Countrywide loans also went to Senate staff

WASHINGTON - A Republican lawmaker says documents show more senators and staff members than previously known received mortgages from the former Countrywide Financial Corp., based on their perceived ability to help the company.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) said after reviewing Countrywide loan documents that the former lender's VIP mortgage program was not limited to the two senators whose discounted loans were well-publicized: Chris Dodd (D., Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D., N.D.).

"Several unidentified senators and Senate employees received benefits through Countrywide's VIP program," Issa wrote the Senate ethics committee this week. The lender was looking for officials "positioned to advance Countrywide's business interests," Issa said.

The ethics committee a year ago scolded Dodd and Conrad for not being more careful to avoid the appearance of favoritism. The committee cleared them of any rules violations. Dodd is not running for reelection.

Issa, who did not give details of discounted loans to House members and their staffs, said that at least 30 loans processed by Countrywide's VIP unit apparently went to Senate staff - 12 to the office of Sen. Robert Bennett, a Utah Republican who lost his reelection bid.

But those numbers represent only some early discoveries from the 37,000 documents produced so far by Bank of America Corp., which acquired Countrywide. If loan recipients' names become public, the information is certain to surface in campaigns for the midterm congressional elections.

California-based Countrywide was a major player in the subprime-mortgage market and became the biggest U.S. mortgage lender overall before the foreclosure crisis hit. Bank of America bought it in July 2008. The Countrywide records were subpoenaed by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where Issa is the top Republican. The subpoena instructs the bank to give the House ethics committee documents that identify House VIP loan recipients, but it is silent on handling information on senators and their staffs.

Issa said the 30 loans processed by Countrywide's VIP unit went to borrowers who identified their employer as "U.S. Senator, U.S. Senate," or the office of Sen. Robert Bennett.

Bennett said in a statement: "I've never had a Countrywide mortgage and I do not inquire into the personal financial dealings of my staff. . . . Should the Senate ethics committee decide the matter warrants an inquiry, I will certainly assist them in any way, and require that my staffers do the same."