Obama adviser role questioned

June 21, 2011, 3:53 am

U.S. House Republicans will press for new details on Elizabeth Warren’s role in talks to settle federal and state claims that mortgage servicers improperly processed foreclosures.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, of Alabama, is leading a group of lawmakers who are drafting a letter that requests copies of “any and all” communication between Warren, the White House adviser setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and any state attorneys general or representatives of their offices since September 2010.

“It appears the CFPB has been deeply involved in the mortgage-servicing settlement negotiations and that role goes far beyond the mere offering of ‘advice’ under the Merriam-Webster’s definition or any other reasonable interpretation of that term,” according to a draft of the letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

The letter was prepared after emails detailing some of the agency’s meetings on the settlement talks were released as the result of a public-records request from Judicial Watch, an independent group that describes itself as a “conservative, non-partisan educational foundation.”

The emails, which the group made public last week, show that representatives from state attorneys general offices scheduled time to hear a consumer bureau presentation stating that a $5 billion settlement with banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. would be “too low.” The agency wanted the offices to “stress the confidential nature of the briefing,” one of the emails said. The emails also discuss a presentation from Warren on the bureau’s views of loan modifications.

House Republicans have been sparring for months with Warren over her role in the settlement negotiations. During a March 16 subcommittee hearing, Bachus questioned the propriety of her participation in the talks since the consumer bureau doesn’t officially begin operations until July 21. Warren responded that the bureau provided advice when asked.

The lawmakers followed that hearing with a letter requesting further information on her role in the talks.

“We provided advice to federal and state officials regarding a potential servicing settlement,” Warren wrote in her April 4 response. “In doing so, we have been an active participant in inter-agency discussions, sharing our analysis and recommendations in support of a resolution that would hold accountable any servicers that violated the law.”

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