This is an awkward story for Barney Frank. I particularly like how he absolves the bank of blame because they bought Fanny stock and it’s the government’s fault that the stock is worthless, not the buyer’s fault for exercising bad judgment.
UPDATE: And it wasn’t Fannie’s fault either. It was the government takeover that made the stock worthless. Something about this story reminds me of the guy who killed his parents and then asked the court to show him mercy because he was an orphan.