Chris Dodd and AIG
David Freddoso
The Corner
This morning's Washington Times has the goods, exclusively, on Senator Dodd and AIG.
<<< The message in the Nov. 17, 2006, e-mail from Joseph Cassano, AIG Financial Products chief executive, was unmistakable: Mr. Dodd was "next in line" to be chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which oversees the insurance industry, and he would "have the opportunity to set the committee's agenda on issues critical to the financial services industry...Given his seniority in the Senate, he will also play a key role in the Democratic Majority's leadership..."
Mr. Dodd's campaign quickly hit pay dirt, collecting more than $160,000 from employees and their spouses at the AIG Financial Products division (AIG-FP) in Wilton, Conn., in the days before he took over as the committee chairman in January 2007... Each of the seven AIG-FP executives to whom the Cassano e-mail was sent made two $2,100 contributions to the Dodd campaign - one for the primary and another for the general election campaign. The records also show that five of their wives also contributed $4,200 each to the Dodd campaign. ...
"The concern and the question is whether AIG was purchasing kid-glove treatment from their home state senator - from the senator chairing the committee charged with overseeing their industry," Ms. [Sheila] Krumholz said. >>>
This story is a very big deal. Whether they "purchased" special treatment or not, AIG is definitely getting special treatment now, and they got it after paying out.
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