Fannie Mae accountant: I warned CEO Raines

Here's an interesting article on the woes of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, in which Roger Barnes, who won't be the subject of any hagiographic bio-pics (a la Norma Rae or that one with Julia Roberts), tells AP (article posted at MSNBC) that he warned the CEO of the coming melt-down:

WASHINGTON - The former Fannie Mae accountant who raised questions about the mortgage giant’s bookkeeping said Wednesday that he took his concerns directly to chief executive Franklin Raines in 2002 and asked him to investigate.

The disclosure by Roger Barnes, who left Fannie Mae last November, came as Raines and chief financial officer Timothy Howard defended the company’s accounting and told Congress that regulators’ allegations of earnings manipulation represent an interpretation of complex rules.

Something is missing, though, so I thought I would do a modification to help illustrate what's wrong with it:

WASHINGTON - The former Fannie Mae accountant who raised questions about the mortgage giant’s bookkeeping said Wednesday that he took his concerns directly to chief executive Franklin Raines, whose sage counsel in matters related to mortgages and housing policy the Obama campaign has sought, in 2002 and asked him to investigate.

The disclosure by Roger Barnes, who left Fannie Mae last November, came as Raines, Obama campaign adviser, and chief financial officer Timothy Howard defended the company’s accounting and told Congress that regulators’ allegations of earnings manipulation represent an interpretation of complex rules.

For more on this mess, including McCain's role in trying to head it off, read this. An excerpt:

However, a very small number of lawmakers saw this problem for what it was, and were willing to stand up to the power of Fannie and Freddie—and I am proud to say that John McCain was one of them. In 2005, he joined a small group of Republican Senators to cosponsor the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act, the strongest legislation introduced up to that time to control Fannie and Freddie. In a statement, he noted that “For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market…If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie and Freddie pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.”

Funny, I don't remember reading this in The Times...