Politics & Government
Ed Towns Accused of Coverup in VIP Loan Scandal
15-term Congressman allegedly removed information from a probe into the mortgage giant that would have identified his and other House members' preferential loans.
When Rep. Ed Towns, D-Brooklyn, filed a subpoena to the former Countrywide Financial Corp. three years ago, he neglected to mention that he and other members of Congress received special home loans from the company, says the New York Post.
Towns, then chairman of the House Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee, demanded files on loans that it had made, including ones that went through a VIP unit to House members.
But according to House records and sources, Towns later removed information from the subpoena that would have identified him as a preferential customer, as well as other members of Congress and some staffers.
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Bank of America, which bought Countrywide in 2008, acknowledged yesterday that Towns had changed his request.
“The committee provided the bank with specific instructions and modifications regarding the scope of the subpoena and the bank followed and fulfilled all instruction and fully complied with the subpoena as modified by the committee,” the bank said in a statement.
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According to the Post, Towns received a $183,000 loan on his second home in Lutz, Fla., in the summer of 2003 at a rate of 4.5 percent, and a month later, he received a $194,500 loan for his Brooklyn home.
Towns stepped down as chairman of the House Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee when the Democrats lost their majority in 2010.
The 15-term Congressman .
Through a spokesman, Towns declined comment on the report.
