Contact: Bob Sturm, 703-396-6974; after 6 PM Eastern, Bob Strum, 703-307-8176; Cynthia Chambliss, 703-930-5148
MANASSAS, Virginia, Sept. 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- Congress must refuse to take up bailout legislation until a thorough investigation determines who is responsible for the financial crisis, Richard A. Viguerie, the Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said.
"The Washington establishment wants to move quickly, to railroad something through before we can determine who is to blame," he said. "It's a clever way to avoid responsibility. We can't let them get away with it."
Viguerie said that, before any bailout is considered, there must be a full investigation by a special counsel or an independent commission, questioning everyone involved and examining "every e-mail, every phone record, every scrap of paper that might explain the relationship between corrupt corporations like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their political friends."
Of particular note, Viguerie said, are "records that indicate where Fannie and Freddie's money went, and why. Why were politicians like Chris Dodd and Barack Obama made the prime recipients of Fannie Mae money? What role did members of Congress play in funneling Fannie and Freddie money to charities and community organizers? What did Barney Frank and others do to pressure lenders to give money to people who couldn't pay them back? How did so-called 'Partnership Offices' and 'Community Business Centers' work with politicians to beat back efforts to control Fannie and Freddie's corrupting influence?
"Who did what to obstruct audits and investigations and reform legislation?
"We need a minute-by-minute timeline showing exactly how Fannie and Freddie spent at least $170 million on lobbying in the past decade. We need to track every political contribution, and find out what the quid-pro-quo was. Plus, we need an accounting of every penny spent on 'charities' and interest groups in order to form alliances with well-connected people."
Special attention, he said, should be given to the top 50 politicians who received contributions or pork from Fannie and Freddie, to the top 50 Fannie and Freddie executives with political backgrounds, and to anyone - lobbyist, executive, or whatever - who received $1 million or more from those groups in the past 15 years.
If a 911 Commission-type group is appointed to oversee this investigation, Viguerie said, "it must be made up of people with absolutely no conflict of interest.
"That means people without lobbying connections, people who have no friendships or professional relationships at stake, people who understand how political corruption works but are untouched and untouchable. That means people from outside Washington, and from outside the Washington establishment and the world of high finance, and untangled in this scandal's web," he said.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine), one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times), and one of 2008's "top 25 influencers" among Republicans (NewsMax magazine). His latest book is Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books).
