Countrywide Scandal Extends to Senate

Countrywide Financial made sweetheart deals for lawmakers and other high-profile pols who received mortgages from the disgraced lender, a Portfolio exposé reveals. The deals, which appear to violate both company rules and federal law, benefited "Friends of Angelo"—as in CEO Angelo Mozilo—including at least two US senators, Clinton and Bush Cabinet members, and an ex-UN ambassador.

Chris Dodd, who saved nearly $78,000 on two loans, chairs the Senate Banking Committee. Kent Conrad heads the Senate Budget Committee. Mozilo once wrote that the latter’s special loan was “due to the fact that the borrower is a senator.” But Conrad denies ever meeting Mozilo and says he “never asked for, expected, or was aware of any special treatment.” (More Countrywide Financial stories.)