House Continues Investigation into Sallie Mae Stock Sale

The House Education Committee has been investigating Sallie Mae head Alfred Lord's sale of 400,000 shares in February, just days before President Bush announced cuts in government subsidies and a resulting drop in the stock price.  Yesterday it released a Sallie Mae document disclosing a December meeting between Sallie Mae mid-level executives and government budget officials.  The company maintains that budget cuts were not discussed, Lord was not briefed on the meeting, and the timing of the stock sale was coincidence.  In recent months Sallie Mae agreed to a private equity deal for $25 billion.  It also replaced its CEO Thomas Fitzpatrick in an effort to improve its dealings with the Democratic majority.  See WPost, OMB Talks Preceded Sallie Mae Stock Sale.