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SENATOR FEINSTEIN OFFERED FUNDING FOR FDIC DAYS BEFORE HUSBAND RICHARD BLUM AWARDED CONTRACT

Financier Richard Blum with wife Senator Dianne Feinstein

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., offered to help the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. secure federal funds last year, just days before the agency awarded a contract to Feinstein’s husband’s firm in the housing foreclosure crisis.

Under FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair, the contract went to CB Richard Ellis Group, the biggest commercial real estate services company in the world. The Washington Times first reported details of the deal Tuesday.

Feinstein’s office said the senator was unaware her husband’s firm had received an FDIC contract until the Times inquired about it Jan. 21. Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum, didn’t know of the pending contract until after it was publicly announced Nov. 26, a CBRE spokesman said.

Bair learned of the contract by reading about it in the newspaper, the FDIC said in a statement.

The contracting decision was made by a team of FDIC permanent staff and no one outside of the group was aware that CB Richard Ellis was under consideration, the FDIC’s statement said.

Blum’s firm is selling foreclosed properties that are held by the FDIC.

The agency’s career staff opened competitive bidding on the work last spring. On Oct. 30, Feinstein expressed backing for Bair’s proposal to stem home foreclosures through the use of federal bailout funds.

Bair was unable to get the Treasury Department to adopt her proposal.

At no time was Blum involved in the FDIC bid process, nor did he even know that CB Richard Ellis was competing until after the contract was publicly announced, the firm said in a statement.

Blum, who is CBRE’s non-executive board chairman, does not participate in the firm’s day-to-day activities and he has no operational role, the firm added.

See Related: WORLD POLITICS

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