CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd’s New Dodge.

Dodd, the chairman of the Banking Committee, announced this week that he’ll have the mortgages refinanced and managed by a third party to protect against allegations of influence peddling.

Problem is, this doesn’t negate any prior influence peddling. It’s akin to closing the barn door after the horse has bolted, torn down the fences and set the farm on fire.

The influence-peddling took place when Dodd got the special deal from Countrywide – and the shenanigans that Dodd & Co. allowed Countrywide and other irresponsible subprime lenders to engage in have already burned down the US economy.

Dodd promised last summer that he’d release all of his mortgage documentation to the public. He’s now in his seventh month of failing to deliver. This week, Dodd released some of the papers – but only to a select group of reporters, who weren’t allowed to make copies.

The long wait suggests that Dodd has something to hide. The incomplete “disclosure” and the refinancing, meanwhile, look more like an attempt to bury evidence than a sudden commitment to clean government.

Gee, do you think?