VIP cash loans given to the Washington DC lawmakers staff has them very concerned. These “VIP” or “sweetheart” loans were all made by Countrywide, which was just lately purchased by Bank of America. All of these VIP cash advances are likely going to give senators a hard time legally.
Countrywide’s VIP loans
Bank of The United States documents show that Countrywide decided they would give “sweetheart” loans out to people. The loans were given to Senate staff and have low interest rates along with no credit check. Issa, who is a Republican senator, saying a “high concentration” of loans were given to DC staffers and explained it was unethical. Many feel these loans were written because Countrywide wanted some influence in the white house with some senators. 2002 and 2003 were the years the loans had made.
Ethics complaints over loans
Several senators had ethics complaints by Senator Issa filed about them. Last year, Senator Dodd and Senator Conrad were both “scolded” by the Ethics Committee. They were told they had to “be more careful to avoid the appearance of favoritism from Countrywide.” The scolding was all they got before being cleared. Senator Robert Bennett has been named in the most recent ethics complaint. Twelve of the 30 named “VIP loans” went to members of his staff.
Naming the loan recipients
The Senate Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is doing the latest investigation on Countrywide VIP cheap loans. Any documents Bank of America has from VIP loans that have “US Senate” written down for their employment must be handed over to the government immediately for the investigation. Thus far, Bank of America has provided 37,000 documents related to Countrywide and their lending practices. If the names come out, then the upcoming election might be detrimental for some.
Response from Senator Burnett
Republican Senator Burnett, who is not running for re-election, has responded in detail to the ethics complaint filed against him. In short, Senator Burnett said that he doesn’t make it a point to find out where his staffers do their banking. Mortgages and unsecured personal loans, he said, are personal matters that he did not specifically ask his employees about.
