Probe Into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Widens

The Washington Post reports on the FBI probe of Fannie and Freddie :

More recently, analysts and the press questioned how the companies calculated their capital -- a government-mandated financial cushion used to offset losses. For most of the year, the companies -- and their regulator -- said the companies had sufficient capital.

In the weeks leading up to the takeover, government examiners looking through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's books worried about what made up the capital the companies were claiming. For instance, they counted as part of their capital certain tax credits they were due.

But the tax credits could only be applied against profits. Since the companies were experiencing big losses, the tax credits had little immediate value.

No word yet from MSNBC's David Gregory on this one.