Blog

MOGOP urges Robin Carnahan to shut down fundraising committee with embattled Senator Chris Dodd

July 29, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY—In light of new evidence that Sen. Chris Dodd knew he was receiving sweetheart mortgage deals from Countrywide Financial, the Missouri Republican Party today urged Robin Carnahan to shut down a fundraising committee that she shares with the embattled liberal Democrat.

Dodd is under fire for his membership in an exclusive club of mortgage recipients called “friends of Angelo.” Angelo Mozilo was chief executive of Countrywide, which played a big part in the foreclosure crisis triggered by defaults on subprime loans.

“Robin Carnahan’s silence about Chris Dodd’s sweetheart mortgage deals and the fact that she continues to operate a special fundraising committee with him demonstrates that Carnahan lacks the independence needed to stand up to the national Democrats,” said Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party. “In light of the mounting evidence that Chris Dodd was not straightforward about the special treatment he received, we are urging Robin Carnahan to cut all ties with him and cease all joint fundraising.”

As reported by the Associated Press this week: “Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation’s largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.”

Dodd is a very close political ally of Robin Carnahan in Washington. When the national Democrats sought a mentor for Robin Carnahan, they turned to Dodd, who took her under his wing establishing a linked fundraising committee. In fact, it was the transfer of $25,960 from the Dodd-Carnahan committee on the final day of the second fundraising quarter that helped Carnahan barely surpass the $1 million mark in her second quarter fundraising.

In addition to her fundraising with Dodd, Robin Carnahan took a $5,000 contribution from Democrat Senator Kent Conrad’s PAC, “DAKPAC” on May 18, 2009. Like Dodd, Senator Conrad is another “friend of Angelo” who the AP reported was told about his sweetheart mortgage deals after having denied it.