Conrad Allegations Cleared

A committee that investigated VIP mortgage deals for Democratic Senators Chris Dodd and andamp;lt...  More »

A committee that investigated VIP mortgage deals for Democratic Senators Chris Dodd and andamp;lt;a href=andamp;quot;http://www.kxnet.com/t/kent-conradandamp;quot; class=andamp;quot;kxInlineLinkandamp;quot;andamp;gt;Kent Conradandamp;lt;/aandamp;gt; has cleared them both of breaking Senate rules. Both men say they've been vindicated, after the Senate ethics committee cleared them of breaking any rules. A watchdog group charged that Conrad and Dodd broke ethics rules by knowingly accepting cut-rate mortgages from Countrywide Financial. But the ethics committee said after a yearlong investigation, it had found andamp;quot;no substantial credible evidenceandamp;quot; of rules violations. The panel took the unusual stop of admonishing both senators for not doing more to guard against the appearance they were getting preferential treatment. Both senators have said they were unaware that they were getting special deals. Conrad says he andamp;quot;should have shown more vigilance in the appearanceandamp;quot; of the transactions.  « Less