Congress vs. BofA

Welcome, Ken Lewis, to the political circus: “Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis and top federal officials will be asked to testify under oath by a U.S. House panel next month, as congressional investigators probe claims the bank was pressured by the government into completing its deal with Merrill Lynch & Co.,” reports The Wall Street Journal. According to one person familiar with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s review of documents from the Federal Reserve last week, “there’s fire there.” Accordng to the Journal, “At issue is February testimony by Mr. Lewis to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo suggesting he felt pressured by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to complete the deal after attempting to pull out when he learned of Merrill's ballooning losses.” Bernanke and Paulson could possibly have to testify.