Surprise: Democrats Refusing To Issue Subpoenas In Countrywide “VIP Loan” Scandal
We know that Senators Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd got sweetheart loans from Countrywide, but Democrats aren’t willing to risk that more Democrats might be tangled up in the scandal by subpoenaing additional records.
Republicans, to their credit, are willing to risk it though.
WASHINGTON — House Democrats have declined to subpoena available records that might reveal whether other members of Congress got discounted VIP mortgages from subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp. similar to the sweetheart deals given Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad.
Republicans say they are willing to risk that the records now held by Bank of America may show that GOP lawmakers were also “friends of Angelo” who got preferential terms on personal mortgages at the behest of then-Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.
This has implications for the Senators already caught up in this scandal. Senator Kent Conrad, for instance, has made a lot of noise about wanting to be above-board in this matter. He’s said that he looks forward to testifying before Congressional ethics investigators. So I’m sure that Senator Conrad will be on the record soon demanding that his fellow Democrats issue these additional subpoenas and get to the root of this scandal, right?
We’re waiting, Senator Conrad.
