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Brooklyn Congressman allegedly covered up his involvement in mortgage scandal

A Brooklyn congressman that went after Countrywide’s controversial mortgage lending practices allegedly benefited from a home loan from the very same firm. The New York Post reported Rep. Ed Towns, while serving as investigating chairman of a House oversight committee, issued a subpoena to Countrywide three years ago to probe a selection of its mortgages made to “VIP”s.

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But the current chairman of the House committee, California rep. Darrell Issa, accused Towns of manipulating the subpoena to exclude information that would have identified him as a beneficiary of the discounted loans. Bank of America, which bought Countrywide in 2008, confirmed that Towns changed the nature of his subpoena.

Towns received a $194,500 home loan in Brooklyn and a $183,000 mortgage for a second home in Florida from Countrywide. However, he denied getting any special treatment. Issa says the discounted interest rate, at 4.5 percent, was about half a percentage point lower than the rate made available to the public. [Post] — Adam Fusfeld

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