Senator Chris Dodd (D, Irish Mansion CT) is having a time of it with this sweetheart Countrywide loans thing.  First off, the Senate Ethics investigation somehow managed to avoid going after him for his activities, which meant that Dodd thought that he could start repairing the damage to his fundraising reputation (H/T: Instapundit):

U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd is saying it’s time to move on from the long-running Countrywide Financial VIP loan scandal.

[snip]

“I feel the matter’s behind us,” Dodd said. “We ought to move on.”

And then House Democrats messed up (on camera, no less):

Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have been pressing for an investigation of Countrywide Mortgage’s “VIP Program,” under which powerful Democrats like Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd received sweetheart mortgages, apparently as bribes. On Thursday of last week, as the committee was about to meet, the Republicans said that they wanted a vote on whether to subpoena Countrywide’s records on the VIP program. The Democrats were between a rock and a hard place: the last thing they want to do is investigate their own party’s corruption, but at the same time, they don’t want to be seen voting to cover up the Countrywide scandal.

So what did the Democrats do? To a man (or woman), they hid.

Locking the doors on the Republicans – no, really! – didn’t help, either. So now there’s going to be a probe by the House:

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy tells me that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will launch a wide-ranging probe into the lending practices of the mortgage loan industry.

And Dodd’s response?

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Friday that it was the “correct move” for House lawmakers to investigate Countrywide, the beleaguered mortgage lender from which he received several loans.

But at least the President still likes him.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.