Edwards Says He Didn't Know About Subprime Push

Edwards said his role at a company with a growing stake in the subprime industry should not be seen as undermining his commitment to helping the poor. He noted that since the 2004 election, he has founded a poverty think tank, started a charity for poor college students and assisted campaigns to raise the minimum wage.

"If you put it in the context of all those things, it's very clear where my heart is and where my commitment is," he said.

Subprime loans have been particularly prevalent in New Orleans, which Edwards has made a focal point of his campaign. He formally announced his bid in a Katrina-ravaged neighborhood there and returned for a visit last week.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported in December 2005 on the problem of subprime loan foreclosures after Katrina, citing as an example Green Tree's effort to hold a 67-year-old hurricane victim in default on her subprime loan for a home two months after it was flooded out. Green Tree general counsel Brian Corey said that case was not representative of the company's practices in New Orleans.

Edwards said he asked Fortress this week to find Katrina victims foreclosed on by Green Tree and to help them. "I said, 'This is not okay that this is happening,' " he said. "I don't know how many cases there are . . . but the right thing is to go back and fix this."

Disclosure forms to be released on Tuesday will show how much Edwards was paid for his work at Fortress, which lasted until December 2006, when he stepped down to run for president. He has received $167,460 in campaign contributions from Fortress employees and their families, his largest sum from a single company.

Edwards, a highly successful trial lawyer before entering politics, said yesterday he went to work for Fortress to learn more about capital markets. He acknowledged the job provided a financial benefit at a time when his only other salary was $40,000 from the poverty center.

"I'm 53 years old and have worked my whole life since I was a teenager, and here I was unemployed except for a part-time job, and so I wanted to work and earn an income," he said. "No question that was part of it."

At the time of his hiring, he said, he sought assurance that Fortress was not involved in predatory lending, union-busting or dismantling companies. His work, he said, involved giving the firm insight into Washington and observing trends he saw while traveling the country. Some months found him at the firm's New York offices for several days, and other months he would not go at all, he said.

In hindsight, Edwards said, he does not regret taking the job. "I guess it's my belief that I did learn something about capital markets that's valuable," he said. "I think it's very important for a president to understand how markets operate."