Senator Chris Dodd guilty of 'mortgage fraud'? (OneNewsNow.com)

Senator Chris Dodd guilty of 'mortgage fraud'?

Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 11/14/2008 8:15:00 AM

A news-talk radio station in New Haven, Connecticut, is refusing to air a spirited interview between a conservative host and the powerful chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Chris Dodd.

NBC News reports that a federal criminal investigation into possible wrongdoing by mortgage giant Countrywide Home Loans now includes scrutiny of Countrywide's VIP program that gave special mortgage deals to government officials, including Senators Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) and Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut).

Connecticut conservative radio talk-show host Tom Scott says up until now, fellow senators and the media have not questioned Dodd about his personal scandal.

"I have asserted publicly that Chris Dodd committed mortgage fraud in all likelihood, and that's a criminal act. And the committee that's investigating him in Washington is frankly a joke," Scott contends. "The Ethics Committee, it's equal number of Democrats and Republicans. It's part of the club; it's not a court of law. There are no rules of evidence there and Chris Dodd, I think, is getting a big pass by these members."

During a recent interview on WELI-AM in New Haven, Scott pressed Dodd about his sweetheart mortgage deal.

Scott: "Why don't you simply release the mortgage application that you and your wife signed, and why don't you simply release the HUD statement that you and your wife signed?"

Dodd: "Well first of all, you drew a lot of conclusions there, I might add.

Scott: "Well, Senator, only because you have been unwilling to answer the questions."

Dodd: "No, no. I'm answering the questions. You may not like the answers, but I'm very candid with you. You've drawn a conclusion about getting favorable treatment. I say and I'll say it again to you: never saw it, never received, never aware of any special treatment. The rates we were given were available standard market rates."

Scott says ClearChannel "bureaucrats" in New Haven disliked the tough interview with Dodd, so they have chosen not to air the conversation. The decision to censor the interview prompted Scott, a former state senator, to quit his job at WELI.

"The people who hired me simply mislead me about what they wanted in this show," he explains. "And the agreement we had was that I would do my thing and that if they ever told me what to say or not say on the radio, I would leave."