Even before Thursday’s disclosures by Wells Fargo, Democrats on both the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee had called for hearings. An Aug. 1 letter to Michael D. Crapo, the Idaho Republican who heads the Senate Banking Committee, requested hearings with Timothy J. Sloan, the Wells Fargo chief executive. Signed by 11 Democratic members of the committee, the letter noted the string of disclosures about misconduct at the bank and expressed concern about the bank’s use of forced arbitration clauses to prevent customers from being able to hold the bank to account through lawsuits.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the committee’s ranking Democrat, was among those urging Republicans to convene fresh hearings. In an interview Thursday, he said: “I’m hopeful that we’ll have another hearing, and I plan to follow through on that. John Stumpf has a lot of explaining to do.”

If Wells misled lawmakers in its responses last year, it may have violated a section of the United States Code, the consumer groups’ letter noted. The section bars anyone from knowingly making materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations with respect to “any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress.” Violators could face fines or as much as five years in prison, the code says.

Concealing information from Congress when it is conducting an investigation is a serious matter, said Amanda Werner, arbitration campaign manager for Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen.

“The first step is to have congressional hearings to determine the extent of the cover-up,” she said. “The American public wants Wells Fargo to be held accountable.”

It’s unclear, though, whether Republicans will convene new hearings on Wells Fargo. A representative for the Senate Banking Committee and Mr. Crapo did not return phone calls seeking comment. Jeff Emerson, a spokesman for the House Financial Services Committee, provided a statement from Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who leads it. “This latest revelation of customer abuse is further evidence of catastrophic mismanagement at the bank, Mr. Hensarling said in the statement. “As for the Financial Services Committee, our investigation is ongoing and we are deploying all necessary investigative powers to make sure people are held accountable.”

On Monday, Mr. Hensarling sent a lengthy document request to Mr. Sloan, Wells Fargo’s chief executive, seeking records, internal communications and contracts related to the bank’s problematic auto insurance program and the executives who oversaw it. The request also covered documents received by the Wells Fargo board and asked that the bank provide the materials by Sept. 18.