EDITORIAL: Dodd, Ethics, Money And Political Influence

Aug 11, 2009 (The Day - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CFC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Sen. Christopher J. Dodd did not violate Senate ethics rules when refinancing mortgages on his Washington and Connecticut homes in 2003, according to the Senate Committee on Ethics. After an investigation that dragged on for more than a year, and included the review of 18,000 pages of documents, the committee last week concluded the Connecticut senator did not "knowingly accept a gift" or use his official position for personal gain.

The conclusions by the bipartisan panel about the "VIP" treatment Sen. Dodd received from Countrywide Financial Corp. appear solid. They were narrowly focused on the ethics issues and so did not address the bigger issue of influence peddling in Washington.

The committee determined the terms and rates the senator and his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, received were available to borrowers with similar credit profiles. There was no evidence that the couple asked for special treatment because Dodd is a senator or thought they were receiving any.

However, Sen. Dodd should have asked more questions back in 2003.

The committee, in its letter to the Democratic senator, writes, "Once you became aware that your loans were in fact being handled through a program with the name 'VIP,' that should have raised red flags and compelled you to find out ... whether you may have been offered treatment based on your official position, and very specifically if you were receiving preferential treatment ... "

Accepting VIP treatment without question smacks of senatorial hubris, as does Sen. Dodd's handling of the matter when news of his involvement in the program broke in June 2008.

It took Sen. Dodd four days after the first story to admit that he knew back in 2003 he was in the VIP program. He assumed, he explained, that simply meant he was a good credit risk. It then took him 235 days to let reporters review his mortgage documents. Notations showed the clear connection to the VIP and FOA programs -- FOA code for "Friends of Angelo," or specifically then-Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. The committee, however, found "no credible evidence that you ... knew that you were in the 'Friends of Angelo' program."

Those documents also indicated, as the Dodds claimed, that Mrs. Dodd did most of the negotiating and that the rates and terms were nothing exceptional.

From the start, Sen. Dodd should have acted forthrightly by admitting his participation in the VIP program, by acknowledging his failure to ask more questions about it and by quickly releasing the mortgage documents.

Ironically, even if Sen. Dodd had received a favorable interest rate as a "gift," it would have paled next to the perfectly legal $11.7 million in campaign donations that OpenSecrets reports the senator has received since 1989 from the financial services industry his banking committee oversees. That can buy more influence than a loan discount.

Sen. Dodd has told this Editorial Board he would like to see an end to such special interest funding of campaigns, but to get elected he has to play by existing rules and will make no apologies for doing so.

We think setting his own rules -- accepting no more big money from the industry his committee watches over -- would send a better message to voters.

Sen. Dodd announced a few months back he would not accept donations from firms bailed out by taxpayers. That's a small start.

To see more of The Day, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.theday.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Day, New London, Conn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index