Fred Thompson, who recently announced his support for Newt Gingrich, warned that Mitt Romney would be hobbled as the GOP nominee over a Swiss bank account he once held and whether he had control over investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through a blind trust.
“My concern is in a general election David Axelrod is not going to be as nice about all that as the people on the stage were tonight with regard to a Swiss bank account and a blind trust,” Thompson said.
Former Rep. JC Watts, another Newt backer, also touched on the issue
“The government said in 1994 and other times that you can set parameters and say I don’t want my investment trust to be invested in tobacco or liquor, I don’t want it in foreign accounts.” JC Watts. “I just think it presented more questions, not more answers. He did know about the campaign ad and yet you say I approve of this ad, or you don’t know that your money was in a foreign trust fund.”
Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said that reports that Romney’s mutual fund investments that included mortgage backed securities were not in a blind trust out of Romney’s control were “erroneous” and that Gingrich had similar holdings.
“It’s hard to find a money market mutual fund that doesn’t include mortgage securities backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” he said.
