he was under contract with freddie mac for roughly six years. mr. gingrich has done himself nol favors in responding to that criticism when his first instinct was to say he wasn't paid for lobbying or consulting, more paid as a historian. >> your firm was paid $300,000 by freddie mac in 2006. what did do you for the money? >> i offered advice. my advice as a historian when they walked in and said we are making loans to people with no credit history. >> historians at that point crying out how much hundreds of thousands? how do i get a gig like that? the his storian line also led to this attack ad in florida by mitt romney against mr. gingrich. >> while florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, newt gingrich cashed in. gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the agency that helped create the crisis. >> i offered advice, my advice as a historian. >> a historian? really? >> the micro context of this release tonight is that mr. gingrich seems to be attempting to nip this criticism in the bud by having his former consulting company release th

he was under contract with freddie mac for roughly six years. mr. gingrich has done himself nol favors in responding to that criticism when his first instinct was to say he wasn't paid for lobbying or consulting, more paid as a historian. >> your firm was paid $300,000 by freddie mac in 2006. what did do you for the money? >> i offered advice. my advice as a historian when they walked in and said we are making loans to people with no credit history. >> historians at that point crying out how much hundreds of thousands? how do i get a gig like that? the his storian line also led to this attack ad in florida by mitt romney against mr. gingrich. >> while florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, newt gingrich cashed in. gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the agency that helped create the crisis. >> i offered advice, my advice as a historian. >> a historian? really? >> the micro context of this release tonight is that mr. gingrich seems to be attempting to nip this criticism in the bud by having his former consulting company release th

that refers to freddie mac. stable? housing prices are down 24% from their peak and the facts are, no matter what you believe about freddie's contribution to helping people buy homes in this country, the fact is that america's home ownership rate today is about 66%, almost identical to canada's 68% and canada has no taxpayer subsidized institution like freddie. and more r outrage. freddie still owes 56 milli$56 billion to taxpayers. that's part of the $71 billion bailout they were handed during the crisis. that is more money than any bank in this country ever got. so just how much will gingrich's ties to freddie mac hurt him in florida? in florida, 44% of homeowners at this moment with under water on their mortgages. the average home in florida worth half what it was when newt gingrich worked for freddie mac. douglas is a former economic adviser to the 2008 mccain campaign. john avalon is a cnn contributor. what do you make of that? he's putting out one year to say yes, i know, sounds like lobbyist. is that going to be

what he was doing was clearly promoting fannie mae and freddie mac in this case, freddie mac, to theune of $1.6 million. that is one of the reasons we're in the trouble we're in. >> first of all, notice that the governor wasn't aware of the ad he was running. he's not aware of the investments made in his name. >> of course i -- a blind trust. >> and my investments with his, comparing a tuinei mouse with a giant elephant. the fact is -- that there is a very substantial question. you didn't give instructions to say, gee, let's not do this or let's not do that. you're very quick to draw the widest possible exaggeration. the fact is the only time i ever spoke to the congress about this issue was in july of 2008, the "new york times" reported it. i told the republicans in the house, vote no. do not give them any money. they need to be reformed and answering it's question earlier i would break each of them up into five or six separate units and over a five-year period wean from them all federal sponsorship because we need to get away from those gigantic systems. >> a follow-up question to

. >>> newt gingrich has released the contract he entered into with freddie mac. he'll be joining us in just a moment to tell us exactly what has been released tonight and whether or not the story come ports with newt gingrich's previous explanations of exactly how he earned that money from freddie mac. conservatives have developed a critique of what happened during the financial meltdown during the bush presidency, plays down the importance of wall street and plays up the importance of freddie mac and fannie mae and other things promoting home ownership. so it's made public that he took consulting fees while working for a home mortgage agency. mr. gingrich has done himself no favors in responding to that criticism when his first instinct was to say he wasn't paid for lobbying or consulting, he was more paid pas a historia. >> your firm was paid $300,000 in 2006 by freddie mac. what did you do with that money? >> my life as a historian was when he came up and said. >> how many hundreds of thousands? how do i get a gig like that. the historian line also led to this

what has freddie mac said about just that key question? >> well, freddie mac has said that they're not going to comment on the inner workings of its portfolios. so they referred us, basically, to their regulator, which did issue a statement yesterday that was interesting in some ways, if you want to talk about that. >> tom: yeah, we'll quick. give us the idea. this is the federal housing administration regulator of fannie mae and freddie mac, both in conservatorship. did it defend the portfolio trades? >> one thing as a reporter you look for, nothing in the statement said that we had gotten any facts wrong. you also look-- did we get the story right? >> tom: did not quibble with the analysis. >> did not quibble with any of the facts in the story. i believe they were trying to say, look, we have a huge portfolio, hundreds of billions of dollars. these trades were only several billion dollars. but we're talking about $3.5 billion worth of trades tied to $20 billion worth of mortgages that involved tens of thousands of real homes and real hom

and return the funds he made from freddie mac. i wouldn't have normally suggested that other than he was the one that said if you made money on this failed model you ought to return that money. >> within hours of that, the gingrich people released the 2006 contract. you'll recall he's struggled in the past to explain the work he did for freddie mac and reconcile what appears to be beltway insider buck raking with his anti-beltway establishment campaign. is the what he said in november. >> i have never done any lobbying. every contract was written during the period i was out of the office and specifically said i would do know lobbying and offered advice as historian when they said we are now making loans to people with no credit history and have no record of paying back anything, that's what the government wants to do. i said to them at the time, this is a bubble, this is insane, this is impossible. tonight, one year of the contract is out. ur political anl list gloria borge has the late details on it. the contract doesn't really t

tonight we have details of the contract with freddie mac. listen how he described the role in november. >> i have never done any lobbying. any contract written in the period when i was out of the office specifically said i would do no lobbied and i offer advice and advice as a historian saying to me we're now making loans to people who have no credit history and have no record of paying back anything, but that's what the government wants us to do. i said at the time, this is a bubble. this is insane. this is impossible. >> it's a consulting firm paid $25,000 a month for years by freddie mac. romney ridiculed the price for advice. the gingrich campaign released the 2006 portion of the contract with freddie and notably vague about the services. last night we got the 1999 contract which goes in to much more detail. on page 14, it described a wide range of services to provide. the two that stand out are, quote, to serve as adviser to freddie mac in the areas of strategic planning and public poli policy, also to engage in discussions with mitchel

what exactly is freddie mac. right now is this all goes back to a fully public institution it was created one hundred thirty eight running up privatized in sixty eight by learning johnson because he wanted to get basically any cause that might make the vietnam war look bad off the books exactly and so where what is it now well god only knows because what if you're a couple of key lessons out of this great story that was just done by pro publica and then p.r. the regulator responsible for freddie says that well here's what happened basically freddie mac. put in more than three billion dollars while it was being owned by the u.s. taxpayer and rescued by the u.s. taxpayer to the tune of more than one hundred forty billion dollars it bought three point four billion dollars in financial instruments that were essentially betting against the very same struggling homeowners who can't refinance and are stuck with high interest rates it's betting again freddie mac. customers it's betting against its own customers at the sa

it's -- it makes you forget your troubles, i'll tell you that. >> i'm mac mcgary. much. >> reporter: in washington, jim handly, news4. >> retired and still very much loved. we love you, mac. >>> and we welcome the new host, hillary howard of "it's academic." >>> next up, a local ballerina accomplishes somet hey guys, breakfast! ♪ [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't the first ingredient in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first on the side. from honey nut cheerios to cinnamon toast crunch to lucky charms, get more whole grain than any other ingredient... without question. just look for the white check. >>> wow. a man from the manassas area may have made a record-setting catch. this fish was reeled in off the virginia beach area. a whole pound bigger than the previous record. the state saltwater fishing tournament will have to certify the catch to make it official. the angler is an x-ray technician at prince william hospital. he told the vi

newt gingrich we know made $1.6 million in his dealings with freddie mac. certainly not as a lobbyist but as a his torn. >> now he says he was a consultant. >> shepard: consultant but certainly not a lobbyist. >> he had somebody come in to say what a citizen can do and what a lobbyist could do and he didn't go over the line. of course barack obama made a lot of money too. >> shepard: you did too. >> ill understand that i'm not running for president. >> shepard: not yet. >> not ever. >> shepard: thank goodness. i would campaign for you though. you know i would. >> that's another reason i won't run for president. >> shepard: great to see you though. chris wallace every "fox news sunday." this sunday chris will be welcoming the wisconsin republic congressman paul ryan the chairman of the house budget committee. we will have the state of the union here down the dial on big fox online and on fox news radio. has fox on it and state of the union tonight. don't miss the state of the union address 9:00 eastern time in sean hannity's normal spot right here on fnc. on

mortgage giant freddie mac. was betting billions of dollars that struggling homeowners would foreclose in two thousand and ten in two thousand and eleven a time in which freddie mac. should have been helping those same struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages despite touting on its website that its mission is to quote stabilize the nation's residential mortgage market and expand opportunities for homeowners ship this investigation shows freddie mac. was doing just the opposite the stabilizing the housing market making profits when people were being kicked out of their homes so how did a public service go so wrong for more on this richer esko joins me in the studio he's a senior fellow at the campaign for america's future richard welcome back good to be here tom great to have you with us. what exactly is freddie mac. right now in this all goes back to a fully public institution that was created one hundred thirty eight running up privatized in sixty eight by learning johnson because he wanted to get basica

abc's jim avila has the story. >> reporter: when freddie mac went nearly bankrupt, american taxpayers bailed them out. but when jay and bonnie silverstein like many american homeowners, asked to lower their payments, the answer was no. >> we are in financial jail. >> reporter: if they could have that rate reduced to 4%, the current average, they'd save $500 a month. but freddie mac, the government-run mortgage giant, that's supposed to make it easier to own a home, won't let them refinance. >> it just flies in the face of common sense. >> reporter: and it makes them angry, because it turns out freddie mac is making money from homeowners like the silversteins, by keeping them stuck in higher interest loans. a joint investigation by national public radio pro publica has found freddie mac has invested a billion of its own monet betting against those loans coming down. >> when the homeowner refinances, freddie mac now loses. >> reporter: legal, but critics now call it a clear conflict of interest. >> what you're doing is telling homeowners, "gee, i'm going to stop you from refinancing, an

it's -- it makes you forget your troubles, i'll tell you that. >> i'm mac mcgary. much. >> reporter: in washington, jim handly, news4. >> retired and still very much loved. we love you, mac. >>> and we welcome the new host, hillary howard of "it's academic." >>> next up, a local ballerina accomplishes somet >>> wow. a man from the manassas area may have made a record-setting catch. this fish was reeled in off the virginia beach area. a whole pound bigger than the previous record. the state saltwater fishing tournament will have to certify the catch to make it official. the angler is an x-ray technician at prince william hospital. he told the virginia pilot he's caught shark and barracuda before, but never caught anything this big. it is huge. looks like almost half his size. wow. >>> a local woman is going from reston to russia. she's been selected as the first american to join the esteemed ballet, the same company that boasted greats like baryshnikov. more on the dancer's journey. >> reporter: she's been singled out by dance magazine for her star quality, called a

senior fers of freddie mac relative to strategize on approaches to freddie mac business opportunities and challenges. mitchell was fred i pack's senior vice president for government releases. in other words, their chief lobbyist. according to open secrets database, he was indeed a registered lobbyist for freddie mac. so speaker gingrich's contract specifies activities that are right at the intersection of freddie mac issues and public policy. he's being specifically hired to work with freddie's head lobbyist. whoever drew up the contract seemed to realize it's lobbying but everything but names. on page 14, there's this, nothing herein is or shall be con trued as an agreement to provide lobbying services of any kind or engage in lobbying activities. kevin madden is a former romney spokesman and a romney supporter. also a senior advicer to the gingrich campaign. kevin, could it be a mistake for the romney campaign to push this attack when their own campaign might get caught in the cross fire? >> it's an important part of the contrast you try and place before voters in florida. right now

for freddie mac priority issues. also to engage in discussions with plichal delk and other senior officers of freddie mac relative to strategize on approaches to freddie mac business opportunities and challenges. that was the senior environment of government relations, their chief lobbyist. according to open secret database, he was indeed a lobbyist for freddie mac. speaker gingrich's contract specify issues of public policy and he was specifically hired to work with freddie's head lobbyist. they could get the impression that lobbying in everything but name, but there is this. quote, nothing herein is or shall be construed as an agreement to provide lobbying services of any kind or engage in lobbying activity. kevin is a form er spokesman. kevin, could it be a mistake for the romney campaign to push this freddie mac attack when their own campaign might get caught in the cross fire? >> it's an important part of the contrast you're going to try to place before voters in florida. right now, i think voters are going to h

when we continues tonight, mortgage giant freddie mac accused of making multi-billion dollar bet and boo training american homeowner. >> bay area drug manufacturer tries to win atravel for a pill to prevent hiv but could have unintended consequences. >> also tonight. house that was destroyed by fire and now can't be rebuilt because of a was destroyed by fire and now can't be rebuilt because of a flood >> now we know whether ferries really is coming back. another >> now we know whether ferries really is coming back. another half hour of news continu eople chatting] >> now we know whether ferries really is coming back. another half hour of news continu everyone, it's $37 a piece. paying with your smart phone instead of cash. that's a step forward. with chase person-to-person quickpay, you can send money directly to your friend's checking account. all you need is their email address or mobile number. don't worry honey, i'll show you. thanks everyone. so take a step forward... and chase what matters. >> good evening thanks for joining us. we begin with another revelation tonight causing

gingrich's enterprises had with freddie mac. it's been posted on a web page for the center for health transformation and that's one of mr. gingrich's former entities, it was a 2006 contract and there have been others, but this is one, this is the company that mr. gingrich separated himself when he formally declared his presidential campaign in may of last year and the documents posted now on the web just hours before the next dehe bait. >> and this is just breaking now, gingrich said along the way that he was acting in his roll as a historian and many in his own party, well, frankly kind of laughed at that. >> well, mitt romney has said that newt gingrich is clearly a lobbyist and if it looks like a duck, talks like a duck, it probably is, because mr. gingrich was talking to a client and member of congress and romney campaign asserted that's no way that's not lobbying. and the debate credited to picking up a former bachmann staffer something of a debate prep expert and a lot of the former campaign are now seeing their staffers t

he's getting paid by freddie mac.gave him a lot of rhetoric about being paid by freddie, but in 2012, a deal will happen that freddie won't want. >> this was in 2006, a year of mid-terms just before the democrats. >> i thought they only paid him for that brief period. >> the commercial that romney took out right now is saying it it paid him $1.7 million. if you go 25 grand a month, my math is telling me it's a little over six years, isn't it? >> that couldn't work. i think the contract was before that. i'm pretty sure from what i've read, the contract was during the period of republican control. gingrich is forced out of the house by his unsuccessful speaker -- >> is this a problem for gingrich, in your opinion? >> it would be by any normal standard and it will be, i think, in november. but again, gingrich has got behind him people that are so angry that all they want is that you be angry. in some ways the more outrageous the conduct the better they feel because that shows that your anger is what counts, and i believe

it's not new. >> it wasn't freddie mac, but it wasn't unrelated. but maybe with a little bit of help, people can get a little bit of an education on some of these things. and the good news is, at least the decisions are going to be made more on debates than on the air pollution and the ads running all over florida. >> why do you say that? people are fearful of the super pac. >> i'm not saying they are not relevant. we need a constitutional amendment that says that. it is perverting our process in a lot of ways. but fortunately, sometimes it's good to look at the glass half full. the spine of this republican contest so far has been debates more than ads. the ads have not really made as big a difference as people think. it's not well, if only rick perry had money to go on tv, he would still be in. he had plenty of money. he's out of it because he was a dufuss at the debates. >> the 30 million jobs tour, a culture of investment through revisions in the tax code and trade policy. i don't e know what all the laws should be, and i could be wrong about 50

lobbyists at freddie mac.ssibly retake the white house if the person who's leading our party is the person who was working for the chief lobbyist of freddie mac. freddie mac was paying speaker gingrich $600,000 at the same time freddie mac was costing the people of florida millions upon millions of dollars. >> now, wait a second. he just went on and on and on, making a whole series of aelss. first of all, he may have been a good financier, he's a terrible historian. the fact is, the vote object ethics committee was in january of 1997. i asked the republicans to vote yes, because we had to get it behind us. the democrats had filed 84 ethics charges for a simple reason. we had taken control of the house after 40 years and they were very bitter. and the fact is, on every single ethics charge with substance that was dismissed in the end, the only thing we did wrong, we had one lawyer written by letters -- i mean, written one letter, and the one letter was in error. i didn't pay a fine. i paid the cost of going thr

the contract released from freddie mac said i would do no lobbying, none. we began digging in because i had enough of this. we discovered to our shock, governor romney made $1 million off of selling some of the freddie mac and fannie mae stocks. he has an investment in goldman sachs which is today foreclosing on floridaens. maybe his fear of openness should tell us how much money he's made off of households that have been foreclosed. >> my investments are not made by me. my investments for the last ten years have been a baseline trust, managed by a trustee. secondly, the investments that they made we've learned about this as we made our financial disclosure should be in mutual funds or bonds. there are bonds the investor has held threw mutual funds. i know that sounds like an enormous revelation. have you checked your own investments? you also have investments in mutual funds that also invest in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> rick santorum tried to pull some of the attention away from gingrich and romney. he a standout moment, many of them had a really good

and mac friendly products. mac world starts today and continues through saturday.lly produced movie shot entirely on a smart phone has it's bay area premiere in san francisco tonight. "olive" is a family- friendly, pg-rated movie about a young girl (played by ruby alexander) who visits three troubled adults and, without speaking, transforms their lives. 8pm at the metreon theatre mac world attendees can see olive the movie for the very first time. it was co-directed by a voice and face we know - hooman from the sara and vinnie movie show on alice @97.3 . congrats hooman." the feast of the olives is held this weekend at ramakins in sonoma - continueing the three month season of the olive!!! movie the grey macworld where geeks gather olive the smartphone movie olive season oficially starts == i will return tomorrow for my foodie friday liam's list follow me on twitter for more weekend events. liam mayclem... host of eye on the bay. thanks. time is 6:xx coming up: a shakeup for the defense team.. representing san francisco's sheriff. his new lawyer... plus, the key wi

what did he do for freddie mac? >> well, according to people who work there now and people who worked there at the time that the speaker was under contract, his job there was to help develop a message that they could, freddie mac, could then take to capitol hill that would be persuasive to conservative republicans who really wanted to crack down on freddie mac and fannie mae and impose... i'm sorry i said that wrong. and impose greater regulations upon them. they also look to him to help identify republicans on capitol hill who might be open to that kind of argument. >> woodruff: how is that different from being a lobbyist? we've heard mitt romney accuse gingrich of being a lobbyist. he said whether you call yourself that or not. what's difference? >> the definition of a lobbyist is actually quite narrow. keep in mind it was written by members of congress who hope some day to leave the hill and get a great job on k-street making a lot of money. they wrote this definition. it requires that a person have a paid client