Lawmakers on a congressional oversight panel are struggling with whether to ramp up a probe into a controversial home-loan program at Countrywide Financial Corp. that involved former Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo.

Rep. Darrell Issa, a Southern California Republican and the ranking minority member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wants to subpoena records of the program known as “Friends of Angelo.” The program provided home loans on attractive terms to some people, including elected officials. Issa said he believes the names of many favored Countrywide borrowers still aren’t known.

The move comes on the heels of a civil fraud suit filed against Mozilo by the Securities and Exchange Commission. But the committee chairman, New York Democrat Edolphus Towns, declined to co-sign a letter Issa sent earlier this month to Bank of America Corp., which purchased Countrywide last year, requesting records of the Friends of Angelo program.

& #8226;

Read the full

Wall Street Journal

story (subscription required).