Judicial Watch Sues Obama Administration for Documents Detailing Secret Settlement Negotiations with Mortgage Lenders Accused of Faulty Mortgage Practices

From Judicial Watch --

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on January 3, 2012, against the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to obtain documents pertaining to accusations of fraud against the nation’s five largest mortgage companies and the creation of “federal accounts” to settle probes into faulty mortgage practices (Judicial Watch v. HUD and DOJ (No. 1:12-cv-0002)). The Obama administration has reportedly been engaged in settlement negotiations behind closed doors with mortgage companies that would result in at least $20 billion in payments from the nation’s major banks.

Pursuant to a Judicial Watch FOIA request filed with the DOJ and HUD on May 17, 2011, Judicial Watch seeks the following records:

• A set of government audits used to support allegations that the nation’s five largest mortgage companies of defrauding taxpayers in the handling of foreclosures on homes purchased with government-backed loans.

• A term sheet which outlined the Obama administration’s settlement offer to the mortgage companies accused of fraud. The terms described on this document allegedly included the creation of a federal account funded by the nation’s largest mortgage firms to help distressed borrowers avoid foreclosure and settle state and federal probes into alleged faulty mortgages practices.

The DOJ notified Judicial Watch by letter that the agency received the FOIA request on May 27, 2011. Under the law, a response from the DOJ was due within twenty working days, or by June 24, 2011. On September 22, 2011, the DOJ reported to Judicial Watch that it had located nine documents totaling 346 pages responsive to the FOIA request, but had referred the documents to HUD for processing and direct response.

A similar FOIA request was filed with HUD, also on May 17, 2011. According to a letter from HUD, the request had been received on May 18, 2011, which means that the response was due by June 16, 2011. On September 13, 2011, HUD indicated in a letter to Judicial Watch that under instruction from the DOJ “the records responsive to your request are being withheld in full…”

As Judicial Watch noted in its FOIA requests, in his “exclusive” May 16, 2011, article detailing the settlement negotiations with mortgage lenders, Huffington Post reporter Shahien Nasiripour referred specifically to the audits and the term sheet at issue in Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit. According to the article, four federal agents briefed Nasiripour on the “set of confidential audits,” while the confidential term sheet “was reviewed” by the Huffington Post.

In addition to conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations with the mortgage lending industry, the Obama administration is also reportedly pressuring state attorneys general to close down their investigations and sign off on the deal. Judicial Watch previously obtained documents calling into question the veracity of testimony by Elizabeth Warren, a then-Obama administration official, about the involvement of the new Consumer Production Financial Bureau in these negotiations.

“All Americans deserve to know the full truth about the Obama administration’s effort to extort $20 billion from the nation’s banking industry,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “This is another example of the federal ‘gangster government’ – in this case, the selective leaking of information to harm targeted businesses while denying access under law to the full truth.  This is an affront to transparency and the rule of law. It is this type of gamesmanship that has resulted in the Obama administration’s transparency crisis.”

The Last Time Senate Democrats Passed a Budget...

While President Obama does his best to claim we have a do nothing congress, we quickly approach the 1000 day mark since he and his Democrat led Senate have passed a budget.

Maybe he should look at the mirror and ask, "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall -- why am I the biggest hypocrite of them all?"

From the RSC -- 

Washington, Jan 19 - January 24, 2012 marks the 1,000^th day without a budget from Senate Democrats. The last time they passed a budget, you had never heard of the iPad. Tiger Woods was only known for his golfing abilities. General Motors had never declared bankruptcy. You had never heard of Swine Flu. And the national debt was $4 trillion smaller than it is today.

When Republicans took over the House last year, passing a budget was one of the first things we did. We’re trying to solve problems, cut the crazy spending, and stop the reckless borrowing. We’re trying to cut, cap, and balance the budget.

In the real world, there are limits to how much families and businesses can spend. They have to budget. So the question is, when will Senate Democrats join the real world?

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New Congressional Record App for iPad

Read the Congressional Record on your iPad wherever wi-fi is enabled, courtesy of the Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office.

Read the daily edition of the Congressional Record on your iPad. The Congressional Record App is presented by the Library of Congress using data provided by the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, and the Government Printing Office.

The link for the free app is http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-congressional-record/id492077075 or you can search in the App Store for "The Congressional Record."

Statement on Appointments for 87th & 98th House Districts from OH House Speaker

H/T Matt at Weapons of Mass Discussion

From Speaker of the Ohio House Bill Batchelder --

COLUMBUS—Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder (R-Medina) today released the following statement regarding the currently vacant 87th and 98th House district seats, formerly held by Republican Representatives John Carey and Richard Hollington:

“As the Speaker of the House, it is of the utmost importance to me that each House district has appropriate representation and that every Ohioan has a means to make his or her voice heard in Columbus. However, we are also in a situation that gives Ohioans themselves the opportunity to help us choose the appointees to succeed Representatives Carey and Hollington in the Ohio House during this General Assembly.

“Given the fact that multiple Republican candidates have filed for these offices prior to the March primary, voting for which begins in less than two weeks, we feel it would be most prudent given this timeline for the residents of the 87th and 98th districts to decide for themselves who their representatives will be. The Republican Caucus has decided to honor the outcome of the March primary for these two districts and ultimately appoint the winner of each race. We believe waiting until the results of the primary election will give the people of the 87th and 98th districts the most influence over their representation and ensure that their voices are being heard.

However, I also believe it is of the utmost importance that the constituents of these two House districts have a voice during the next few months of what promises to be a busy legislative session before the March primary. Therefore, I have been in contact with local officials in these individual House districts about the possibility of appointing someone to fill these seats until mid-March, so the voices of the constituents in the 87th and 98th House Districts can continue to be uninterrupted.”

Speaker Batchelder intends to make an announcement as details become available in the coming days about any potential appointments to the vacated seats.

SOPA & PIPA Only Delayed NOT STOPPED - Keep up the pressure!

 

Since our last Action Alert on SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and its Senate cousin PIPA (PROTECT IP).there has been a lot that has happened and much more to be done to stop these bills.

On the same day that thousands of websites had gone dark to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act; Florida Senator Marco Rubio announced he was withdrawing his name and support for the House and Senate bills and it's been a domino affect every since.

Senators Jim Inhofe, John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, John Boozman, David Vitter, Kelly Ayotte, and Roy Blunt have dropped their support and on the House side so did , former co-sponsors Representatives Ben Quayle, Lee Terry, Dennis Ross, Steve Scalise, Tim Griffin and Tim Holden.

 

SOPA is currently in the House Judiciary Committee, and just today House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) said he will postpone consideration of his Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) until there is wider agreement on the controversial legislation.

 

On PIPA, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) calls to shelve the bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has rescheduled a procedural vote on the legislation that was set for Tuesday afternoon.  Reid says he is confident some sort of compromise can be reached.

 

Trying to amend or fix SOPA & PIPA is like putting whip cream on crap - they might look more appealling, but underneath they are still crap and they must be flushed not fixed! SOPA & PIPA are not bills that can be amended into something acceptable, they must die completely.

What can you do?

 

Ohio has two Congressmen on the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH), a co-sponsor of SOPA and Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH).

Please contact Congressman Chabot and ask him to withdraw as a co-sponsor of SOPA and to drop his support.

Congressman Steve Chabot

  

Cincinnati Office

Phone: (513) 684-2723
Fax: (513) 421-8722

Washington DC Office
Phone: (202) 225-2216
Fax: (202) 225-3012

Email: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=9rxmyrdab&et=1109108093105&s=1117&e=001JB1HOv_G1JVQI4NjoCbIsbm8xy-2BN83SMyJ6vCPplesKYu2_NtIzZ6eOyfJRt3rpqVSktTRiepnNR8aBqNMxyrFc-M9lmcCGguHTgwVYrbbP4P5fROmHxra5M2BajXxu8fESd7fpOE=

Contact Congressman Jim Jordan and ask him to defeat SOPA by any means necessary.

 

 Congressman Jim Jordan

Mansfield Office

Phone: (419) 522-5757

Fax: (419) 525-2805

Washington DC Office

DC PH#: 202-225-2676

DC Fax#: 202-226-0577

 

Email: http://jordan.house.gov/Contact

On PIPA contact Senate President Harry Reid and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ask them to once in their careers do the right thing and to STOP any and all discussions on PIPA.

Senate President Harry Reid
DC Phone: (202)224-3542
DC Fax: (202)224-7327
Email: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Senator Patrick Leahy
DC Phone: (202)224-4242
Email: http://leahy.senate.gov/contact/

For a list of all the members on the Senate Judiciary Committee click here.

Tea Party Patriots Co-Sponsoring Presidential Debate Tonight

Tea Party Patriots, along with the SRLC and CNN, will co-sponsor a primetime Presidential debate this Thursday in Charleston, South Carolina – two days before the crucial South Carolina primary.

“The South Carolina primary is a critical contest in the march towards the Republican presidential nomination,” said Mark Preston, CNN political director. “The support of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference and the Tea Party Patriots is invaluable in helping us to provide the Republican candidates an opportunity to answer direct questions on the many challenges facing the nation.”

The debate will air live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on CNN, CNN en Español, CNN Radio and worldwide on CNN International and CNN.com. It will re-air on CNN for the primetime West Coast audience at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET. CNN will also provide a live feed of the debate to the American Forces Network, which is seen in 175 countries and aboard naval ships around the world so that U.S. airmen, marines, sailors, soldiers and officials serving overseas can view the debate.

Freshman Congressman Bill Johnson (OH-6) Faces Challenge in GOP Primary

Freshman GOP Congressman Bill Johnson from Ohio's 6th Congressional District will be facing challenger Victor Smith in the primary this year.  The winner will face off against the winner of the Democrat primary between former Congressman Charlie Wilson and Cas Adulewiz.

Working through the Ohio Project and helping to form Grassroots Ohio, Victor worked tirelessly to help pass Issue 3 the Ohio Healthcare Freedom Amendment.

Getting into office as a result of the GOP sweep across Ohio more so than being elected because of his ability, Congressman Bill Johnson has been a loyal servant to Speaker John Boehner instead of the people he was elected to represent.

Sent to D.C. to stop the out of control spending, Congressman Johnson did just the opposite and voted in support of the Continuing Resolutions, Omnibus Bills and Raising the Debt Ceiling.  Equally, if not more disturbing is that Congressman Bill Johnson voted in support of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 (NDAA), a new law allowing for Indefinite Military Detention of U.S. Citizens Without Charge or Trial.

While this is NOT an endorsement of any candidate, it should be noted that Congressman Bill Johnson, after ignoring the requests of many of Tea Party / Liberty group members that voted him into office, continually sided with the establishment elected elite & Speaker Boehner. 

From The Marietta Times --

Waterford resident Victor Smith has spent recent months working with The Ohio Project to get the Ohio health care freedom amendment on last November's ballot but in the next few months, he'll be campaigning as a candidate for Ohio's 6th district Congressional seat in the March primary election.

Smith, a Republican, is running along with Republican Incumbent Bill Johnson, of Marietta, Democrat Charlie Wilson, of St. Clairsville and Democrat Cas Adulewicz, of Steubenville.

Smith is a 1965 Warren High School graduate and 1969 graduate of the West Point United States Military Academy in New York. He retired from the military in 1989 and became a registered professional engineer in Ohio, working for several local plants, including DuPont and Union Carbide. He most recently worked as a consulting engineer for Apex Engineering's Marietta office.

Smith said his No. 1 priority is ensuring that the government does not stand in the way of Utica shale drilling.

New horizontal drilling technology is expected to be used in the coming years to tap into Marcellus and Utica shale deposits that are present in Ohio.

"It represents a great boom for our region, our state and our country," he said. "Everything is taken out at 10,000 feet, so this idea that they're going to pollute the groundwater - it doesn't happen."

Smith said he's also concerned about the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law at the end of December by President Barack Obama.

"Sections 1021, 1022 and 1023 need to be taken out," he said. "Those sections give the president the right to define what constitutes a terrorist...and that's not a power you give to any president, period."

Smith said he's also concerned about the debt ceiling, saying it should not be raised. Obama asked Congress Thursday to raise it by $1.2 trillion.

"What Congress is doing right now and they're continuing to do is max one credit card and take another credit card to pay it off with," he said. "Congress, by increasing the debt ceiling, has managed to not kick the can down the road - they're saying 'we don't care, we will never, ever fix this.'"