Some of Congress’s S&L; Letters Missing

Dozens of letters are missing from the special file of correspondence from members of Congress to savings and loan regulators, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Most of the letters were written by lawmakers on behalf of constituents who complained about problems in their dealings with S&Ls;, such as accounts that were transferred from one thrift to another as the result of mergers.

But some letters provide evidence of members of Congress pressing regulators on behalf of S&L; operators, some of whom contributed to the lawmakers’ political campaigns.

There are thousands of letters, all maintained by the OTS and filed alphabetically under the names of the senators and representatives who sent them. The Office of Thrift Supervision, the federal agency created by last year’s S&L; bailout legislation, keeps the letters for its own use and opens them to members of the public by appointment.

There is no supervision of people perusing the letters, which are kept in an area of OTS’s Washington headquarters that is out of view of agency employees.

Nancy Cohen, OTS’s director of congressional correspondence, said she is aware of at least one entire file that is missing. Each file contains dozens of letters written by a member of Congress.

Cohen declined to say which file is missing or who may be suspected of taking it.

The agency has only one copy of each letter in the centralized archives, although individual regulators may have kept their own copies, she said.

“I know something’s missing, and it really bothers me,” she said. “I think it’s real important to the agency” to make the files secure, she added, saying that she has complained about the situation to high-level OTS officials.

“There is a problem; we’re trying to address the problem,” said Robert Schmermund, OTS’s director of public affairs.

Allegations that some lawmakers interceded on behalf of beleaguered savings and loans, and that some of the same S&Ls; made contributions to lawmakers, have become a hot issue in this election year. The escalating S&L; crisis has made the letter file a sought-after source of information.

Reporters have been the most frequent users of the files, but in recent months congressional aides, political consultants and law firms also have looked at them, Cohen said.

“It’s an election year; everyone wants to see their own file,” she said.

Those wishing to examine the files are asked to make an appointment and bring with them a letter to OTS making a Freedom of Information Act request for access to papers of specific members of Congress. When they arrive, they are left alone with the files in an area separated by partitions from OTS employees. Users are allowed to photocopy the letters.

There is no inspection of bags and cases of people leaving the OTS office.

Schmermund said the agency is concerned about the vulnerability of the current system but wants to continue giving the public access. OTS Director Timothy Ryan wants the agency to be “as open as possible,” Schmermund said.

To obtain other OTS documents, outsiders must use them in the agency’s supervised reading room or submit formal Freedom of Information requests that can take weeks to be answered.