In the past month, several financial institutions have committed to providing $150 million in assistance to Chicago's struggling ShoreBank and the Federal Reserve is considering whether to offer up additional  bailout funds.  This spurred Republicans to call for an investigation into whether the Obama administration pressured Wall Street to assist ShoreBank -- a charge they flatly deny.  In late May, Illinois GOP Rep. Judy Biggert sent a letter to the White House requesting all "e-mails, phone logs, and meeting records" pertaining to the deal. When they refused to cooperate, she wrote an amendment to the financial reform bill, currently being refined in the House-Senate conference committee, that would require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to issue a report on "the influence of political pressure" in this case.

While weakened slightly during negotiations yesterday, the amendment eventually passed by a voice vote. But that wasn't before Democrats -- including Reps. Luis Guiterrez and Mel Watt -- ripped her to shreds for politicizing the financial reform legislation when no law enforcement officials have raised questions about the ShoreBank deal. Watch some excerpts (the full video is available here):