Rep. Towns subpoenas documents dealing with sub-prime mortgage scandal
By Stephen Witt
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| Courier-Life Publications |
A Brooklyn lawmaker last week issued a subpoena seeking information on a mortgage company that had given him two mortgages and allegedly contributed to last year’s sub-prime financial meltdown.
Rep. Edolphus Towns, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued the subpoena to the Bank of America for Countrywide Financial VIP program documents.
The VIP program was operated under former Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo and known within the company as “Friends of Angelo.”
The “Friends of Angelo” program provided loans to public figures and other favored borrowers often at lower interest rates or with lower origination fees than were available to the general public.
Towns and his wife took out a Countrywide loan in 1997 to purchase a home in Lutz, Fla., and then refinanced the property in September 2003 with a mortgage of more than $180,000 from the lender.
Also in September 2003, the Towns’ took out a Countrywide loan of roughly $190,000 on their Brooklyn home, records show. This loan was paid off in 2005 when the couple obtained a $411,000 loan through another company.
The Wall Street Journal reported that some information in the Towns’ mortgage documents raise the possibility they were made through Countrywide’s VIP program.
Other federal elected officials and operatives - including both Democrats and Republicans - reportedly benefitted from the sweetheart VIP mortgages.
Most notable of these was Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota), who were both cleared by the Senate Ethics committee of any wrongdoing.
Among the documents subpoenaed were those related to covered borrowers serviced by Countrywide Financial through the VIPor Friends of Angelo program.
The subpoena came after several months of bipartisan bickering between Towns and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking minority member on the committee.
The bickering reached an apex in the last few weeks, when Issa alleged that Democratic committee members walked out of a committee meeting to avoid a vote to issue the subpoenas.
The walkout was video taped and spread over the Internet.
Issa spokesperson Kurt Bardella said the congress member believes in a bipartisan spirit and that secretly video taping the walkout does not violate that spirit.
“Anytime we expose wrongdoing we have every right to use any means possible to come to the truth and in this case this is what we did,” said Bardella.
Towns spokesperson Shrita Sterlin countered that the committee meeting was never convened, and a large majority of those that walked out had a major scheduling conflict as they sit on other committees.
“Anybody that knows Washington knows people are constantly going in and out of meetings. It’s what we do,” said Sterlin.
Issa and Republican operatives also stated that Towns had the locks changed on the Republican entrance to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee room - an allegation that Towns denies.
“Republicans have at no time been denied access to the hearing room or their offices. The Ranking Member (Issa) and I discussed how we can cooperate to prevent violations of House rules governing the use of hearing rooms, we reached agreement, and I consider this matter resolved,” said Towns.
Rep. Edolphus Towns, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued the subpoena to the Bank of America for Countrywide Financial VIP program documents.
The VIP program was operated under former Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo and known within the company as “Friends of Angelo.”
The “Friends of Angelo” program provided loans to public figures and other favored borrowers often at lower interest rates or with lower origination fees than were available to the general public.
Towns and his wife took out a Countrywide loan in 1997 to purchase a home in Lutz, Fla., and then refinanced the property in September 2003 with a mortgage of more than $180,000 from the lender.
Also in September 2003, the Towns’ took out a Countrywide loan of roughly $190,000 on their Brooklyn home, records show. This loan was paid off in 2005 when the couple obtained a $411,000 loan through another company.
The Wall Street Journal reported that some information in the Towns’ mortgage documents raise the possibility they were made through Countrywide’s VIP program.
Other federal elected officials and operatives - including both Democrats and Republicans - reportedly benefitted from the sweetheart VIP mortgages.
Most notable of these was Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota), who were both cleared by the Senate Ethics committee of any wrongdoing.
Among the documents subpoenaed were those related to covered borrowers serviced by Countrywide Financial through the VIPor Friends of Angelo program.
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The bickering reached an apex in the last few weeks, when Issa alleged that Democratic committee members walked out of a committee meeting to avoid a vote to issue the subpoenas.
The walkout was video taped and spread over the Internet.
Issa spokesperson Kurt Bardella said the congress member believes in a bipartisan spirit and that secretly video taping the walkout does not violate that spirit.
“Anytime we expose wrongdoing we have every right to use any means possible to come to the truth and in this case this is what we did,” said Bardella.
Towns spokesperson Shrita Sterlin countered that the committee meeting was never convened, and a large majority of those that walked out had a major scheduling conflict as they sit on other committees.
“Anybody that knows Washington knows people are constantly going in and out of meetings. It’s what we do,” said Sterlin.
Issa and Republican operatives also stated that Towns had the locks changed on the Republican entrance to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee room - an allegation that Towns denies.
“Republicans have at no time been denied access to the hearing room or their offices. The Ranking Member (Issa) and I discussed how we can cooperate to prevent violations of House rules governing the use of hearing rooms, we reached agreement, and I consider this matter resolved,” said Towns.
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