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Two Republicans are calling on the ethics committee to investigate whether House members and aides received sweetheart deals on their home mortgages.
In a letter sent Tuesday to the ethics panel, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Mark Souder (R-Ind.) contend that the “serious and broad allegation that members of Congress, congressional staff and other officials were given preferential treatment … needs to be investigated.”
Member requests to launch ethics committee investigations are rare, and this one is unusual because it doesn’t target one member. Instead, it could ensnare many members, staffers and other federal officials.
Issa and Souder last month called on House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to probe the matter. In a response letter to the two members, Waxman deferred to the ethics committee “because the issues you raise would require the [Oversight and Government Reform] Committee to investigate the conduct of members …”
In June, Portfolio magazine reported that housing reform bill architect and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) received special deals on their mortgages from Countrywide. Both claimed they had no knowledge that they were receiving special treatment.
Portfolio recently reported that House staff and former federal officials also received preferential treatment on their mortgages.
Issa told The Hill in an interview on Tuesday that he would continue to press the issues raised in the Portfolio articles. He expressed doubt that the matter would be resolved by the ethics committee in a timely manner.
“I intend to push hard,” he said, adding he will ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to assist in efforts to investigate whether oversight in Congress and the administration “was softened by VIP discounts that amount to bribery.”
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