A House panel is investigating what it believes is an attempt by Federal Housing Administration (FHA) officials to cover up the full details of the agency’s financial troubles regarding its Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reviewed emails between FHA and IFE Inc., the firm that conducted the agency’s actuarial report last year.

While FHA projected a deficit of $16.3 billion (revised to $943 million in the White House budget), the messages reveal that its losses could be as high as $115 billion under the most extreme conditions.

In a letter first reported on by the Wall Street Journal, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), head of the committee, asked FHA commissioner Carol Galante why her agency hadn’t reported the larger figure. Issa also sent a letter to IFE requesting more information on the report.

According to the WSJ, an October email between an IFE analyst and “a senior FHA official” showed that while the agency wanted the results of the more extreme scenario, it preferred to keep that analysis out of the report that would be reviewed by media.

In a response to the WSJ, HUD spokesperson Addie Whisenant said the agency is reviewing the issue and will “respond to the committee appropriately.” A lawyer representing IFE asserted the firm was not pushed to change its conclusions or evaluating methods and “look[s] forward to working with Chairman Issa’s staff to share our views with them.”