You may have seen a YouTube that's been zipping around the Internet over the past week featuring clips from a Congressional Hearing on Fannie Mae that took place in late September 2004 (as of this writing it has registered more than one million views). The eight minute and thirty-seven second video attacks Democrats for thwarting oversight of Fannie Mae and shows Republicans voicing support for increased regulation.

One clip in the video offers what looks to be damning proof of Rep. Barney Frank declaring there are "no safety and soundness issues" with Fannie Mae. Another shows Rep. Maxine Waters saying there is "no crisis" and touting the "outstanding leadership of Franklin Raines" - the head of Fannie Mae who was forced out shortly thereafter in disgrace for accounting fraud that took place under his watch. Yet another shows Rep. Lacy Clay calling the hearing a "political lynching of Frank Raines."

Playing a bit part in the video was Armando Falcon, Jr., the Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). Mr. Falcon, who was appointed to the position by Bill Clinton in 1999, went before the committee to present OFHEO's preliminary findings on accounting irregularities at Fannie Mae.

In the video, Mr. Falcon comes in for some rough treatment at the hands of Rep. Gregory Meeks, who declared he was "pissed off" at Mr. Falcon for submitting his report and said that it called into question Mr. Falcon's credibility and competence.

I tracked down Mr. Falcon and spoke to him briefly yesterday by phone. I asked him if he'd seen the video (he had) and whether he felt the selective clips in the video presented an accurate representation of what took place that day.

"It was an accurate depiction of how that hearing went," Mr. Falcon said. "As someone who worked for the Banking Committee for eight years, I was disappointed by the reception I got when I tried to submit the report on the findings for Fannie Mae. They gave me no benefit of the doubt that I might be right."

I asked Mr. Falcon if the September 2004 hearing was an isolated event, or whether this kind of thing happened on more than one occasion.

"My whole tenure at OFHEO trying to strengthen oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - it was always a challenge in dealing with members of Congress who thought these companies could do no wrong," Mr. Falcon responded.

Clashing with Congress was "symptomatic of the difficulties that came with trying to be a strong regulator," Mr. Falcon said, adding that those difficulties often came from both sides of the aisle.

I asked Mr. Falcon if there were times when he felt he was "thwarted" by Congress, and whether that would be the proper term to describe the kind of opposition he ran into.

"Yes," Mr. Falcon said, "there were many instances over the years where that happened."

But, Mr. Falcon added, there were "some good members of Congress" who were supportive of his agency's efforts, citing Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Richard Baker (R-LA) as two members in particular who worked on behalf of OFHEO.

"So we had some bipartisan support from some members of Congress," Mr. Falcon said, "Unfortunately, we also had to deal with some strong opposition."