I wrote yesterday that Rep. Edolphus Towns had a big decision to make over whether he would join in on Darrell Issa’s Countrywide investigation. Well, he’s made his decision, opting to steer clear of this politically fraught inquiry. In addition to being busy investigating other financial crisis-related matters, Towns told the AP that VIP loans handed out to Senators Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) (and potentially other congressional lawmakers) are “the subject of current proceedings before the Justice Department and Senate Ethics Committee and it is not appropriate for the committee to interfere with those proceedings.”
What’s Issa’s next move? Slamming Towns for protecting “his friends” for starters. He’s also taken his Countrywide campaign to Twitter, asking followers, “What do YOU think Congress should do about this? (Sweetheart mortgages to members of Congress NOT being investigated?)” Towns may have declined his support, but don’t expect Issa, who’s been bird-dogging this for more than a year, to let this go anytime soon. Personally, I don’t care who investigates Countrywide’s favorable financing for lawmakers, but someone needs to—and it’s unclear whether the notoriously meek Senate ethics committee, which is presently looking into loans made to Dodd and Conrad, is up to the task.
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