Senate Ethics Committee Clears Dodd, Conrand

As predicted the Senate Ethics Committee has cleared Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd of wrong doing in his dealings with Countrywide Financial:

The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday dropped yearlong investigations into two powerful Senate committee chairmen, Democrats Christopher J. Dodd and Kent Conrad .

The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had filed complaints June 13, 2008, against the senators questioning whether they obtained mortgages from Countrywide Financial under more favorable interest rates than generally available because of their official posts.
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But the Ethics Committee, which has three Democratic and three Republican members, unanimously dropped its inquiry into the matter. In four-page letters to each lawmaker signed by all six committee members, the panel said it found “no substantial evidence” that the mortgages violated Senate rules after reviewing 18,000 pages of documents and interviewing witnesses.

The committee, however, said the lawmakers “should have exercised more vigilance” in their dealings with the company.

“There was no ‘sweetheart’ or special deal,” Dodd, D-Conn., said in a statement. “The allegations are and have always been false.”

Dodd has been hurt in his re-election campaign for 2010 by charges that he is too close to the financial industry, which he oversees as chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

“I’m confident the people of Connecticut will be glad to know that I’ve been cleared,” Dodd said.

Dodd has refinanced his properties to avoid dealing with Countrywide. On June 1, he got a 30-year loan for $400,000 at 5 percent interest for his home in East Haddam, Conn., through First County Bank. And on Aug. 3, he got a 30-year loan for $417,000 at 5.125 percent interest for his Washington residence from the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union.

Pfft, who are they kidding, the only reason Sen Dodd or Sen. Conrad got the sweetheart deals they did is because they’re Senators… Birds of a feather flock together (and cover each others tail feathers).

Related

• House Democrat received Countrywide loans: report – Reuters
• Why are Democrats blocking inquiries into Friends of Angelo program? – Hot Air

AP: Dodd, Conrad Told Mortgage Deals Were Sweetened

The Associated Press is reporting that Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd was told from the very start that hes was getting a VIP mortgage discount:

Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation’s largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.

Both senators have said that at the time the mortgages were being written they didn’t know they were getting unique deals from Countrywide Financial Corp., the company that went on to lose billions of dollars on home loans to credit-strapped borrowers. Dodd still maintains he got no preferential treatment.

Dodd got two Countrywide mortgages in 2003, refinancing his home in Connecticut and another residence in Washington. Conrad’s two Countrywide mortgages in 2004 were for a beach house in Delaware and an eight-unit apartment building in Bismarck in his home state of North Dakota.

Robert Feinberg, who worked in the Countrywide’s VIP section, told congressional investigators last month that the two senators were made aware that “who you know is basically how you’re coming in here.”

“You don’t say ‘no’ to the VIP,” Feinberg told Republican investigators for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press. Read the rest…

It’ll be fun to see how Sen. Dodd tries to spin this… My guess is the Senate Ethics Committee will give Dodd and Conrad a pass. California Sen. Barbara Boxer, the committee chairman, asked Mr. Feinberg if Sens. Dodd and Conrad received VIP treatment because they were senators. Feinberg replied that was not the case; they received breaks as other influential people in Countrywide’s “friends” of Angelo VIP program… That’ll be the loophole committee members use to vote against sanctions for Dodd and Conrad.

Regardless of what the Senate Ethics Committee decides Sam Caligiuri is right, if the allegations are true it’s time for Chris Dodd to resign. The people of Connecticut deserve better.