Phone Calls Add to Din Over Loans

The discovery that Countrywide Financial Corp. recorded phone conversations with borrowers in a controversial mortgage program that included public officials -- and that those recordings have been destroyed -- has prompted new congressional calls for more information about the program.

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In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Towns, the oversight committee chairman, had received two mortgages from Countrywide -- one on his home in Brooklyn and the other on a house in Florida. The loan documents indicated that both had been processed through the VIP unit. At the time, a Towns spokeswoman said his decision not to subpoena the VIP records had "nothing to do with his mortgages." If the mortgages, which were originated in 2003, came through the VIP unit, Mr. Towns was unaware of that fact and never asked for special treatment, the spokeswoman said.

Given the information about Mr. Towns's Countrywide loans, he "is conflicted now" when it comes to investigating the VIP program, Mr. Issa said in an interview Friday. He said that the chairman should allow the oversight committee -- which consists of 24 Democrats and 15 Republicans -- to vote on issuing a subpoena. Mr. Issa said three committee Democrats have approached him privately and said they would vote for such a resolution. He believes other Democrats would do the same. "If it comes to a vote, I don't think I would lose," he said.