Obama's Embattled Veep Hunter to Quit

A member of Barack Obama’s VP selection team who has drawn a firestorm of criticism this week is stepping down from his post, CNN reports. “Jim [Johnson] did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept,” Obama said in a statement.

The former Walter Mondale campaign manager has been in hot water since a Saturday story in the Wall Street Journal revealed below-market rate mortgages he received from the controversial Countrywide—because of a friendship with the lender’s CEO. (More Jim Johnson stories.)