But on Wednesday, Obama issued a statement on Johnson's resignation: "Jim did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee. . . . I remain grateful to Jim for his service and his efforts in this process."
Separately, Johnson said in a statement that he had done nothing wrong but was leaving the campaign because "I would not dream of being a party to distracting attention from that historic effort."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, June 13, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 30 words Type of Material: Correction
Obama advisor: An article in Thursday's Section A about the resignation of Barack Obama advisor Jim Johnson misspelled the last name of former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina as Fiorini.
With Johnson's departure, Obama's vice presidential vetting team now includes only former Deputy Atty. Gen. Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, neither of whom has participated in any previous vice presidential selection processes.
Johnson helped vet running mates for Mondale in 1984 and for John F. Kerry in 2004.
Along with serving in those campaigns and in various public-sector jobs, Johnson also has had an extensive business career. After leaving his post as executive assistant to Mondale, Johnson founded Public Strategies, a consulting firm, before joining the Lehman Brothers investment firm in 1985. From 1991 to 1998, he served as chief executive of Fannie Mae.
Currently, Johnson is vice chairman of a private banking firm, Perseus.
When he left Fannie Mae, Johnson was receiving $6 million to $7 million a year in compensation and perks, part of a pattern at the institution that later was questioned by congressional critics.
In addition, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that he received close to $2 million in mortgage loans with the help of the chief executive of Countrywide, which is under federal investigation in the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The first loan was made before Johnson left Fannie Mae in 1998.
Johnson also was associated with an executive compensation controversy at United HealthCare, where he served on the board. The insurer's chief executive, William McGuire, resigned after it was reported that he had been granted more than $1.4 billion in stock options. Some of that money was returned as a result of legal settlements, but McGuire still left with more than $800 million.
Karl Cambronne, a Minnesota lawyer for shareholders suing for the return of some of those funds, slammed Johnson this week in an interview, saying Johnson received at least $9 million in profit from options he cashed while serving on the board.
"Jim Johnson served on both the compensation and audit committees at various times. . . . It is difficult to fathom how someone who was paid as much as he was as a board member didn't take more proactive steps" to prevent improper compensation practices, Cambronne said.
Nell Minow, co-founder of the Corporate Library and a shareholder advocate, acknowledged that Johnson sat on boards where excessive compensation was authorized. But in the case of United HealthCare, she said, Johnson -- once he grasped the problem -- acted aggressively to resolve it.
"Even though I don't agree with everything he has done, I do respect the way he responded to those cases where there were problems. He did show real responsiveness," Minow said.
A spokesman for Johnson, Washington lawyer Brian Brooks, could not be reached for comment.
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tom.hamburger@latimes.com
