From The Washington Post:

When mortgage giant Freddie Mac feared several years ago that Sen. John McCain was too outspoken on the issue of executive pay, it pinpointed a lobbyist known for his closeness to McCain and hired him to work with the senator.

Mark Buse, a longtime McCain adviser who had been staff director of the Senate commerce committee, signed on as a Freddie Mac lobbyist, and his firm, ML Strategies, earned $460,000 in lobbying fees in late 2003 and 2004, according to lobbying disclosures. Buse is now chief of staff at McCain’s Senate office.

Buse was one of many strategic hires made by Freddie Mac in its efforts to sew up support and manage opponents on Capitol Hill, a push that peaked in 2004 with the retention of 34 outside lobbying firms. Over the past decade, Freddie spent more than $95 million on lobbying, while its sister company, Fannie Mae, spent more than $79 million.

It would probably be wise for the McCain campaign to 86 any criticism of Sen. Barack Obama’s ties to former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson.

With the revelations that McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, a longtime lobbyist, pocketed millions from the mortgage industry; and now this — it is clear that McCain’s ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are far closer, and more questionable, than Obama’s.