Countrywide Scandal Spreads to Senate

[Hope And Change]

Today's Must Read

By Andrew Tilghman - June 13, 2008, 9:35AM

If the special-rate Countrywide loan that led to Jim Johnson's resignation from Barack Obama's VP screening team was shady, then there's a few other Washington insiders who may have some explaining to do.

A new article from Portfolio rattles off a list of top Washington officials, current and former, who also received discounted loans because they were personally approved by Countywide Financial's top exec Angelo Mozilo.

Senators Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, refinanced properties through Countrywide's "V.I.P." program in 2003 and 2004, according to company documents and emails and a former employee familiar with the loans.
Other participants in the V.I.P. program included 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. Jackson was deputy H.U.D. secretary in the Bush administration when he received the loans in 2003. Shalala, who received two loans in 2002, had by then left the Clinton administration for her current position as president of the University of Miami. She is scheduled to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 19.

more...

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/loans.php

[TwilightGardener]

1. Sad that Dodd and Dorgan would do this while sitting Senators. Shame on them.

[Mist]

2. Did I miss something? Where is Dorgan mentioned? n/t

[Hope And Change]

3. I think wienerdoggie meant Kent Conrad.

[TwilightGardener]

5. Ooops! Got my North Dakotans cornfused!

[asjr]

4. I sure would not turn down a discounted loan.

Why is that a criminal offense? That is business as usual all over the world.

[TwilightGardener]

6. It's inappropriate for an elected official who sits on the Senate Banking Committee

to look like he's taking favors from the industry.

[laylah]

7. Countrywide

SUCKS. They just put the major screws to my husband and I on a refi. Won't bore you with details. Suffice it to say they are sleazy, dishonest, and more than dishonorable!

If their sleazy tactics have spilled over into the Senate, then heads MUST roll...Mazillo is going to make millions off the backs of the "little guy". What a bastard.

As an aside, I called the CEO (Ken Lewis...staff was awesome) office of BOA (they are going to buy CW out) to tell him about CW's practices and how they treated my husband and I. I also forwarded his number to many who also have complaints about CW. Just thought he might want to know what his company is getting into.

[sandnsea]

9. They are still at it

I know someone who tried to get a 30 rate fixed, and they're still pushing the adjustables and the interest only's, telling people if you're planning to sell your house you shouldn't get a fixed rate. I can't believe they're still doing this. I will tell them to call that CEO office too.

[quantass]

8. Wow, America is corrupt..more so than my lowest opinion of it...change needed badly.

[high density]

10. I fail to see how it is a scandal for a company to give a "VIP" discount

This happens every day for rich people no matter what their political persuasion. Put a lot of money in a bank and you get preferential treatment. It's just a fact of life.

[cali]

11. it's called a conflict of interest. lawmakers can provide legislative favors

to companies. What is so hard to understand about this clear conflict of interest?

[high density]

12. Is there proof of favors?

Important people get perks all the time and this is a country where we supposedly are innocent until proven guilty. Take a look at Obama and Rezko. There was all this outrage over that, and it was absolutely nothing.

[cali]

13. it doesn't matter if there are favors. lawmakers are ill served by even the

appearance of a conflict of interest. And Obama himself admitted that taking a favor from Rezco was wrong and a big mistake.

[Inuca]

14. I read the original article and so far

there does not seem to be anything of substance to it (I hope it is not just wishful thinking from my part in the way I interpreted it). It also said that Dodd's office will issue a statement about this.

[ProSense]

15. This article smells like BS, and I notice it only mentions

one Republican, Alphonso Jackson, Bush's scandolous appointee.

First of all, Democrats are going to have mortgages with a company. Dodd is not wealthy compared to some of his colleagues.

They're talking about loans in 2002 and 2003, before the scandal broke.

This is from the article TPM Muckraker links to:

Widely criticized for spurring the country’s mortgage crisis with over-aggressive lending policies, Countrywide saw its share price plunge from $45 in February 2007 to less than $5 in January 2008, when Bank of America agreed to acquire the company in a $4 billion stock swap.

Countrywide is reportedly under F.B.I. investigation for alleged securities fraud, and Mozilo has drawn criticism for unloading $474 million in Countrywide shares between 2004 and 2007 as the housing crisis neared. He’s defended the sales as part of his retirement planning.

link

Where the hell is the story on Phil Gramm?

They're trying to make an issue about Jim Johnson, what about the head of McCain's VP search committee?

Does anyone even know if Dodd and Conrad know Mozilo?

Senator Conrad acknowledged in a statement that he received financing from Countrywide. "I never met Angelo Mozilo," he said. "I have no way of knowing how they categorized my loan. I never asked for, expected or was aware of any special treatment"...

link

"The Dodds received a competitive rate on their loans," said Bryan DeAngelis, Sen. Dodd's press secretary. "They did not seek or anticipate any special treatment, and they were not aware of any." He declined further comment.

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