HOW MANY “FRIENDS OF ANGELO” ARE STILL IN POLITICS? BAD NEWS FOR THE ONES WHO ARE: An Unfinished Chapter at Countrywide.

Is Angelo R. Mozilo in the cross hairs again?

Mr. Mozilo, the co-founder and former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, has largely escaped accountability for his outsize role in the mortgage crisis. But he may soon face a civil lawsuit from the Justice Department, according to news reports last week.

The possibility of a new case against Mr. Mozilo came almost exactly seven years after the subprime mortgage machine he created and oversaw began to sputter and stall. That process began in earnest on Aug. 16, 2007, when the company disclosed that it was drawing down its entire $11.5 billion revolving credit line. Other lenders had lost confidence in its operations. . . .

It is unclear, of course, if prosecutors will indeed take action against Mr. Mozilo, who is 75. In 2011, the Justice Department mysteriously decided to drop a criminal case against the former executive after a two-year investigation.

He had a lot of friends.