(This post has been updated).
Rep. Michele Bachmann hit former Speaker Newt Gingrich hard on Wednesday for receiving consulting fees from mortgage giant Freddie Mac, but it turns out Bachmann herself received campaign contributions from The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s (Freddie Mac) political action committee during the 2007-2008 cycle.
“While [Gingrich] was taking that money, I was fighting against Fannie and Freddie,” Bachmann said on Wednesday.
It turns out that while she was “fighting” them, she was also taking their money.
To be sure, there is a big difference between being paid millions to consult for the group — and receiving campaign contributions from Freddie PAC. Still, it appears Bachmann may be living in a bit of a glass house here — especially for someone who promised “no surprises.”
Update: Bachmann’s camp tells me they may have returned the money after receiving the contributions. (I will update if that turns out to be the case.) If that does turn out to be what happened, it will also be interesting to note the timing of when the money was returned (the fact that they received at least two contributions — five months apart — makes me wonder).
***Update: Bachmann’s 2008 October report shows the contributions from Freddie PAC to Bachmann’s campaign were, in fact, returned on September 24, 2008.
It is at least curious, though, why Bachmann’s campaign received the first Freddie PAC contribution in February of 2008 — and returned the money seven months later. (I will update again if more information arises…)