The AP is reporting today that Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) recieved special treatment reserved for "friends" of Countrywide Financial Corp.'s chairman.
From Dodd's spokesman:
"The Dodds received a competitive rate on their loans," spokesman Bryan DeAngelis said in a statement. "They did not seek or anticipate any special treatment and they were not aware of any."
Dodd's position as the Senate Banking Committee chairman makes this story bigger than it would be otherwise. According to the article, Countrywide waived $2700 in points, total, over two mortgages--one for a DC home, the other for his home in Connecticut. Dodd has been working to deal with the subprime mortgage crisis, but his credibility will be put into question with this news.
Others who reportedly benefited from Countrywide's special treatment include:
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and former U.N. ambassador and assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke.
I apologize for this being short. I'm not much of a diarist, but there hasn't been an open thread for me to put this in. I think it needs to be out here.