Clinton Rips Countrywide

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Sen. Hillary Clinton regularly bashes the mortgage industry, especially the management of Countrywide Financial Corp., the lender that has come to symbolize the housing crisis. She doesn’t mention her presidential campaign’s connections to the company, the Wall Street Journal reports.


One of Sen. Clinton’s chief campaigners within the Hispanic community in Texas, which holds a primary Tuesday, has been Henry Cisneros, a political leader from San Antonio who served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Sen. Clinton’s husband. Few high-profile supporters in Latino-heavy Texas come with as much demographic appeal as Mr. Cisneros. Landing his endorsement was a coup for Sen. Clinton.


Until late last year, Mr. Cisneros sat on the board of Countrywide, one of the most-lucrative board seats in Corporate America. The position grossed him more than $5 million in stock sales since 2001 and paid him a $360,000 salary in 2006, Securities and Exchange Commission records show.


A crisis-management public-relations firm headed by Mark Penn, the Clinton campaign’s chief strategist, was hired by Countrywide to restore its image and employee morale shortly after the company reported a $1.2 billion third-quarter loss and announced massive layoffs. Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo said at the time that the company was being “demonized something fierce.”


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