===Dodd's responsibility for oversight of the subprime lending abuses and crisis===
Congressional investigators discovered<ref>[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Foversight.house.gov%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F07%2FCountrywide-112th-Report-7.3.12-1207-PM.pdf&ei=BAw1UdSkKKXhyQHlg4BY&usg=AFQjCNE-SVDLajjQNZyjxsZGuBXxtlqO-g&sig2=YCxVZiHOe405Ru8bRNY_gw&bvm=bv.43148975,d.aWc How Countrywide Used its VIP Loan Program To Influence Washington Policymakers,] House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, July 5, 2012.</ref> during Dodd's duel tenure as chief fundraiser and Chairman of the [[DNC]] and Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee tasked with oversight of the mortgage lending industry:
{{quotebox|Countrywide reached an exclusive agreement to sell [[Fannie Mae]] billions of dollars in mortgages at a discounted rate. The agreement led to a period of codependence and mutual growth. ...Between January 1996 and June 2008, Countrywide’s VIP loan unit made hundreds of loans to current and former Members of Congress, congressional staff, high- ranking government officials...<br> <br>Fannie Mae and Countrywide lobbied against government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) reform legislation that would have diminished Fannie Mae’s ability to acquire and hold subprime mortgages originated by Countrywide. Countrywide also lobbied against predatory lending bills...several Members of Congress and congressional staff positioned to affect the legislation received VIP loans. In fact, Countrywide lobbyists – and CEO Angelo Mozilo himself – referred several Members and staff from the Senate Committee on Banking and the House Committee on Financial Services to the VIP unit. Those are the committees of primary [[jurisdiction]] for consideration of legislation related to the mortgage industry and the GSEs.<br> <br>Countrywide’s VIP unit processed loans for key Senators and Senate staff who could be helpful when legislation that affected the company was drafted or up for a vote. Countrywide gave VIP loans to former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd; Senate Budget Committee Chairman [[Kent Conrad]]; and Mary Jane Collipriest, Communications Director for former Senator Robert Bennett, who served on the Banking Committee. Dodd referred Collipriest to the VIP unit....<br> <br>Fannie Mae’s targeted lobbying campaign supplemented Countrywide’s outreach to Committee Members and staff. The GSE assigned as many as 70 lobbyists to the Financial Services Committee while it considered GSE reform legislation in 2000 – 2005....During the 108th Congress, four GSE reform bills were introduced in the House. None made it out of the Financial Services Committee.<br>Countrywide also had favorable relationships with key decision makers in the [[Executive Branch]]. Two former Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development received VIP loans – [[Alphonso Jackson]] and [[Henry Cisneros]]. The VIP unit processed Cisneros’s loan after he joined the company’s Board of Directors. Jim Johnson referred former Secretary of Health and Human Services [[Donna Shalala]] to the VIP unit.}}
In addition to preferential treatment, Dodd received over $165,000 in contributions from the mortgage entities he oversaw. <ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/09/update-fannie-mae-and-freddie.html Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Invest in Lawmakers], By Lindsay Renick Mayer, September 11, 2008. opensecrets.org. As DNC Chairman, it was Dodd's role to solicit and direct fundraising from donors for Democrats. Other top liberal Democrats who took money from Fannie Mae and [[Freddie Mac]] are: [[Barack Obama]], $126,000; [[John Kerry]] $111,000; [[Harry Reid]] $77,000; [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] $76,050; [[Nancy Pelosi]] $56,250; and [[Carolyn Maloney]] $39,750. Some members also held stock and voted for funds to [[bailout]] the government sponsored entities, a possible [[conflict of interest]].</ref>