Elijah Cummings

Cummings Backs Obama With Mortgage Fraud Investigation

Susan Crabtree | February 25, 2011, 4:59PM

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is backing President Obama's hard line on mortgage abuses with his own wide-ranging investigation into foreclosure fraud.

Obama has been trying to broker a deal that would have the nation's largest mortgage lenders agree to cough up as much as $30 billion in fines to settle state and federal claims they abused borrowers and illegally foreclosed on homes, according to media reports citing state and federal officials engaged in the discussions.

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Darrell Issa

Issa Defends Subpoenas, Provides Timeline of Negotiations with DHS

Susan Crabtree | February 24, 2011, 5:39PM

Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is jabbing back at criticism from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, that the first three subpoenas Issa sent out this Congress were "rushed" and "unilateral" and show a scatter-shot approach to investigating aimed at making headlines rather than improving government.

Cummings sent Issa a letter Wednesday accusing him of misusing the committee and failing to adequately consult Democrats before sending out three subpoenas in the last week, one to Bank of America looking for documents related to Countrywide's infamous VIP mortgage program, and two to Department of Homeland Security officials seeking depositions for the committee's investigation into whether DHS politicized FOIA requests.

Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella sent a lengthy response to Cummings' complaints and a detailed timeline, beginning with this quote: "Another day, another complaint and more righteous indignation. What else is new?"

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Elijah Cummings

Cummings Hits Issa For 'Rushed, Unilateral' Subpoenas

Susan Crabtree | February 24, 2011, 2:39PM

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

When Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) took over as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee early last month, Democrats braced for an onslaught of investigations of the Obama administration and rash of subpoenas.

So far, the subpoenas have been very few in number -- just three to date and all sent last week. But Democrats already aren't liking what they're seeing and don't want to let them go without a fight.

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Oversight Committee

Cummings Presses Conservative Interest Groups For Correspondence With Issa

Brian Beutler | February 1, 2011, 8:24AM

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa has surveyed scores of industry and conservative players to figure out how to target investigations of President Obama's regulatory regime. But only a fraction of the responses he's received have been made public, and he won't share the rest with ranking member Elijah Cummings.

So Cummings is going straight to the sources.

In letters sent Monday to the same powerbrokers Issa solicited, Cummings asks for copies of their responses.

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