Tom Fitton: Why is Washington ignoring its biggest corruption scandal?

Too few in Washington have been digging into the scandals behind the collapse of the “government-sponsored entities” (GSE's) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their role in helping trigger the global financial crisis.

Their collapse has cost taxpayers $146 billion thus far. Freddie Mac sought an additional $1.8 billion in taxpayer support just last week. There is no end in sight, as the Obama administration, through executive fiat, has placed no upper limit on the taxpayer liability for these two monstrosities.

One reason official Washington isn’t too interested in Fannie and Freddie is the role political corruption played in their collapse in 2008. That's why Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Obama administration requesting documents related to campaign contributions made by Fannie and Freddie over the last several election cycles.

We figure since American taxpayers are on the hook for trillions of dollars, potentially including nearly $1 trillion alone for Fannie and Freddie, we deserve to know how and why this financial collapse occurred and who in Washington, D.C. is responsible.

The “transparent” Obama administration disagrees.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the agency responsible for Fannie and Freddie, responded to our FOIA lawsuit by telling us that all of the documents we seek are not "FOIA-able!"

Here's the exact language the Obama agency used in its court filing: "...Any records created by or held in the custody of the Enterprises reflecting their political campaign contributions or policies, stipulations and requirements concerning campaign contributions necessarily are private corporate documents. They are not 'agency records' subject to disclosure under FOIA."

You and I are paying the tab for the collapse of Fannie and Freddie, but we are not allowed to ask any questions about why it happened. The Obama administration is saying, in effect, "None of your business." This whole scandal blows out of the water any notion that Obama is keeping his promises of transparency.

I don't see anything ambiguous about the government's relationship with Fannie and Freddie. The two agencies are now completely owned and operated by the federal government and are therefore subject to FOIA law.

Now, let's stop and think for a second. Why would the Obama administration be so intent on keeping records related to Fannie and Freddie's campaign contributions secret? Well, take a look at the list of the top recipients of Fannie and Freddie campaign contributions from 1989 through 2008, and I think you'll have a pretty good idea.

Obama is second on the list sandwiched between Democratic heavyweights Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CN (first) and Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, (third). The president rocketed to the near-top of the chart with only four years under his belt in the U.S. Senate!

The truth is no one in Washington wants the American people to know all the sordid details regarding Fannie and Freddie, Obama included. The list of recipients of Fannie/Freddie cash includes a lot of "R's" and "D's." It seems politicians of every stripe were on the take from Fannie and Freddie. And now we're all paying for it, literally.

Separately, we uncovered documents showing that Congress was made aware of the massive problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the last six years. Yet liberals, led by Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, (another beneficiary of Fannie/Freddie campaign cash largess and chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services), repeatedly blocked attempts to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Our groundbreaking legal effort to open up Fannie and Freddie is not just about political corruption — it also about accountability. Largely through Freddie and Fannie the Obama administration has taken control of the U.S. mortgage market and its attendant liabilities — which means you, I, our children, and grandchildren are potentially on the hook for trillions of dollars.

This unprecedented takeover of the private sector is being done by government entities that the Obama administration says are not subject to any open records request. Let’s hope, for the sake of accountable government, that the courts disagree.