Washington, D.C. – In a letter today to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-NC) called for congressional hearings to examine recent allegations by Bank of America (BofA) CEO Ken Lewis that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson had threatened to remove him and the BofA Board if they did not follow through with the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The letter to Chairman Frank follows below:

Recent media reports have featured portions of documents released by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, citing claims by Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson had threatened to remove him and the Bank of America Board if they did not go through with the deal to acquire ailing investment house Merrill Lynch.

These media reports indicate that Mr. Lewis did not want to go through with the planned merger because devastating losses at Merrill Lynch would be detrimental to company shareholders. They indicate that Mr. Lewis informed his board of directors on December 22, 2008, that they would be removed in the event that they backed out of the merger. Further, these same media reports indicate that Mr. Lewis maintained that he was instructed by Paulson not to make public the assurances of federal assistance in the event of a merger.

Many legal experts believe this chain of events – if proven true – could constitute the breach of a number of statutes on the part of the players involved.

Because of its history and importance to my state, a disproportionate number of North Carolina shareholders and employees of Bank of America have been adversely affected by the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. We also now know that a good deal of the government assistance that went to Bank of America was ultimately used to pay millions of dollars in highly questionable “retention bonuses” to Merrill Lynch employees, rather than to shore up that institution’s capital.

In light of these developments, I urge you to schedule hearings as soon as possible to examine the allegations made by Mr. Lewis, so that the committee can conduct its own oversight and investigation into these most serious events.

To view a video statement from Congressman Jones, click here.