Free Republic

Looks like those sweetheart mortgages Chris Dodd snagged from Countrywide as a “Friend of Angelo,” its CEO, aren’t the only sugar-coated real estate deals from which the senior Connecticut senator has benefitted. The intrepid Kevin Rennie of the Hartford Courant, who has been dogging Dodd’s Countrywide dealings, has now turned up an Irish real estate deal sweeter than Bailey’ Cream–but with the whiff of a week-old flounder. I’d encourage folks to read Rennie’s entire story in the Courant. Here’s the Cliff Notes version: * Dodd is great friends with New York high-roller Edward R. Downe, Jr. * Downe gets convicted...

Stunning Blunder Just Another Strand In Web Of Explanations. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd went one contrivance too far last week at his carefully choreographed press event to explain his mortgage deals with Countrywide Financial. Dodd has engaged in so many contradictions in trying to manage the gathering storm that he probably did not recognize his stunning blunder. At his Monday event, Dodd wouldn't let reporters have copies of the selected documents he let them glimpse. Instead, Dodd released a report from a Chicago firm hired with campaign funds to review his mortgage transactions. The report is carefully constructed to vindicate...

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd went one contrivance too far last week at his carefully choreographed press event to explain his mortgage deals with Countrywide Financial. Dodd has engaged in so many contradictions in trying to manage the gathering storm that he probably did not recognize his stunning blunder. At his Monday event, Dodd wouldn't let reporters have copies of the selected documents he let them glimpse. Instead, Dodd released a report from a Chicago firm hired with campaign funds to review his mortgage transactions. The report is carefully constructed to vindicate the Dodds and even make them appear to have...