Issa, Souder press Waxman on Countrywide hearings

Two House Republicans on Tuesday pressed the Democratic chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to hold hearings on whether a mortgage lender gave preferential treatment to lawmakers.

{mosads}Reps. Darrell Issa (Calif.) and Mark Souder (Ind.) petitioned Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to look into the issue, citing new information that has emerged in the case. They referenced the August issue of Portfolio magazine, which says that House staff, a California state appeals court judge and current and former federal officials were also among those who received loans at cut rates from mortgage lender Countrywide.

Issa and Souder lamented that they received no response to their June 17 letter, in which they asked that the panel examine the circumstances surrounding preferential loans allegedly given to Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) as well as top officials at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

They stressed that the impending congressional “bailout” of the two ailing government-sponsored entities made an investigation critical.

“Given the fact that Congress is actively considering bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Countrywide and other lenders, it is essential that Congress investigate to determine the extent that the public officials and staff have been compromised by improper gifts,” the letter said.

Issa and Souder are both members of the Oversight panel and said that the lack of action “made a mockery of Speaker [Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.)] election promise to improve House ethics.”

A spokeswoman for the committee did not immediately return a request for comment.