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In a statement released to the Minuteman on Tuesday, Dodd's Press Secretary Bryan DeAngelis said the story contained "no new news."
The latest flare up of the mortgage controversy surrounding Dodd occurred in the AP report, which appeared Monday. The report quoted Countrywide employee Robert Feinberg's testimony before Congress. During that testimony Feinberg, who administered the VIP loans to the two senators, told the Senate Ethics Committee that the pair knew they were receiving favored treatment.
DeAngelis said the story is much ado about nothing.
"While the headlines and pull quotes from Monday's AP story about what Robert Feinberg had to say about Senator Dodd proved splashy and sexy, the fact remains that what he actually said is nothing new nor anything Senator Dodd hasn't already said himself," said DeAngelis.
Dodd has said that he did know he was a part of Countrywide's VIP program, but that he believed the program was available to any member of the general public with an excellent credit history.
The brouhaha surrounding Dodd's allegedly preferred treatment erupted last year shortly before the current economic crisis. At the time, there were accusations that the mortgage company was attempting to buy influence with U.S. Senators.
DeAngelis also noted that Feinberg's allegations have been reported in the national media as far back as March of this year.
"The AP did a great job of taking nothing new or newsworthy and making scandal where there was none," he said.
Another point that Dodd has stressed repeatedly is that rates equal to or lower than he received were available to the general public at the time (2003).
"The mortgages that the Dodds got back in 2003 were illustrative of the going rates in a very competitive market," said DeAngelis. "In fact, the Wall Street Journal's Dow Jones Real Estate Index for the time period in which the Dodds refinanced actually showed that lower rates were available to the general public. In addition the Dodds' credit scores and loan-to-debt ratio worked in their favor."
