Barack Obama -- No I Won't! Posted Feb 25th 2009 11:52AM by TMZ Staff
We've been calling the White House for the last day, trying to get a reaction from the Prez on our story about the lavish parties Northern Trust threw in L.A. last week. We finally got a statement back -- "No comment."
Remember, this is a bank that got $1.6 billion in bailout money and blew a wad of cash paying Sheryl Crow, Chicago, and Earth, Wind & Fire. And then there were the dinners, the Tiffany gift bags, the fabulous cocktail parties -- all from the bank that laid off 450 workers in December.
Obama was under fire for a mortgage he got from Northern Trust back in 2005. Obama got a 5.625% rate, which was lower than the going rate of about 6%. The Federal Election Commission recently ruled no laws were violated and the rate was in line with other mortgages.
But "no comment." Really?