How Well Did Chris Dodd Sleep Last Night?
Yesterday, stating “We need to clarify unanswered questions about Countrywide Financial’s V.I.P. program,” the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Edolphus Towns (D-NY), said that he would subpoena documents from Countrywide Financial Corporation about its VIP program which offered special mortgage deals to preferred customers like Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).
Rep. Towns had been resisting such a move for weeks, even though Republican lawmakers have been demanding that the committee subpoena the mortgage company’s records. Republicans are interested in finding out how many members of Congress and other public officials may have gotten special deals. Be assured that Sen. Dodd is not the only member of Congress to have participated in Countrywide’s VIP program. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and even Rep. Towns himself have received Countrywide mortgages via its VIP program.
In August, the Senate Ethics Committee concluded that neither lawmaker had broken any ethics rules, but said that both should have “exercised more vigilance” about the perception of special treatment. Despite that ruling, Rep. Towns had repeatedly refused Republican demands to subpoena more information about Countrywide’s V.I.P. program. He has canceled a committee meeting, and even locked Republicans out of a committee hearing room to keep them from forcing a “Yes-No” vote on a subpoena. One must wonder what he has to hide.
Rep. Towns has suggested that the oversight committee would not itself handle any documents that indicated special favors or influence-buying involving members of Congress. Instead, Rep. Towns said, the banks would be asked to send any such documents directly to the House ethics committee.
Towns said the decision was “in line with the commitment to an ethical and accountable Congress.”
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how well the foxes do when guarding the hen house. However, the question remains, how well did Chris Dodd sleep last night?
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About the Author: Bill is a 51 year old IT Professional who enjoys political blogging in his spare time after work and after the daily grind at the gym.