Meet the poster child for ethical conflict in the Northeast: Connecticut Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd.His dubious activities have produced two Republican opponents and a Democratic primary challenger, Air Force veteran and businessman Merrick Alpert. A Quinnipiac University poll last week showed him trailing former Republican Rep. Rob Simmons by 6 points in a head-to-head matchup.
Dodd seems inclined to carve out sweetheart deals for himself and his pals, and then dissemble when his hand is found in the cookie jar. He's got much to explain:
* Countrywide Financial: In 2003, Dodd received two cut-rate mortgages of nearly $800,000 in total from the subprime-mortgage lending giant.After five terms, it seems that Chris Dodd may have been around too long. That, of course, will be up to the people of Connecticut. Happily, they will have choices.
The special mortgages apparently came about because the senator -- then a high-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and now chairman -- was dubbed a "Friend of Angelo," Countrywide co-founder Angelo Mozilo.
When this was first reported a year ago, Dodd promised prompt disclosure of all his records related to Countrywide. "Prompt" ended up being nearly seven months. When the records were "released," no copying was allowed. Dodd declines further comment.
* The "Irish Cottage": In further real-estate shenanigans, Dodd in 1994 purchased a one-third share of an Irish vacation home; the other two-thirds were bought by businessman William Kessinger, partner of one Edward Downe, who pleaded guilty to insider trading the same year.
As Bill Clinton was exiting the White House in 2001, Dodd successfully lobbied to have Downe pardoned. One year later, Dodd took full ownership of the Irish property from Kessinger -- at a mere fraction of its appraised value.
* AIG bonuses: In February, a Dodd amendment in the stimulus package guaranteed that executives of firms receiving government bailouts were still eligible for agreed-upon bonuses.
When the AIG uproar began weeks later, Dodd insisted that he inserted the language only at the urging of the Obama administration. That Dodd has received some $280,000 in contributions from AIG -- and that his wife once served as an outside director with an AIG affiliate in Bermuda -- cast doubt on that explanation.