Say Anything Blog

The big news in North Dakota politics today is Senator Kent Conrad getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  In this instance the “cookie jar” being a cushy VIP loan from disgraced Countrywide Mortgage CEO Angelo Mozilo.  What may be more disturbing than Conrad getting special treatment from the executive of a company Conrad himself has a hand in regulating is the fact that the loan Conrad got is for a vacation home that he hasn’t ever disclosed.

By law members of Congress must make public disclosures of their financial assets.  Conrad’s disclosure from 2006 (2007 disclosures are due to be filed today) mentions both his residence in Washington DC and the apartment building in Bismarck he pretends he lives in for the purposes of North Dakota’s citizenship requirements, but nothing about the beach home in Delaware that he borrowed $1.07 million from Countrywide to refinance in 2004.

Senator Conrad borrowed $1.07 million in 2004 to refinance his vacation home with a balcony and wraparound porch in Bethany Beach, Delaware, a block from the ocean. Mozilo instructed a subordinate to “take off 1 point,” or $10,700, according to a March 17, 2004, email.

Later that year, Conrad refinanced an eight-unit apartment building that he and his brothers owned in Bismarck, North Dakota. According to the former employee, the loan violated Countrywide’s normal policy of providing loans for buildings of four units or fewer. In an April 23, 2004, email, Mozilo encouraged an employee to “make an exception due to the fact that the borrower is a senator.”

Conrad is claiming that he has never met Angelo Mozilo and had no idea that he was getting special treatment from Mozilo’s company:

Senator Conrad acknowledged in a statement that he received financing from Countrywide. “I never met Angelo Mozilo,” he said. “I have no way of knowing how they categorized my loan. I never asked for, expected or was aware of any special treatment…From what we have been able to determine, it appears that we were given a competitive rate.”

Personally, I have a hard time believing that someone who has anointed himself an expert on the vastly complicated national budget didn’t know he was getting special treatment on these two loans but even setting that aside Conrad still has a major problem on his hands.

He’s owns a $1 million asset in Delaware that he’s never disclosed as he’s required to by law.  Was this just an error?  It’s hard to imagine that a $1 million asset being left off of disclosure forms since 2004 was mere error.  So why hasn’t Conrad disclosed this home before?

What’s he hiding?