In January 2009, the issue was raised whether Feinstein violated Senate ethics rules to avoid appearances of conflicts of interest when she introduced legislation that gave $25 billion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to help finance an FDIC proposal to avoid home foreclosures by promoting loan workouts and increasing federal loan guarantees. Just before the FDIC had signed a contract with CBRE, her husband's firm, to unload foreclosed properties for prices higher than industry averages. Spokesmen for the FDIC, Feinstein and CBRE said there was no connection between the legislation and the contract and that the couple didn't know about CBRE's business with FDIC until after it was awarded. <ref>http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/feinstein_fdic_husband/2009/04/21/205455.html</ref> | In January 2009, the issue was raised whether Feinstein violated Senate ethics rules to avoid appearances of conflicts of interest when she introduced legislation that gave $25 billion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to help finance an FDIC proposal to avoid home foreclosures by promoting loan workouts and increasing federal loan guarantees. Just before the FDIC had signed a contract with CBRE, her husband's firm, to unload foreclosed properties for prices higher than industry averages. Spokesmen for the FDIC, Feinstein and CBRE said there was no connection between the legislation and the contract and that the couple didn't know about CBRE's business with FDIC until after it was awarded. <ref>http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/feinstein_fdic_husband/2009/04/21/205455.html</ref> |