IN THE HARTFORD COURANT: Dodd’s Campaign Money Shift Raises Questions.
Sen. Christopher Dodd’s bewildering odyssey of entitlement, evasions and deceptions continued last week. He shed more credibility as he staggered through new excuses for concealing from the public documents related to his cut-rate mortgages of nearly $800,000 from subprime giant Countrywide Financial.
On Wednesday, Dodd announced he wants to wait until the Senate Ethics Committee completes its investigation of his mortgage deals. There’s no Senate rule requiring Dodd to remain silent during the investigation. There’s no legitimate reason for Dodd to withhold from the public the array of documents, e-mails and letters from the mortgage swag bag Countrywide gave him.
A Senate investigation isn’t like a Countrywide mortgage: It’s expensive to prove there’s nothing there.
Dodd has caught a lucky break, as senators often do. The Federal Elections Commission allows Dodd to use campaign funds from the Friends of Chris Dodd re-election committee to pay his legal and other expenses incurred in the ethics investigation.
Yeah, Senators have amazing luck in all kinds of ways . . . .
Plus this: “In their distress, the humbled financial wizards of Wall Street should spare a moment to revel in their smartest investment paying off in their darkest hours. They contributed the money that Dodd may be using to pay for his defense, and he supported putting taxpayers on the hook for $700 billion for them.”