Ethics complaint targets Obama’s below-market mortgage

Carolyn Hileman - The Voice* | July 11, 2008

Complaints have been filed with both the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee and the Federal Election Commission over a deal Sen. Barack Obama, now the likely Democratic nominee for president this year, got on his mortgage.

Officials with Judicial Watch, a public interest watchdog group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, said the mortgage loan granted to the senator in 2005 was below market rates and apparently not available to the general consumer.

“It appears that due to his position as a United States Senator, Barack Obama received improper special treatment from Northern Trust resulting in an illicit ‘gift’ which has a value of almost $125,000 in interest savings,” the organization wrote in its request to the Senate ethics committee. “Judicial Watch therefore respectfully requests a full investigation into whether the special Northern Trust mortgage received by Senator Barack Obama constitutes a gift that is prohibited by Senate ethics rules.”

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