This story is now officially dead. I was a bit concerned about Johnson before his relationship to Countrywide chairman Angelo Mozilo broke, and I was all the more concerned after hearing about what, despite the Obama camp's best arguments to the contrary, amounted to the definition of a "Sweetheart Deal". It's refreshing nonetheless to see how decisive the campaign has been in preserving its message of change.
Disclaimer: I am not saying Johnson is a bad guy, or anything like that. I accepted the explanation of the Obama camp that he wasn't even being paid for his vetting work and that he was not the one that needed to be subjected to vetting. I am simply saying that countrywide is a notorious predator and it looked real bad to have a senior staff member who received a special deal on that much in loans, regardless of their being within market norms. It was a mistake and for it he had to go.
The [lesser] problem that still remains for many of us is that team Obama has been showing an inclination towards placing members of the elite corporate class and their apologists in positions of significant influence. His Chief Economic Advisor, Jason Furman, for example, wrote the shining "Wal-Mart: A Progressive Success Story". The two good pieces of news are that he responds to constituent pressure on theses matters, and that he is a million times better than John McCain. Still, I think it's okay and actually really good when the progressive community legitimately pushes back like this on camp Obama.
Update thanks to Ballerina X for dredging up this story from the NYT which, according to C-Span, was probably the straw that broke the camel's back today.