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The Pardoner’s Tale [Dan Collins]

Dodd makes Emanuel look like a piker:

It takes considerable political skill for a U.S. senator to win a presidential pardon for a friend without the traditional review by the Justice Department. Sen. Christopher Dodd moved the furtive levers of power in 2001 for Edward R. Downe, convicted of tax and securities fraud eight years before. A man will do a lot for a former real estate partner.

It was reported here two weeks ago that Downe’s real estate development partner, William “Bucky” Kessinger of Kansas City, Mo., purchased a 1,700-square-foot home in Ireland with Dodd in 1994 for $160,000. Downe’s name appeared on the transfer document filed in the Irish Land Registry as the witness to Kessinger’s signature. Kessinger owned two-thirds of the property, Dodd one-third.

Dodd’s spokesman told The Courant in 2001 that the senator and Downe, who pleaded guilty to insider trading in 1993, had been friends for many years. No one mentioned that Dodd and Downe together purchased a condominium in Washington, D.C., in 1986. Dodd bought Downe’s share 3 1/2 years later.

When Dodd owned a condominium with Downe in the 1980s, while Downe was carrying on his illegal stock scheme, no details of their arrangement were in the deed or mortgage filings.Who paid which expenses associated with owning the condominium didn’t fall into the public’s view. Neither did who used the condominium.

It raises the prospect that a senator, working much of the time in Washington, could have had his living expenses subsidized when the senator owned that real estate with a rich New York socialite. Even members of the smart set can be in only one place at a time. Downe already had homes in some of the nation’s finest neighborhoods when he bought the D.C. condominium with Dodd, who used to be called, but no more, one of the poorest members of the Senate.

Read the whole thing, and related thoughts at Dan Riehl’s. And since a commenter brought it up this morning, I’ll just mention Daschle’s jalopy.

13 Replies to “The Pardoner’s Tale [Dan Collins]”

  1. pdbuttons says:

    as a red sox fan/ i’ve been waiting for another “bucky” to channel my anger at
    bucky dent- u piker!

  2. Dan Collins says:

    How about Buck Ofama?

  3. Joe says:

    That no one is calling Dodd or Obama on this in the MSM is amazing. I am no particular fan of Cheney, but the political witch hunt that he, Rove and Libby went through (and Libby paid a very steep price for) over a crime that never happened. Here you have someone actually caught and he is getting a pardon because he is Dodd’s business partner?

    This drives me absolutely crazy. Why is this allowed to happen? Is the GOP so worried about playing nice with their Senate buddies that they won’t call Dodd on it?

  4. Dan Collins says:

    Comity, Joe. Civility NOW!!!

  5. N. O'Brain says:

    “I’ll just mention Daschle’s jalopy.”

    Nancy Pelosi?

  6. Spies, Brigands, and Pirates says:

    How about Buck Ofama?

    I’ve seen a parody of the popular FUBU “urban gear”.

    FUBO.

  7. B Moe says:

    It has gotten beyond turning a blind eye, the MSM have become complicit in this.

  8. Rick Ballard says:

    “How about Buck Ofama?”

    Dan,

    I lean towards Buck Zero – Progressive Hero. His superpower is the ability to make wealth disappear.

  9. Dan Collins says:

    I like that, Rick. Buck Zero in the Twenty-First and a Half Century!

  10. Rick Ballard says:

    To Insolvency and Beyond!!

  11. JD says:

    Is he the first half-white super hero?

  12. Swen Swenson says:

    Is he the first half-white super hero?

    It’s for sure he’s the first half-bright super hero..

  13. Dan Collins says:

    C’mon, Swen–you’re forgetting about Flaming Carrot.

Comments are closed.