Friends of Angelo Update: Mozilo Tied to Loan to Top Lawmaker

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo may have directed the lender to extend preferential treatment on a 1998 loan to Republican Rep. Howard McKeon of California, according to a letter released Tuesday by a senior House Democrat.

The letter from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) said that Countrywide records obtained as part of a congressional investigation of its VIP loan program indicate that Mr. McKeon was given "a significant discount on his VIP loan as a direct result of personal intervention" by Mr. Mozilo, who ran the mortgage giant at the time.

Mr. McKeon is currently chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Mr. Cummings is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee.

Separately, a person familiar with the investigation said another senior House Republican, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, received a $1 million loan in 2007 through the VIP program, which at times offered loans at rates unavailable to the general public. The loan terms aren't known.

The saga of sleaze continues.