a former official at freddie mac told us that gingrich was consulted about freddie mac's efforts to become more transparent about risk and capital management and how the efforts would be received by republicans in congress. this person said gingrich was also consulted at one point about the company's efforts to bond with the bush administration, bringing more minorities into homeownership, this at a time when republicans overall were really against the whole idea of having a fannie and freddie there. again, important work and important work as far as the political implications with republicans. technically, not physically lobbying for them. >> who els was freddie mac paying? fannie mae paying for that matter even as both of those operations are in serious financial trouble? lisa sylvester is here with that part of the story giving us a little bit more perspective. >> that's right, wolf. newt gingrich has spoken out blaming fannie mae and freddie mac for contributing to the housing crisis. he has received more than $1.5 million from freddie mac. it turns out he was not the only congressiona

>> reporter: haldeman of freddie mac said he got the message but he defended the bonuses. executives juggling $900 billion in taxpayer-backed mortgages, he said, had to be the best. >> the people that are required are highly skilled, sophisticated, seasoned people that have many, many opportunities for high-paying jobs. >> reporter: one house committee has already voted, meanwhile, overwhelmingly to block all future bonuses anywhere at fannie mae and freddie mac. now, that's not likely to pass both houses of congress, but, scott, that's a message from capitol hill to stop the multi- million-dollar paydays. >> pelley: wyatt, thanks very much. someone else who got big paychecks from freddie mac is republican presidential contender newt gingrich. gingrich worked for the mortgage company as a consultant after he left his job as speaker of the house. jan crawford reports the advice gingrich gave and the money he made became issues today. >> reporter: on the campaign trail in iowa, former house speaker newt gingrich was questioned about how he made $1.6 million from mortgage gia

he denies he ever lobbied for freddie mac. we asked freddie mac. they told us gingrich was a consultant and didn't lobby for them. it's a fact gingrich was never a registered lobbyist. some say it's a matter of semantics. gingrich says he'll make the records public to the extent he can. his campaign released a list called a fact sheet about gingrich's ties to freddie mac. they said that's all they'll be releasing. let's talk about it with ari fleisher and hilary rosen, both worked as lobbyists themselves. no, you haven't? >> no, never. >> how big a problem is this for newt gingrich? >> anderson, i think this is neither a tempest nor a teapot. i think there's any number of people who have worked for these companies and given advice to them, which is what newt acknowledged he did. he said he didn't lobby for them. i think it's problematic the 2008 interview where he said president obama should return the money. obviously that's a little inconsistent with him keeping the money. but on the day that the debt topped $15 trillion, who newt gingrich worked

he denies he ever lobbied for freddie mac. we asked freddie mac. they told us gingrich was a consultant and didn't lobby for them. it's a fact gingrich was never a registered lobbyist. some say it's a matter of kmant icks. gingrich says he'll make the records public to the extent he can. had his campaign released a list called a fact sheet about gingrich'ses ties to freddie mac. they said that's all they'll be releasing. let's talk about it with ari fleisher and hilary rosen, both worked as lobbyists themselves. no, you haven't? >> no, never. >> how big a problem is this for newt gingrich? >> anderson, i think this is neither a tempest more a teapot. i think there's any number of people who have worked for these companies and given advice to them, which is what newt acknowledged he did. he said he didn't lobby for them. i think it's problematic the 2008 interview where he said president obama should return the money. obviously that's a little inconsistent with him keeping the money. but on the day that the debt topped $15 trillion, who newt gingric

freddie mac, he's a liar. he's a hypocrite, and i think he's done with the tea party. >> yeah. join the powers that are attacking freddie mac and get paid to defend them. what a brilliant washington game, and now he's been caught the price of front-runnership, newt. >> exactly. >> thank you joan walsh. had to have you two here. i think it's so great. you two are the best at understanding washington. thank you david corn and joan. >>> coming up, from herman cain's brain freeze, that's a nice word for it, to rick perry's oops last week, to michele bachmann on just about everything she tries to handle, how many blunders can a political party stand and still stand up? and how damaging to the republican brand name are endless gaffes on everything from the important to the $opeless? you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national le

but taking money from freddie mac as a private citizen and then blaming freddie mac for causing the housing crisis, when he was a presidential candidate. others accuse gingrich of using his political experience, namely four years as speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, to cash in. so says washington examiner columnist tim carney. >> are you prepared to live by your statement there. >> absolutely. and newt's statement that he never did lobbying doesn't hold up to any normal definition of the world lobby. i've been talk to republican hill staffers who were will in 2003 which while newell was being paid by drug companies, saying he was rallying rubs republicans to vote for the bill they supported some he didn't register as a lobbyist but what he did was lobbying. and he was lobbying for corporate welfare. and freddie mac and the drug stuff and ethanol and that's one reason -- >> they didn't do anything illegal, i'm sure. and he stayed on the opposite side of being a registered lobbyist. but the problem is that freddie mac has -- and fannie mae have been turned intoand it turns ou that

on the campaign trail, newt gingrich defends the payments he got advising mortgage giant freddie mac. and dr. jon lapook on one woman's decision to try a new vaccine that treats cancer and may even prevent it. >> my husband kept saying, "if you don't do this, you're cutting yourself short." captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. police have arrested a 21-year-old man in a shooting that involves the white house. the investigation began friday night when witnesses said they heard gunfire beyond the south lawn. the president and the first family was out of town at the time. yesterday, the secret service discovered two bullets had hit the mansion. bob orr has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: investigators from the f.b.i. and secret service used a hydraulic lift and metal detectors to search for bullets on the south side of the white house. one slugs was recovered in the bulletproof glaives a second-floor window on the truman balcony. another was found near an exterior wall. sources say there may be moribilities.

freddie mac, he's a liar. he's a hypocrite, and i think he's done with the tea party. >> yeah. join the powers that are attacking freddie mac and get paid to defend them. what an unbelievable washington game and now he's been caught. the price of front-runnership, newt. >> exactly. >> thank you joan walsh. had to have you two here. you two are the best at understanding washington. thank you david corn and joan. from herman cain's brain freeze, a thighs word to it, to rick perry's oops last week, to michele bachmann on just about everything she tries to handle, how many blunders can a political party stand and still stand up? and how damaging to the republican brand name are endless gaffes on everything from the important to the hopeless? you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bai

he denies he ever lobbied for freddie mac. we asked freddie mac. they told us gingrich was a consultant and did not lobby for them. it's a fact gingrich was never a registered lobbyist. but many of his critics and his opponents say that's a matter of semantics. gingrich has said he'll make his freddie mac records public to the extent that he can. instead, late today his campaign released a list of what they called a fact sheet about gingrich's ties to freddie mac. they said that is all they will be releasing. joining me now political contributors ari fleischer. you can follow him on twitter @arifleischer. and hillary rosen. how big a problem is this for newt gingrich? >> anderson, i think this is neither a tempest nor a teapot. i think there's any number of people who worked for these companies and gave strategic advice to them. which is what newt acknowledged he did. he said he didn't lobby for them. i think it's problematic the 2008 interview we are said president obama should return the money. obviously, that's a little inconsistent with him kee

newt gingrich's ties to freddie mac could mean trouble with those who blame freddie mac for the housing crisis. his company was charged $1.6 million for consulting with the group. >> it's a consulting group. they offer strategic advice to other countries. i did no lobbying of any kind. i have no interest in lobbying. >> msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com chris alissa has our daily fix. this is not what he wanted to talk about in iowa today. >> i get this is what he's trying to do. he was confronted about fees charged freddie mac. he's trying to say, yes, i was paid as a strategic consultant but never lobbied. lobbying is a dirty word. for voters is that a distinctioç without a different? most people aren't paid $1.6 million for anything. i think it gets him off message and reminds people this is someone who spent a long time in washington, who's been around the block and is not a great kid for the outsider candidate that appears to be what a lot of conservatives want. >> what he said to john harwood last week during the debate is he was advising them to do the ri

his firm made between 1.6 and $1.8 million from freddie mac. widely blamed along with fannie mae for contributing to the housing debacle. payments that started only months after gingrich's own party forced him out of office. when pressed in last week's cnbc debate, he said he offered advice as a hiss tore yang. >> were you not trying to help freddie mac fend off the effort by the bush administration to curb freddie mac. >> no, no -- >> reporter: gingrich did a lot more. >> it's a way for a former member of congress to back door lobby, they call themselves a consultant. they're not doing -- they don't meet any of the definitions of a lobbyists, but they're still influencing policy. >> reporter: while gingrich was privately taking freddie mac's checks he was publicly railing against other politicians including barack obama for accepting campaign contributio s s for the mortgage giants. >> what you have is the rich on wall street and the powerful at fannie mae and freddie mac, had so many politicians bee holden to them that nobody was going to che

compared to the exposure that freddie mac and fannie mae have? >> i appreciate the question, but that is something, given that i'm in a litigation, it is impossible for me to answer. we are seeking to recover appropriate funds. >> thank you. right now, the fhfa is funded through the fields -- through the fees that the tse has received -- that the gsc has received. you would need considerable staffing up to fill the space. under this bill, how would you fond the gsc's? >> i'm not sure there would be gsc's. it is not determined in this bill. that would be something that would have to be figured out. >> is it a gap or a tavern? a small gap or a significant thing? >> for me, it is a significant thing because i want to know where the funds are coming from. >> how much as a cause right now? >> our budget today is on the order of $180 million. i am being told it is probably less than that. but we are funded to assessments on freddie mac and fannie mae but also on the 12 main banks. >> thank you. right now, the investors in fannie mae and freddie mac sec

freddie mac, he's a liar. he's a hypocrite, and i think he's done with the tea party. >> yeah. join the powers that are attacking freddie mac and get paid to defend them. what a brilliant washington game, and now he's been caught the price of front-runnership, newt. >> exactly. >> thank you joan walsh. had to have you two here. i think it's so great. you two are the best at understanding washington. thank you david corn and joan. >>> coming up, from herman cain's brain freeze, that's a nice word for it, to rick perry's oops last week, to michele bachmann on just about everything she tries to handle, how many blunders can a political party stand and still stand up? and how damaging to the republican brand name are endless gaffes on everything from the important to the hopeless? you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. ♪ [ female announcer ] give a little cheer to a family of a soldier. just cut out the cheer from your specially marked box of cheerios, write your message, and we'll see that they get it. >>>

the questions for gingrich center on what he did to make that much money fo freddie mac. gingrich has insisted he did not use his contact as former speaker of the house to lobby members of congress. >> someone asked how did you explain what you were doing but i did no lobbying. >> reporter: officials of freddie mac confirmed gingrich did not lobby but would not provide details. other sources said gingrich was hired to talk up the company's business model. gingrich explained it this way. >> i offered advice and my advice as a historian when they said we have making alones to people with no credit history and no record of paying back anything but that's what the government wants us to do. i said to them at the time. this is a bubble. this is insane. >> reporter: republicans, and especially tea party supporters, point to freddie mac and its competitor, fannie mae, as a symbol of everything that is wrong with big government. on the campaign trail, michele bachmann jumped on it. >> while he was taking that money, i was fighting against fanny and freddie. >> but gingrich today

was on fre freddie mac's payroll for eight years, beginning in 1999. he claims he tried to warn them they were making too many risky loans. >> i said to them at the time, this is a bubble. this is insane. this is impossible. >> reporter: but sources familiar with gingrich's work for freddie mac say they don't recall him ever saying anything like that. they say he was hired for one reason and one reason only -- his political influence. diane? >> and jon karl is reporting in from washington tonight. >>> well, today, an unlikely new face emerged as a symbol for the occupy movement that has spawned protests across the nation. her name is dorli rainey. 4'10", 84 years old, a former schoolteacher. she was pepper sprayed by police during a protest in seattle. tonight, she says she'll be back, and, quote, i'm pretty tough, i guess. and in new york, the demonstrators returned to zuccotti park. but they can no longer camp there. while in london, officials sent letters to protesters, politely asking them to leave. tomorrow marks two months since the occupy protes

warning freddie mac of troubles to come. >> i offered advice. my advice as an historian when they walk in and said we're now loan to people with no credit history and have no record of paying back anything but that's what the government wants us to do, i said to they will at the time. this is a bubble. this is insane. this is impossible. >> yes, that was when we thought it was just $300,000 that newt earned. by the way, bloomberg looked into his claims and found no evidence whatsoever that he ever warned the company that its business model was suspect. however, he was retained to try and gin up support for freddie mac among republicans. and $1.6 million? gosh, isn't that a bit much for a history lesson? >> is it $1.6 million correct? >> i don't know. we're going back to check. >> it sounds like a whole lot more than being an historian. >> i was speaker of the house and a strategic adviser. >> so he denies lobbying while justifying such a large fee because he was speaker of the house. he did not mention the $1.6 million he earned when he railed a

mac fend off the effort by the bush administration to curb freddie mac. >> no, no -- >> to curb freddie mac? >> reporter: some say gingrich did a lot more. >> it's a way for a former member of congress to back door lobby. they call themselves a consultant, they don't meet any definitions of a lobbyist, but they're still influencing policy. >> reporter: while gingrich was privately taking freddie mac's checks he was publicly railing against other politicians including barack obama for accepting campaign contributions from the mortgage giants. >> what you have is the rich on wall street and the powerful at fannie mae and freddie mac, had so many politicians beholden to them, that in fact nobody was going to check them. there is something profoundly wrong about the current system. >> reporter: gingrich's campaign has already overcome criticism of his lifestyle, tiffany purchases and a vacation cruise. now the charge that he's just another washington politician. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> now, at the same time, congress is looking into huge bonuses that fannie mae and freddi

on that note, gregory asked about newt's ties to freddie mac. let's listen to this interesting witness, if you will, what he said. >> this is exactly what i'm talking about. people who come to washington who have public service and they cash in on it and use their public service and access to make money. and unfortunately newt gingrich is one of them who has done it. >> he's engaged in the exact kind of corruption that america disdains. the very things that anger the tea party movement and the occupy wall street movement and everybody who is not in a movement and watches washington and says why are these guys getting all this money? why do they become so rich? why do they have these advantages? unfortunately newt played right into it. >> you call that corruption. that's a heavy charge. >> what is it? it is corruption. >> casino jack sharing the guilt for his lifetime. let me ask if you can explain as a respected legislator, and i mean this, the way they hire big shots who come out of congress or politics generally, they put them in these big law

mac, demanding they return contributions from freddie mac, saying those who helped freddie mac ought to go to jail, democratic officeholders. at the same time, he is cashing checks and walking away with money. where is the consistency in this man? >> herman cain is doing well despite allegations of sexual harassment. then came into view with "the milwaukee sentinel" and questions about libya that seemed to be wilder him. he seems to think that interviews with newspapers are toxic, so this week he stiffed the manchester "union leader." it is like somebody in the college of cardinals stiffing the pope. it just isn't done. >> the manchester "union leader " can completely break you still, i believe. i think it's still in an election year can break and it. >> -- can break a candidate. >> enormously influential paper, especially in the republican primary. its imprimatur or opposition can be dispositive. >> look, it is not going to make any difference. what is killing him is not the manchester "union leader." it is that he is in it over his head and is winging it and everybody can see it pl

i am haldeman and i am ceo of freddie mac. i joined freddie mac in august of 2009. almost a year after the company was placed into conservatorship by the federal housing finance agency. i welcome the opportunity to be here today to address your questions and concerns about compensation for our executive team. let me begin by saying i understand why this hearing is necessary. i understand why the american people are outraged about executive compensation in general. i understand totally why congress and the american people are outraged about executive compensation at companies that have received federal support including fannie and freddie. we have 9% unemployment in our country and there are millions of families at risk of losing their homes. i understand the outrage. how then do a reconcile the compensation system at freddie mac given the suffering that so many families a living with? let me see if i can explain the dilemma i face. my number one objective taking the job in the summer of 2009 was to keep the company functioning. i concluded that there would be more f

one of the important functions that we perform f freddie mac is -- perform at freddie mac is managing an investment portfolio. when i took over it was at $900 million. we brought it down continuously. it is now $680 billion in size. what i worry about is if they make a 1% mistake, that could cost the taxpayers $6.8 billion. if they make a one-tenth of 1% this day, it is $680 million. and the people required to effectively manage that money and the investment portfolio and not make those mistakes are highly skilled, sophisticated, seasoned people that have many, many opportunities for high- paying jobs and we need some of them at freddie mac to make sure we do not have those mistakes. >> thank you. >> mr. tierney for five minutes. >> i want to ask you about principle reductions, mr. demarco. but first i want to share some comments. the former special inspector general for the start program said, the owners of these underwater mortgages have already lost any meaningful chance of recovering the outstanding principal. the sooner this reality is recognized and addressed, the sooner a recov

he's going to get -- >> well, what's it say about freddie mac? i mean, tells me pretty savvy business operation. they go out and they put the former speaker of the house on the payroll trying to swing republicans that we're doing pretty good stuff. it wasn't too long ago republicans were saying freddie mac has been very vital to our ec]nomy. >> right. >> then they made him the boogeyman. this with newt has come out. this is a democratic playground right now for fodder, isn't it? >> yeah, no, it's great, because they can't seem to get their footing. none of the candidates can seem to get their footing. for example, we have positive things starting to happen in ohio, for example, we've had chrysler, they're going to add 1,100 new jobs, up to 1,100 new jobs in toledo because of the auto bailout. some chinese tariffs that were put on that obama put on. real substantive things that led to job creation in states like ohio which are swing states are substantive affecting the lives of human beings in ohio. these guys are sitting here muddling around abou

his firm made between 1.6 and $1.8 million from freddie mac. widely blamed along with fannie mae for contributing to the housing debacle. payments that started only months after gingrich's own party forced him out of congress. >> we have parties -- we did no lobbying, period. >> reporter: when pressed in last week's cnbc debate, he said he offered advice as a historian. >> were you not trying to help freddie mac fend off the effort by the bush administration to curb freddie mac. >> no, no -- >> reporter: gingrich did a lot more. >> it's a way for a former member of congress to back door lobby. they call themselves a consultant, they don't meet any definitions of a lobbyist, but they're still influencing policy. >> reporter: while gingrich was privately taking freddie mac's checks he was publicly railing against other politicians including barack obama for accepting campaign contributions from the mortgage giants. >> what you have is the rich on wall street and the powerful at fannie mae and freddie mac, had so many politicians beholden to them,

he was paid more than $1.5 million by freddie mac. he denies he ever lobbied for them and insists he tried to warn them it was headed toward a financial disaster. >> said to them at the time, this is a bubble. this is insane. >> they had to be bailed out by federal taxpayers and was on a con serve tor ship in 2007, but up until then, it had a roster of lobbyists that red like a who's who in washington. ben webber -- former chief of staff to representative tom delay, susan hershman among them. freddie mac had a number of highly paid consultants like gingrich. >> i can't speak to mr. gingrich or anybody else. i have no idea what they were doing, but we know in terms of people doing lobbying, or involved with lobbyists and planning lobbying, that there's a lot that's not registered. >> now, i called freddie mac for a response and was told quote, we're not discussing past practices that we are no longer engaged in. it was around 2008 when freddie mac folded up its lobbying operations. >> good report. thanks very much. >>> herman cain rais

: take a look at gingrich's own ties at freddie m mac. cnn has discovered that gingrich was paid between $1.6 million and $1.8 million for two separate stints at freddie mac, from 1999, when he left congress, to 2002. and from 2006 to 2008. asked if the money figure was accurate. >> i don't know. we're going back to check. >> reporter: what did the republican presidential hopeful did for freddie mac? gingrich said at one point he offered advice as a quote, historian, telling freddie mac officials that lending to people with no credit history was a mistake. he later said he was a strategic adviser. according to cnn, four people that worked for freddie mac while gingrich was there disagreed with his characterization he was a historian. his role was more strategic, specifically political strategy. officials familiar with gingrich's work in 2006 said the former house speaker was asked to build bridges to capitol hill republicans. i spoke with bob edgar of the liberal group common cause, which advocates more transparency in government. >> what

today has answer for taking money from housing giant freddie mac, who ended up requiring billions in taxpayer bailouts. here's abc's jon karl. >> reporter: government-backed mortgage company freddie mac was at the center of the finical crisis, receiving more bailout money, by far, then any of the banks. and today we learned, in the years leading up to the finical crisis, freddie mac paid newt gingrich nearly $2 million. >> we did no lobbying. >> reporter: paid him for his advice as a historian. >> sounds like a lot more than just being a historian. >> look, i was speaker of the house and a strategic adviser. i think was approached to offer strategic advice. i was glad to offer strategic advice. >> reporter: gingrich's has been glad to slam freddie mac on numerous occasion, blaming it for making too many risky loans, leading to the housing bubble which almost cratered the economy. during the last election, gingrich hammered barack obama for taking campaign contributions from people who worked for freddie mac. and in a recent debate, he went further, saying that some democrats should b

he's going to get -- >> well, what's it say about freddie mac? i mean, tells me pretty savvy business operation. they go out and they put the former speaker of the house on the payroll trying to swing republicans that we're doing pretty good stuff. it wasn't too long ago republicans we saying freddie mac has been very vital to our ec]nomy. >> right. >> then they made him the boogeyman. this with newt has come out. this is a democratic playground right now for fodder, isn't it? >> yeah, no, it's great, because they can't seem to get their footing. none of the candidates can seem to get their footing. for example, we have positive things starting to happen in ohio, for example, we've had chrysler, they're going to add 1,100 new jobs, up to 1,100 new jobs in toledo because of the auto bailout. some chinese tariffs that were put on that obama put on. real substantive things that led to job creation in states like ohio which are swing states are substantive affecting the lives of human beings in ohio. these guys are sitting here muddling around about

fannie mae and freddie mac, and juan williams over here. how long do they get to keep doing what they are doing? >>juan: first, you are not making friends with the presidential candidates. gingrich will have to send a note to you about your suggestions here. >>shepard: i just said nice work if you can get it $1.6 million for consulting. >>guest: you said the woman would benefit. this is a bad day for gingrich in iowa, the iowa for christian leaders talking about his marital infidelity and now the wife that was taking him to the cleaners, for money that conservatives as ill-gotten goods because conservatives have been all over fannie mae and freddie mac back to the bush administration and the idea that the former speaker is now using his influence to give them advice to advance the bad loans that led to the mortgage crisis is going to infuriate many in the republican base at a time when the numbers were climbing. >>shepard: he went on the conservative radio talk show host show to try to put, stop the flow from happening, and is it your sense

he's going to get -- >> well, what's it say about freddie mac? i mean, tells me pretty savvy business operation. they go out and they put the former speaker of the house on the payroll trying to swing republicans that we're doing pretty good stuff. it wasn't too long ago republicans were saying freddie mac has been very vital to our economy. then they made him the boogeyman. this with newt has come out. this is a democratic playground right now for fodder, isn't it? >> yeah, no, it's great, because they can't seem to get their footing. none of the candidates can seem to get their footing. for example, we have positive things starting to happen in ohio, for example, we've had chrysler, they're going to add 1,100 new jobs, up to 1,100 new jobs in toledo because of the auto bailout. real substantive things that led to job creation in states like ohio which are swing states are substantive. these guys are sitting here muddling around about fannie and freddie trying to blame them for all the stuff. they're getting their footing while positive things a

mac, demanding they return contributions to freddie mac, saying those who had helped freddie mac ought to go to jail, democratic officeholders. at the same time, he is cashing checks and walking with money. where is the consistency in this man? >> herman cain was doing well despite allegations of sexual harassment then came an interview with "the milwaukee sentinel" and questions about libya which seemed to be wilder him. he now seems to feel that it of yours at these papers are toxic, so this week he stiffed the manchester "union leader." 4 republican primary candidate to stiff the "union leader" is like a candidate for the college of cardinals to stiff teh pope. >> the manchester "union leader" to completely break you still, i believe. i think is still in an election year in can break a candidate. >> it is an enormously influential paper, especially in a republican primary. imprimatur or opposition can be dispositive. >> what is killing them is not the "union leader," it is that he is in over his head and winning it and everybody can see it plain as day -- winging it and everybody ca

they consulted with freddie mac to expand homeownership, an idea freddie mac's chief lobbyist said he pitched to president george w. bush's white house. an associated press report published this afternoon added he was hired to strategyize with his employer about identifying political friends on capitol hill who would help the company through a very difficult legislative environment. in other words, he was a lobbyist. in the "meet the press" weekly "press pass" david gregory asked washington's most corrupt lobbyist of our time, jackç abm hoff to clarify what he thinks gingrich was doing. >> it is corruption. any provision of favor to members of congress and their staff is bribery, and any cashing in on it is corruption. >> and you would make the case that he's cashing in as a former speaker getting that kind of contract? >> i know he says they paid him as a historian to give him a historic lesson, but i'm unaware of my history professor being paid that much money. >> joining me now are rich gailen, a veteran republican strategist and former press secretary, and chris hayes editor at

congress was already unhappy about spending $170 billion to bail out freddie mac and fannie mae. tonight, jim angle reports there is renewed outrage over expense. >> they learned executives paid $35 million in salary and bonuses in the last two years that was the last straw. >> the bonuses have come just as freddie and fannie asked for additional $13 billion in hand-out from the taxpayers. >> surely you can understand this from the taxpayers and paying bonuses as it's going through the gates of hell. >> i'm mystified why the achievements should entitle executive to million dollar bonus. >> they vote to stop a bonus as with as reduce the executive pay. the head of freddie mac understands the outrage over the compensation. >> we 9% unemployment in the country and millions of families at risk of losing the homes. i understand the outrage. >> the federal official who oversees them said he has to pay more to get the best people in hopes of minimizing taxpayer losses. >> others may believe that talent is easily and quickly hired compensation far below that of competing private firms bu