US House GOP To Call For Subpoena Vote On Countrywide Documents
By Michael R. Crittenden, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives plan
to push for a formal vote to have a congressional committee subpoena documents
from the former Countrywide Financial Corp. dealing with a VIP mortgage loan
program.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., plans to request the vote on Thursday at a
meeting of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, according to a
spokesman. Panel Democrats have so far opposed holding a committee vote to
formally subpoena the documents from Bank of America Corp. (BAC), which acquired
Countrywide last year.
The issue stems from the disclosure last year of a "Friends of Angelo" VIP
program run by Countrywide, so named for former Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo.
Some prominent lawmakers, notably Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Kent
Conrad, D-N.D., were revealed to be in the program.
Republicans have sought to seize on the issue as fodder for a partisan fight,
even though an investigation by the Senate Select Committee on Ethics cleared
Dodd and Conrad of wrongdoing earlier this year. That review also found that the
discounts offered to those in the program were not the best deals available at
Countrywide or in the broader marketplace. VIPs "were often offered quicker,
more efficient loan processing" amid other perks, the Ethics panel found.
-By Michael R. Crittenden, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9273;
michael.crittenden@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-13-091101ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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