Countrywide's VIP Lending Program

Important people such as senators and congressmen got special deals from Countrywide. The U.S. Congress is investigating.

Were these sweet-heart deals a type of kickback for voting the way Countrywide would like? Were they illegal?

A lot of politicians sure look bad in this.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Under pressure from Republicans, a House committee has subpoenaed documents related to Countrywide Financial Corp.'s VIP program, which offered preferential treatment to well-connected or powerful mortgage customers.

The subpoenas were issued Friday as part of a broad investigation into the role of the nation's largest mortgage companies in the financial crisis, said Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The probe — which involves demands for information from Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp. (which now owns Countrywide), JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., U.S Bancorp and GMAC's Residential Capital — will try to determine whether the companies "employed deceptive and predatory lending practices, or improper tactics to thwart regulation," Towns said in a statement.