Senate Ethics Decision on Countrywide Should Clear Way for Subpoena to Bank of America

WASHINGTON. D.C. – House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) today repeated his call for the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to move forward with a subpoena of critical Countrywide VIP documents following the decision of the Senate Ethics Committee to dismiss complaints against Sen. Chris Dodd and Sen. Kent Conrad:

“This decision clears the way for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to subpoena the records of the ‘Friends of Angelo’ program from Bank of America,” said Rep. Issa. “As I said before the Senate Ethics Committee decision, this committee’s investigation has and will continue to focus on the attempts of Countrywide to buy political influence and not on individual allegations of ethical misconduct by government officials.”

Chairman Edolphus Towns has previously cited the Senate Ethics investigation as a reason for his decision not to move forward with a subpoena of Bank of America.

“The limited scope of the Senate Ethics Committee investigation has not addressed Countrywide’s intentions in extending the benefits of its VIP program to high ranking government officials. Evidence shows that Countrywide employees intended to use preferential treatment to curry favor with government officials. This was clearly wrong and needs to be fully investigated.”