Posted on 12/19/2011 5:16:37 AM PST by Hunton Peck
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional investigators said Monday that four House members received VIP discounted loans from the former Countrywide Financial Corp., the lender whose subprime mortgages was largely responsible for the nation's foreclosure crisis.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, declined to name the four but wrote the House Ethics Committee that it should investigate the lawmakers.
Issa, in a letter dated Friday and released Monday, said there could be additional lawmakers who received discounted loans.
The most favored customers of Countrywide were known as "Friends of Angelo," who were given discounts in a VIP section under control of the company's CEO Angelo Mozilo. However, Issa said his investigators discovered that other sections of Countrywide also processed VIP loans to public officials and others in position to help the company.
Countrywide was taken over by Bank of America, which has given Issa's committee 100,000 documents in response to subpoenas.
Issa's letter to ethics Chairman Jo Bonner of Alabama and ranking Democrat Linda Sanchez of California said: "Testimony and documents show that Countrywide used the VIP program to build relationships with government officials and others positioned to advance Countrywide's business interests.
"Between January 1996 and June 2008, Countrywide's VIP unit gave discounted loans to employees of the federal government, including the U.S. Congress."
He added, "My staff is also aware of the possibility that loans with VIP benefits were conferred to other members and serviced by a separate loan processing branch."
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
I hope they go after Chris Dodd.
He was in big with Angelo.
“”Issa’s letter to ethics Chairman Jo Bonner of Alabama and ranking Democrat Linda Sanchez of California””
Linda Sanchez - sister of Loretta. She wouldn’t even know how to spell ethics!
This is the House side of the investigation. Senators Dodd and Kent Conrad have already been “investigated” and “cleared” of wrongdoing by their Senate friends.
Ain’t collegiality great?
I applaud Mr. Issa for his letters to the ethics Committee, but he might just as well have written to Santa Claus at the North Pole.
The ethics committee is a joke.
The painful Censuring of Charles Rangel for a full 45 seconds should have told Mr. Issa that, plus the ethics trial of Maxine Waters. Wait , we still havent had that one have we?
Our very own Dear Leader has a friend of The Northern Trust Bank mortgage!
It wouldn't be if the Ethics Committee were staffed with constituents, instead of congresscritters. The Congressional Ethics Committee should be staffed like a Grand Jury, citizens picked at random. Having congresscritters sit in judgement of congresscritters is like picking a jury from the country jail.
Man: I am 100% with you on that.
there should be an Ethics committee made up of patriotic citizens who arent worried about their political futures.
Not-so-subtle AssPress bias: The congresscritters haven't been named, but the headline is intended to make everyone assume that they are all Republicans.Investigators say 4 Reps got discounted loans
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