Chris Dodd Spits In The Faces Of The People Who Keep Electing Him

News leaked this morning that Chris Dodd was going to release his mortgage documents, but instead what we got was a quasi-release of records, a confirmation from a hired hand that what he has been saying all along is in fact true, and an "apology," kind of. It was like a Rod Blagojevich press conference; something out of the Twilight Zone.

First, the fact of the matter is he still won't release the records. He apparently allowed reporters to look briefly at (but not copy) some 100+ pages of records, and handed out some summary sheets prepared by CrossCheck Compliance LLC, a company his attorneys hired that "provides regulatory compliance and loan review services." I for one doubt that this company is going to destroy their reputation by covering up for this windbag, but still, not making the records available for the public and having some firm you hired declare you are not a crook is probably the least effective way to go about this whole thing.

The summary sheets they put together compare Dodd's application info and the rates he got on his loans with market averages at the time and it looks like his deal was in line with what was available for 10 year adjustable rates at his loan-to-value. But I have more questions now than I did before. What was the benefit to holding on to this info for so long? And what changed in the last week that made it a good idea to "release" this information at this time? What made him just want to "put this behind him" now? And if there was nothing shady about the loan he received, why is he now refinancing? Why did Senator Kent Conrad, who was in the same VIP program, think it appropriate to refinance immediately and donate over $10,000 to charity? Too many secrets.

But what was most offensive to me was what came out of his mouth. I think Chris Dodd truly believes that the people of Connecticut are ignorant fools who will simply take whatever he says as gospel. Here are a few of his statements that struck me.

"We asked what [the VIP program] entailed and we were told that it was nothing more than enhanced customer service. For instance, being able to get a person on the phone instead of an automated operator."

You can get that by pressing "zero," Chris, you don't need a VIP program. This guy is a US Senator, and his wife is a banker, and that is the best they could come up with after six months of scheming?

"I planned on making these documents public after the Ethics Committee completed its work, but I should have realized with national elections and the start of a new Congress it was unrealistic to expect the Committee to finish by now."

For someone who has been in the Senate since I was in grade school, he doesn't know very much about how the Senate works. There is no part of the investigation that has ever prevented him from releasing the documents. That has been a smokescreen from the start, but he refuses to let it go. And how long did he think the investigation would take, fifteen minutes? The Senate can't decide when to take a bathroom break without polls, witnesses and hearings.

"Knowing what I know now, I regret having ever done business with Countrywide."

The only thing he knows now that he didn't know before is that the voters, and even some in the media, aren't going to let this go, even if he wants to pretend the whole fiasco is no big deal.

Read about today's events at The Everyday Republican, the Connecticut Post, the Hartford Courant here, here, here and here, the Washington Post, Bloomberg, AP, The Day, Politico, NRO, Michelle Malkin here and here, Hot Air here and here, CBS, CT News Junkie, Instapundit, and see video at NECN.