Not like Dodd will listen. The interview with Matthews is pretty good … and certainly it doesn’t make Dodd look good. Shocker!
Matthews interviews Michael Moore on his new movie “Capitalism” … of which Countrywide and Chris Dodd are stars.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4jG0MRYlRc
Never thought I would say this … but as I have been told … it’s a movie worth seeing.
Hot Air points to this video from the CBS evening news last Friday, that shows how wide spread the Countrywide VIP loan program for Congressional leaders. Dodd and Conrad are still the marquis names … but there are more. Read more
The charges against Chris Dodd continue to pile up. It started with the sweetheart Countrywide Mortgages, then the “cottage” in Ireland, the association with a convicted felon, the AIG bonus “lie”, and finally word that his wife once collected a paycheck from an AIG company.
No wonder Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) went wobbly last week when asked about his February amendment ratifying hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives at insurance giant AIG. Dodd has been one of the company’s favorite recipients of campaign contributions. But it turns out that Senator Dodd’s wife has also benefited from past connections to AIG as well.
From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an “outside” director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG.
Were any laws broken. That’s what Cavuto asked Judge Andrew Nepolitano.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0iHTz3CaIghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0iHTz3CaIg
I am not a lawyer or a judge so I do not know and we won’t until papers are released. Somehow I doubt any illegality. But certainly there’s enough there to vote for his retirement next year.
Not good … not good at all. Plus Video of the Dodd timeline … not a good week for the senior Senator. Read more
Chris Dodd is coming out but the answers still ring hollow. Connecticut’s senior senator tells Channel 3’s Dennis House:
Dodd on the mortgage deal …
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYU_zSA_oLE
Oh and if you’re interested, here’s what Countrywide’s Robert Feinberg told the Feds …
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w3SgFOR9nY
Just so we can set the record straight, Dodd did get a deal above and beyond the average mortgage rate, which he claimed he negotiated. I can assure the Senator, 4 and 1/4 on a loan that size … you got a sweetheart deal. Not to mention closing costs, which may or may not have been waived, I do not know because I have not seen the documents. And as for seeing those mortgage papers again …. fogeddaboudit!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMpXAC8cGxA
Allowing select reporters to view documents for a view hours and calling it transparency is dishonest in itself. As I have said before, it was a circus. I was considering posting Dodd’s answer on his $200,000 (2001 prices) seaside gold coast Irish cottage … but I won’t bother. Suffice to say it was … “the bank appraised it and what could I say”.
All a all nice try but if this is the best he has, he’s got problems … big ones. You know what a house is worth, especially when condos in the area go for much more. It stinks which is why we keep saying … release the papers.
Well … thanks to Kevin Rennie we have a better idea of what Dodd’s Irish cottage looks like … hmmm … 200,000 … while condos go for three times that …
Make sure you go to real time investigations for more on changes that need to be made in Senate disclosure rules.
Note that Dodd doesn’t disclose the owners of the other 2/3s of his Irish “cottage” — nor is he required to. Shouldn’t we know who politicians are buying properties with? Given the number of members who’ve run into ethical questions regarding homes and vacation homes (Sen. Ted Stevens, Rep. Charlie Rangel and Rep. Alan Mollohan spring immediately to mind) shouldn’t we have more disclosure about member’s real property?
Hat tip Instapundit.
This thing is picking up steam.
Update (Wyndeward): For those interested in looking into the Irish market … http://www.myhome.ie/.
Update 2 (Jim): I just went. One look and you will see … that ain’t no $200,000 home, not now, not in 2002, not when St. Patrcik drove the snakes from the island.
Dennis House interviewed the Connecticut Chair of the Democratic Committee on Face The State. The short hand version is in the post title. Nothing to see here … move long.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCGiOinRORc
This might be what she hopes, but not likely. Flashing mortgage papers in front of reporters who likely know as much about finance as the average Joe, is not transparency … it’s a side show. And offering a hired gun as an independant auditor is not absolving, it’s misleading and deceptive.
Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd has finally, sort of, kind of, ended 193 days of stonewalling about his sweetheart loans from former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. At least he did if you were a fast reader and were one of the few reporters he invited to his Hartford office yesterday to review — but not copy or take — more than 100 pages of documents related to his 2003 mortgage financings through Countrywide’s “Friends of Angelo” program.
Add to that additional questions raised by Courant columnist Kevin Rennie about Chris Dodd’s real estate deals in Ireland and DC … it ‘s not over , rather it’s just beginning.
Of course all of this could be resolved by releasing the mortgage papers, and expense agreements with real estate partners. And there’s probably little chance of that as well.
Instapundit continues to blaze the web trail tacking everything and all Dodd and we are more than happy to help get the word out. You can catch it here.
Like any Washington survivor who senses that the political tide is shifting, Dodd knows he must swim with it or sink in its wake.
And for Dodd, the danger of drowning is quite real. He’s up for reelection in 2010, and he has seen his poll numbers drop dramatically since a report last year about his alleged special mortgage deal from Countrywide Financial.
“Dodd actually is a vulnerable incumbent right now,” said Gary Rose, chairman of the government and politics department at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. “This is an effort on his part to once again re-establish himself as a man of the people.”
Absolutely … As we mentioned on the show, who doesn’t own three homes, two of which we know are or were valued at about a million bucks. But my favorite part is this ….
But can Dodd make that turn and still count on the support of financial services firms — or at least those that still exist — to keep pumping money into his campaign coffers?
Plus: The Courant is reporting CNBC’s Larry Kudlow might challenge the Countrywide Kid … how about that?
Well why not. Everyone’s a victim these days of something.
Attorney General Dick Blumenthal (D, because we name that party), who’s office is investigating Countrywide’s dealings in Connecticut, addresses the Chris Dodd (D) Countrywide loan scandal on Hartford TV Channel 3, WFSB, Sunday morning. Anchor Dennis House asks the AG (D) how Dodd (D), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, could get into this mortgage fix. Blumenthal compares him to the other Countrywide “victims”. Oh brother.
Oh and make sure to listen to House’s follow up question. In a nutshell, what if Countrywide treated you the way Dodd (D) has been treating the voters? Amen and amen.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwILH-N2pEI
We’re the government … we don’t ask. Of course not. We’re just the people who put your there.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Countrywide) has announced that he will refinance his mortgages through a third party and switch them to a different broker.
Dodd maintains that he was not a friend of Angelo, and has been wrongly accused of requesting favorable rates from Countrywide. I assume that the Senate Ethics Committee investigation continues. Guess he still does not get that he is held to a higher standard, especially when you are the chairman of the United States Senate Banking Committee.
Dodd has been pressured by this blog, Glenn Renoylds at Instapundit and Kevin Rennie at the Hartford Courant.
From the AP…
Sen. Chris Dodd says he’ll refinance two mortgages that he received through a VIP program from Countrywide Financial Corp.
Dodd told reporters in his Hartford office Monday that the mortgages for his homes in Washington and East Haddam, Conn. will be refinanced with a different company.
The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee says a third party will be involved in choosing the new bank.
Dodd has acknowledged receiving mortgages in 2003 through a VIP program at Countrywide, which was sold to Bank of America Corp. earlier this year and has been the focus of allegations that it gave favorable loan terms to lawmakers.
Dodd says he’s moving the loans in part because he was wrongfully labeled a friend of Countrywide’s former CEO, Angelo Mozilo. Dodd says he never sought special treatment.
Our previous articles…
Oh heck, just click here to run a search at our site.
Update: Here is video from an interview with Alan Cohn at WTNH. Thanks to commentor Rick-WH for the tip.
UPDATE (Jim):
Senator Chris Dodd announcing today he intends to refinance his two “Countrywide” mortgages made me think a bit.
HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd said he’ll refinance two mortgages that he received through a VIP program from Countrywide Financial Corp. Sen. Dodd told reporters in his Hartford office Monday that the mortgages for his homes in Washington and East Haddam, Conn., will be refinanced with a different company. The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said a third party will be involved in choosing the new bank.
“I just wanted to put this behind us,” said Sen. Dodd, speaking to reporters in his Hartford office.
My guess is it was more a question of having to refinance … or face a likely pretty hefty bump in his current two mortgages. Let’s take a look at what we know:
Senator Dodd received two loans in 2003 through Countrywide’s V.I.P. program. He borrowed $506,000 to refinance his Washington townhouse, and $275,042 to refinance a home in East Haddam, Connecticut. Countrywide waived three-eighths of a point, or about $2,000, on the first loan, and one-fourth of a point, about $700, on the second, according to internal documents. Both loans were for 30 years, with the first five years at a fixed rate.
The interest rate on the loans, originally pegged at 4.875%, was reduced to 4.25% on the Washington home and 4.5% on the Connecticut property by the time the loans were funded. The lower rates save the senator about $58,000 on his Washington residence over the life of the loan, and $17,000 on the Connecticut home. The former employee says the float-downs were free. Senator Dodd’s wife, Jackie Clegg, said in a brief interview that two other lenders they checked with offered comparable interest rates. The senator’s office said Thursday afternoon that it is preparing a response.
Dodd’s current 4 and quarter rate would likely be readjusted to something a good bit higher than 5% … depending of course on the terms of the original mortgage (for instance there might be a cap, or not)… which of course we don’t know because he has not released his papers. Current fixed rates range between 5 and 7% depending on the bank, the location of the home, and of course if you are a member of the Democratic Congress. Given the $800,000 in mortgage loans … that’s a lot of dough he’ll have to fork over.
Call me cynical but to me it looks like this refinance is matter of personal necessity rather than some sudden quest for a more ethical loan agreement.
What’s more, there are plenty of people facing similar circumstances on their own homes these days. Some just can’t find a bank willing to refinance, and others, Democrats remind us frequently, are losing their homes because their rates are being bumped into the “unaffordable” range. My guess is is neither will be a problem for Connecticut’s senior Senator.
Oh and one more time …Where in the world are Chris Dodd’s Mortgage Papers?