Fannie's Top Legal Eagle Leaving

Fannie Mae's chief legal officer, Thomas E. Donilon, is leaving the troubled mortgage giant to rejoin his former law firm.At month's end Mr. Donilon will become a partner at O'Melveny & Myers. Fannie Mae has not yet named an interim replacement for Mr. Donilon, whose official title at Fannie is executive vice president for law and policy. He joined the company in 1999. A spokeswoman for the government-sponsored enterprise said some of the legal division employees who report to Mr. Donilon will now report to acting chief executive officer Daniel Mudd. During his first run at O'Melveny & Myers, Mr. Donilon specialized in domestic and international litigation and antitrust matters. Fannie is facing a $9 billion to $11 billion downward restatement in earnings dating back to 2001. The company's accounting practices are the subject of investigations being conducted by the Justice Department, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. During his career in Washington, Mr. Donilon was also chief of staff to Secretary of State Warren Christopher in the Clinton administration.