Free Republic

The latest Quinnipiac Poll is out and it’s more bad news for Sen. Chris Dodd. Despite a public relations blitz that had him returning to Connecticut for what seems like the first time in years, and a statewide email and choreographed “shout out” from President Obama in the Rose Garden, (Rob Simmons) is still leading Dodd 45%-39%.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) seems to at tract friends who, in turn, attract scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thursday, the SEC hit subprime-mortgage giant Countrywide Financial's ex-CEO Angelo Mozilo with a fraud suit for allegedly deceiving investors on the true condition of the company. He was also charged with insider trading. In 2003, Dodd's role on the Banking Committee got him dubbed a "Friend of Angelo" by Countrywide -- and thus eligible for two sweetheart $800,000 loans. The Senate Ethics Committee is -- at a glacial pace -- investigating the circumstances behind Dodd's Countrywide-refinanced mortgages....

"A holiday home in Connemara is at the centre of a growing row in America involving a prominent Democrat politician, a convicted insider trader and the former president Bill Clinton. The purchase of the home by Senator Christopher Dodd is being examined by the US Senate ethics committee after allegations that Edward Downe Jr, a businessman convicted of insider trading, acted as a “middle man” in the deal. Eight years ago Dodd, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination against Barack Obama, lobbied Clinton, the then president, to grant Downe a pardon."