Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

March 30, 2009

AIG Execs 'Encouraged' to Donate to Chris Dodd

Connecticut's other senator sure has had a rough time of it lately, and it doesn't look as though things will get easier any time soon.

To add to the growing list of scandals involving the former presidential candidate, AIG's financial products CEO Joseph Cassano got the word out to other company executives (and their spouses) that Dodd was in need of campaign funds. From the Washington Times:

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.

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. Months later, the senator transferred the donations to jump-start his 2008 presidential bid, which later failed.

An interesting little tidbit, considering Dodd's role in keeping AIG bonuses from going bye-bye via the "stimulus" bill. Supposedly Timothy "Tax Cheat" Geithner's office had a hand in it too, but Dodd's the one with egg all over his face, especially after denying knowing anything about what is known as the Dodd amendment to the bill.

Oh, and another little tidbit, in case you didn't hear: Dodd's wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, "served as an 'outside' director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG."

Nothing inherently wrong with that, but there is that little thing called "conflict of interest."

The 2010 election should be interesting. Perhaps Dodd might want to see if his Irish cottage is comfortable year-round.