Issa Ramps Up Probe of Countrywide After Report on Phone Tapings

The revelation that Countrywide Financial recorded phone conversations as part of a specialized "VIP" mortgage loan program has added another twist to a Republican-led inquiry on Capitol Hill.

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who has aggressively pursued the now-defunct Countrywide program for much of this year, said Monday that a call-recording system put in place as early as 2003 could contain evidence of wrongdoing by prominent public officials.

He requested a raft of new information about the program and the taping system from Bank of America, which purchased Countrywide in July 2008 as it struggled with mounting losses amid the collapse of the housing market.

The Wall Street Journal reported the existence of the taping, and that the recordings had been destroyed, on Sunday night.

The program became a lightning rod for controversy when it was revealed that two prominent senators, Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Banking Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., received loans through the program.

Conrad and Dodd have denied any wrongdoing and were cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee on Aug. 7.

But Issa -- the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee --said the existence of the recording system has given new legs to his efforts.

"Access to this archive could provide definitive evidence about whether or not it was the practice of VIP account executives to inform VIP borrowers of their status," Issa wrote in a letter to Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America's chief executive.

The letter included a dozen requests for information about the taping system and the destruction of the tapes.

Issa has been pushing committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., to subpoena Countrywide records from Bank of America for the past two months. Towns so far has turned down Issa's request.