as failure, i guess. it s quite extraordinary. but, you know, you didn t hear a lot about their fannie mae past when they took these positions. and extraordinarily, a number of these guys who are in legal trouble, the u.s. federal treasury is bank rolling their defense. the taxpayer is bank rolling their defense against shareholder lawsuits, yes, even now after we re into the companies both fannie and freddie for $154 billion, the added insult is that taxpayers are paying their legal bills. should there be criminal charges against any of these guys where someone ends up going to prison? there was a big accounting scandal at both companies and there were no criminal charges and, of course how is that possible? well, you know, i m not a prosecutor. you got to ask the doj. are we talking about political favors? we can t go after those guys. those guys are our friends? who knows? they don t have the appetite to do it. that is clear. but there were, you know, obviously mis
sound the alarm about the impending crisis. thanks to both of you for being here and for this marvelous new book. gretchen, you say that you name names, so let s name a couple. let s ask ceos. who were the ceos that you put in the top tier of those responsible for bad behavior in the financial markets? well, eliot, the first person that we really focus on and single out is a person who s really escaped scrutiny. james johnson. he was the ceo of fannie mae in the early 90s through 1998, 1999. this is a man who s escaped scrutiny except. for the end of the crisis when he was tagged with having taken some sweetheart loans from countrywide. but he was very central to the buildup that led to the crisis, to the expansion of fannie mae s balance sheet, to the imperilment of the taxpayer. don t forget, $154 billion later, fannie and freddie, the
single out is a person who s really escaped scrutiny. james johnson. he was the ceo of fannie mae in the early 90s through 1998, 1999. this is a man who s escaped scrutiny except. for the end of the crisis when he was tagged with having taken some sweetheart loans from countrywide. but he was very central to the buildup that led to the crisis, to the expansion of fannie mae s balance sheet, to the imperilment of the taxpayer. don t forget, $154 billion later, fannie and freddie, the taxpayers own them. that s the size of the problem. i want more names, but josh, what is fannie mae and why is it central? it is a quasipublic, quasiprivate organization, a government-sponsored entity, created in the late 30s in the
here and for this marvelous new book. gretchen, you say that you name names, so let s name a couple. let s ask ceos. who were the ceos that you put in the top tier of those responsible for bad behavior in the financial markets? well, eliot, the first person that we really focus on and single out is a person who s really escaped scrutiny. james johnson. he was the ceo of fannie mae in the early 90s through 1998, 1999. this is a man who s escaped scrutiny except. for the end of the crisis when he was tagged with having taken some sweetheart loans from countrywide. but he was very central to the buildup that led to the crisis, to the expansion of fannie mae s balance sheet, to the imperilment of the taxpayer. don t forget, $154 billion later, fannie and freddie, the taxpayers own them. that s the size of the problem. i want more names, but josh,
she s back after a season of reality tv. sarah palin returns to what she does best. wow. scaring the heck out of some republicans. tea party americans, you re winning. is she the king maker or the queen? and baseball and ponzi schemes. i got it, i got it, i got it! jeff toobin say the new york mets and bernie madoff used to be on the same team. can the mets survive and win again, or will they strike out? you re out of here! then, the financial meltdown. who s the blame? a new investigation names names. they failed to do their jobs, and some of them got promoted. questions remain about the number of bodies yet to be identified and why family members are still being prevented from visiting the morgue. to shed some light on those and other questions, i m joined by mark bridges, coroner for newton county, missouri. mark, thanks for joining us again tonight. sure thing. thank you. let s start where we have to start. are you making any progress? you re the