gingrich nearly $2 million. >> we did no lobbying. period. >> reporter: paid him for his advice as an historian. >> sounds like a lot more than just being a historian. >> well, look, i was speaker of the house and a strategic adviser. i was approached to offer strategic advice. i was glad to offer strategic advice. >> reporter: gingrich has also been plaid to slam freddie mac on numerous occasions, blaming it for making too many risky loans, leading to the housing bubble which almost cratered the economy. during the last election, gingrich hammered barack obama for taking campaign contributions from people who worked at freddie mac. and in a recent debate, he went further, saying some prominent democrats should be jailed for their ties to freddie mac. >> and if you want to put people in jail, i want to second

i am haldeman and i am ceo of freddie mac. i joined freddie mac in august of 2009. almost a year after the company was placed into conservatorship by the federal housing finance agency. i welcome the opportunity to be here today to address your questions and concerns about compensation for our executive team. let me begin by saying i understand why this hearing is necessary. i understand why the american people are outraged about executive compensation in general. i understand totally why congress and the american people are outraged about executive compensation at companies that have received federal support including fannie and freddie. we have 9% unemployment in our country and there are millions of families at risk of losing their homes. i understand the outrage. how then do a reconcile the compensation system at freddie mac given the suffering that so many families a living with? let me see if i can explain the dilemma i face. my number one objective taking the job in the summer of 2009 was to keep the company functioning. i concluded that there would be more f

warning freddie mac of troubles to come. >> i offered advice.my advice as an historian when they walk in and said we're now loan to people with no credit history and have no record of paying back anything but that's what the government wants us to do, i said to they will at the time. this is a bubble. this is insane. this is impossible. >> yes, that was when we thought it was just $300,000 that newt earned. by the way, bloomberg looked into his claims and found no evidence whatsoever that he ever warned the company that its business model was suspect. however, he was retained to try and gin up support for freddie mac among republicans. and $1.6 million? gosh, isn't that a bit much for a history lesson? >> is it $1.6 million correct? >> i don't know. we're going back to check. >> it sounds like a whole lot more than being an historian. >> i was speaker of the house and a strategic adviser. >> so he denies lobbying while justifying such a large fee because he was speaker of the house. he did not mention the $1.6 million he earned when he railed ag

his firm made between 1.6 and $1.8 million from freddie mac. widely blamed along with fannie mae for contributing to the housing debacle. payments that started only months after gingrich's own party forced him out of office. when pressed in last week's cnbc debate, he said he offered advice as a hiss tore yang. >> were you not trying to help freddie mac fend off the effort by the bush administration to curb freddie mac. >> no, no -- >> reporter: gingrich did a lot more. >> it's a way for a former member of congress to back door lobby, they call themselves a consultant. they're not doing -- they don't meet any of the definitions of a lobbyists, but they're still influencing policy. >> reporter: while gingrich was privately taking freddie mac's checks he was publicly railing against other politicians including barack obama for accepting campaign contributio s s for the mortgage giants. >> what you have is the rich on wall street and the powerful at fannie mae and freddie mac, had so many politicians bee holden to them that nobody was going to che

one of the important functions that we perform f freddie mac is -- perform at freddie mac is managing an investment portfolio. when i took over it was at $900 million. we brought it down continuously. it is now $680 billion in size. what i worry about is if they make a 1% mistake, that could cost the taxpayers $6.8 billion. if they make a one-tenth of 1% this day, it is $680 million. and the people required to effectively manage that money and the investment portfolio and not make those mistakes are highly skilled, sophisticated, seasoned people that have many, many opportunities for high- paying jobs and we need some of them at freddie mac to make sure we do not have those mistakes. >> thank you. >> mr. tierney for five minutes. >> i want to ask you about principle reductions, mr. demarco. but first i want to share some comments. the former special inspector general for the start program said, the owners of these underwater mortgages have already lost any meaningful chance of recovering the outstanding principal. the sooner this reality is recognized and addressed, the sooner a recov

, demanding they return contributions from freddie mac, saying those who helped freddie mac ought to go to jail, democratic officeholders. at the same time, he is cashing checks and walking away with money. where is the consistency in this man? >> herman cain is doing well despite allegations of sexual harassment. then came into view with "the milwaukee sentinel" and questions about libya that seemed to be wilder him. he seems to think that interviews with newspapers are toxic, so this week he stiffed the manchester "union leader." it is like somebody in the college of cardinals stiffing the pope. it just isn't done. >> the manchester "union leader " can completely break you still, i believe. i think it's still in an election year can break and it. >> -- can break a candidate. >> enormously influential paper, especially in the republican primary. its imprimatur or opposition can be dispositive. >> look, it is not going to make any difference. what is killing him is not the manchester "union leader." it is that he is in it over his head and is winging it and everybody can see it pl

he was paid more than $1.5 million by freddie mac.and insists he tried to warn them it was headed toward a financial disaster. >> said to them at the time, this is a bubble. this is insane. >> they had to be bailed out by federal taxpayers and was on a con serve tor ship in 2007, but up until then, it had a roster of lobbyists that red like a who's who in washington. ben webber -- former chief of staff to representative tom delay, susan hershman among them. freddie mac had a number of highly paid consultants like gingrich. >> i can't speak to mr. gingrich or anybody else. i have no idea what they were doing, but we know in terms of people doing lobbying, or involved with lobbyists and planning lobbying, that there's a lot that's not registered. >> now, i called freddie mac for a response and was told quote, we're not discussing past practices that we are no longer engaged in. it was around 2008 when freddie mac folded up its lobbying operations. >> good report. thanks very much. >>> herman cain raised eyebrows by calling michele bachm

on that note, gregory asked about newt's ties to freddie mac. let's listen to this interesting witness, if you will, what he said. >> this is exactly what i'm talking about. people who come to washington who have public service and they cash in on it and use their public service and access to make money. and unfortunately newt gingrich is one of them who has done it. >> he's engaged in the exact kind of corruption that america disdains. the very things that anger the tea party movement and the occupy wall street movement and everybody who is not in a movement and watches washington and says why are these guys getting all this money? why do they become so rich? why do they have these advantages? unfortunately newt played right into it. >> you call that corruption. that's a heavy charge. >> what is it? it is corruption. >> casino jack sharing the guilt for his lifetime. let me ask if you can explain as a respected legislator, and i mean this, the way they hire big shots who come out of congress or politics generally, they put them in these big law

, demanding they return contributions to freddie mac, saying those who had helped freddie mac ought to go to jail, democratic officeholders. at the same time, he is cashing checks and walking with money. where is the consistency in this man? >> herman cain was doing well despite allegations of sexual harassment then came an interview with "the milwaukee sentinel" and questions about libya which seemed to be wilder him. he now seems to feel that it of yours at these papers are toxic, so this week he stiffed the manchester "union leader." 4 republican primary candidate to stiff the "union leader" is like a candidate for the college of cardinals to stiff teh pope. >> the manchester "union leader" to completely break you still, i believe. i think is still in an election year in can break a candidate. >> it is an enormously influential paper, especially in a republican primary. imprimatur or opposition can be dispositive. >> what is killing them is not the "union leader," it is that he is in over his head and winning it and everybody can see it plain as day -- winging it and everybody ca

in barney frank's case, go back and look at the lobbyists he was close to at freddie mac. >> reporter: take a look at gingrich's own ties at freddie m mac. cnn has discovered that gingrich was paid between $1.6 million and $1.8 million for two separate stints at freddie mac, from 1999, when he left congress, to 2002. and from 2006 to 2008. asked if the money figure was accurate. >> i don't know. we're going back to check. >> reporter: what did the republican presidential hopeful did for freddie mac? gingrich said at one point he offered advice as a quote, historian, telling freddie mac officials that lending to people with no credit history was a mistake. he later said he was a strategic adviser. according to cnn, four people that worked for freddie mac while gingrich was there disagreed with his characterization he was a historian. his role was more strategic, specifically political strategy. officials familiar with gingrich's work in 2006 said the former house speaker was asked to build bridges to capitol hill republicans. i spoke with bob edgar of the liberal group common cause, wh

he's going to get -- >> well, what's it say about freddie mac?ss operation. they go out and they put the former speaker of the house on the payroll trying to swing republicans that we're doing pretty good stuff. it wasn't too long ago republicans we saying freddie mac has been very vital to our ec]nomy. >> right. >> then they made him the boogeyman. this with newt has come out. this is a democratic playground right now for fodder, isn't it? >> yeah, no, it's great, because they can't seem to get their footing. none of the candidates can seem to get their footing. for example, we have positive things starting to happen in ohio, for example, we've had chrysler, they're going to add 1,100 new jobs, up to 1,100 new jobs in toledo because of the auto bailout. some chinese tariffs that were put on that obama put on. real substantive things that led to job creation in states like ohio which are swing states are substantive affecting the lives of human beings in ohio. these guys are sitting here muddling around about fannie and freddie trying to blame th

they consulted with freddie mac to expand homeownership, an idea freddie mac's chief lobbyist said heitched to president george w. bush's white house. an associated press report published this afternoon added he was hired to strategyize with his employer about identifying political friends on capitol hill who would help the company through a very difficult legislative environment. in other words, he was a lobbyist. in the "meet the press" weekly "press pass" david gregory asked washington's most corrupt lobbyist of our time, jackç abm hoff to clarify what he thinks gingrich was doing. >> it is corruption. any provision of favor to members of congress and their staff is bribery, and any cashing in on it is corruption. >> and you would make the case that he's cashing in as a former speaker getting that kind of contract? >> i know he says they paid him as a historian to give him a historic lesson, but i'm unaware of my history professor being paid that much money. >> joining me now are rich gailen, a veteran republican strategist and former press secretary, and chris hayes editor at lar

his latest shoot himself in the foot moment demonizing democrats for helping fannie mae and freddie mac at the same time he was taking nearly $2 million from freddie to advise it on winning over republican conservatives on capitol hill. barney frank whom gingrich sweetly said should to go jail joins us now on newt's serial hypocrisy. plus a distorting lie. desperate to save his campaign rick perry with other republicans has reverted to a distortion so obvious it should whack him like a bommerang. we'll go to the videotape to show you the distorting lie and what the president really said. also, bad news for mitt romney. who is peddling the empty case that his health care bill up in massachusetts bears no resemblance to president obama's. the m.i.t. professor who advised both romney and the white house says, quote, the problem is, there is no way to say that because they're samt blanking bill. jonathan gruber goes on to say that mitt, quote, is just lying. and we now know more about jerry sandusky. his alleged -- how allegedly he chose his victims as experts put it, groomed them for his p

in barney frank's case, go back and look at the lobbyists he was close to at freddie mac. >> reporter: gingrich h's work drew harsh attack. >> he took money to influence senior republicans to be favorable toward fannie and freddie. >> reporter: he was on the payroll for eight years, beg beginning in 1999. he claims he tried to warn them they were making too many risky loans. >> i said to them at the time, this is a bubble. this is insane. this is impossible. but sources familiar with gingrich's work say they don't recall him ever saying anything like that. they say he was hired for one reason and one reason only -- his political influence. diane? >> and jon karl is reporting in from washington tonight. >>> well, today, an unlikely new face emerged as a symbol for the occupy movement that has spawned protests across the nation. her name is dorley. 84 years old, a former schoolteacher. chef was pepper scraped by police during a protest in seattle. tonight, she says she'll be back, and, quote, i'm pretty tough, i guess. >>> and in new york, the demonstrators returned to zuccotti park. wh