The Charlotte Observer offers an interesting peek into the minds of Treasury officials as Bank of America made its ill-fated play to buy the once-ballyhooed, now disgraced Countrywide mortgage company.

Then CEO Ken Lewis, whose career imploded because of the deal, was touting it as savvy move that would make the bank the unassailable leader in consumer banking and mortgage production. Ahead of the January 2008 purchase date, speculation had mounted that the deal was the product of federal wrangling. The thought was that that Treasury officials had prodded Bank of America into the deal to save Countrywide and in essence the entire mortgage system. But the voluminous trove of emails that the newspaper viewed makes clear that Treasury officials were not encouraging the merger.

Indeed, behind the scenes, officials tried to squelch the idea that deal was federally blessed. To be sure, the old regime at Bank of America never tried to evade responsibility for the deal, though they had no idea how disastrous it would prove. They might have tried to hide behind some vague notion that they were pushed into the deal. It’s a good thing they didn’t; they would’ve been left with egg all over their faces.

In the end, the regime of Lewis must bear responsibility. And the Brian Moynihan regime continues to grapple with the consequences.

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