January 29, 2007 -- WMR has learned that the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) was under a joint U.S. Justice Department, Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation that, among other illegal activities, included the funneling of money for illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank and Gaza before the joint investigation was abruptly dropped last August. During the mid and late 1990s, senior Fannie Mae officials reportedly traveled to Israel and met with Binyamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres to hammer out the money deals. The government is insisting on keeping certain information sealed in its investigation of former Fannie Mae Chairman and CEO Franklin Raines. The information pre-dates Raines' term at Fannie Mae and may involve some aspects of the illegal money flows for Israeli housing settlements. George W. Bush named his long-time "friend," Yale roommate, and former Mayor of Knoxville, Victor Ashe, as a board member of Fannie Mae from 2001 to 2004. In 1995, while Fannie Mae officials were first talking to Israeli officials about money for settlements, Ashe led a delegation of U.S. mayors to Israel. Ashe has served as Bush's ambassador to Poland since 2004.