The New York Times reports this morning that Senator Chris Dodd (D-CN) had suspicious dealings with Countrywide Financial, the mortgage lender Senator Dodd is attempting to bailout with taxpayer dollars.
According to Senator Dodd, he knew he was in a "V.I.P. program" at Countrywide Financial, but he denies that this meant he was getting special treatment from Countrywide Financial.
That's like being a member of the United States Senate and thinking you get treated just like everybody else.
Most damning, however, is that Senator Dodd is now trying to bailout Countrywide Financial with billions of taxpayer dollars.
Call your senator at 202-224-3121.
Please pick up the phone, even if your senators are Barack Obama and Dick Durbin.
More on Countrywide and Dodd from the New York Times:
"Somebody told you you were in a V.I.P. program,” a reporter said, "And you didn't think you were getting ... "
Mr. Dodd cut off the reporter and finished the question himself. "A special deal on a loan?" the senator asked. "No."
Another Democrat, Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, has admitted receiving preferential treatment from Countrywide on mortgages for a vacation house in Bethany Beach, Del., and an apartment building in Bismarck, N.D., but he said he was unaware of favoritism until a report last week on Portfolio.com questioned the terms of the loan.
Mr. Conrad announced that he had made a donation of $10,700 to Habitat for Humanity — the amount he saved by getting a one-point discount on fees related to a $1.07 million loan for the beach house.
Dodd is not a household name--neither is Conrad--even though he was candidate for president. He dropped out of the race after an anemic showing in the Iowa Caucuses. The Connecticut senator's campaign never caught fire, although he was pretty good at raising money--his chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee surely had something to do with that.
As I noted last week, Senator Conrad hosted two members of Barack Obama's vice presidential search committee in his Washington office, including Jim Johnson who resigned because of his questionable Countrywide deals.
One of Dodd's unfortunate constituents, Pam at Blogmeister USA, has a lot more on this issue.
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