As the Wall Street Journal wryly notes, “Connecticut’s attorney general says Connecticut’s senator is outside his jurisdiction”:
If you think Senator Chris Dodd was friendly with former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo, check out the bond the Connecticut lawmaker enjoys with Richard Blumenthal, the state’s attorney general. While Mr. Dodd refuses to make public the details of his sweetheart loans from Countrywide, the state’s chief lawyer not only won’t investigate; he has taken to the airwaves to proclaim Mr. Dodd’s innocence and even predict his re-election in 2010.
Inappropriate doesn’t begin to describe Mr. Blumenthal’s appearance this week on Hartford’s WFSB-TV. The AG compared Mr. Dodd, who was due to receive an estimated savings of $75,000 over the life of his two VIP mortgage loans, to borrowers allegedly duped by unscrupulous lenders. Mr. Blumenthal claimed that “there’s no evidence of wrongdoing on [Mr. Dodd’s] part any more than victims who were misled or deceived by Countrywide.”
Portraying Mr. Dodd as a victim for receiving two below-market loans appeared to be too much for WFSB anchor Dennis House. He asked Mr. Blumenthal if he would accept Countrywide telling him that he could see some documents for a short time but not make any copies, as Mr. Dodd recently did with selected reporters. Mr. Blumenthal replied that he subpoenas documents from companies like Countrywide, instead of accepting their representations.
It’s interesting that the state’s top lawyer can pronounce that there’s no evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Dodd, especially since Mr. Blumenthal told us this week that he has never investigated Dodd’s Countrywide deals. According to Mr. Blumenthal, the case is out of his jurisdiction because Mr. Dodd holds a federal office and any possible offenses would be federal. Mr. Blumenthal prosecutes civil matters while Connecticut’s Chief State’s Attorney, Kevin Kane, oversees criminal prosecutions. Mr. Kane’s office also tells us that Connecticut’s senior Senator is out of its jurisdiction.
Why am I picturing Senator Geary recusing himself during the Godfather: Part II’s recreation of the Kefauver hearings?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member