CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Angelo Mozilo’s defensive options.

As the man allegedly behind an unofficial effort to provide discounted loans to favored borrowers, which is now under federal scrutiny, he knows which politicians and others may have received special treatment. He could use that information to bargain with prosecutors. . . . Salerno said the Justice Department appeared to be investigating whether the program amounted to improper influence peddling by Countrywide and whether the politicians had failed to publicly report favors from Mozilo.

And that, legal experts said, could give Mozilo another strategy: a chance to cut a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony. “He’s in a position, potentially, to say who else Congress had their hands out to,” Levenson said.

Which could be interesting.