During the presidential campaign, we noted on several occasions that a few Republicans in Congress tried to strengthen regulatory control over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae before their eventual collapse.  A bill written by Chuck Hagel and co-sponsored by the defeated Elizabeth Dole, John Sununu, and John McCain ran afoul of Freddie Mac’s lobbying, as the AP’s Pete Yost reports.  Democrats like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd had some Republican company:

The Nationals tickets were bargains for Freddie Mac, part of a well-orchestrated, multimillion-dollar campaign to preserve its largely regulatory-free environment, with particular pressure exerted on Republicans who controlled Congress at the time.

Internal Freddie Mac budget records show $11.7 million was paid to 52 outside lobbyists and consultants in 2006. Power brokers such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were recruited with six-figure contracts. …

The AP previously described, in October, how Freddie Mac thwarted efforts to bring a tough regulatory bill sponsored by Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and John McCain of Arizona to a full Senate vote.

At a meeting days after Hagel’s bill went to the full Senate, Syron and McLoughlin berated the company’s in-house lobbyists for failing to keep Hagel’s bill corralled in committee, said the four people familiar with events at Freddie Mac at the time.

Freddie Mac shifted into high gear, secretly paying a Republican consulting firm, Washington-based DCI Group, $2 million to kill Hagel’s legislation. The covert lobbying campaign targeted Republican senators in 2005-06.

According to the newly obtained records, DCI’s deployment was part of a broader campaign that targeted mainly Republicans on Capitol Hill.

We already know about the Democrats who blocked regulatory reform.  The Republicans controlled Congress at the time, and despite the Bush administration’s urging for regulatory reform, those bills never moved out of committee.  Now we know why.  Be sure to read the whole thing.