Washington Post Standing By Their Story Linking Kent Conrad To Insider Training

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Written By:
Rob Port

Jun 26, 2012
5:29pm

Senator Kent Conrad has been angrily rebuking the Washington Post for linking him to insider trading issues.

The Post established that Conrad had made some big financial moves in 2007 after talking to then-Secretary of the Treasury Henry Pausl. Conrad doesn’t deny the financial moves, or the conversation with Paulson, but rejects the idea that the two were connected.

But the Post tells Politico that they’re sticking by their story:

“We stand by our facts. Sen. Conrad’s comments simply reinforce the point of our story, which is that Congress’s unwillingness to abide by the same conflicts of interest rules that officials in the administration or many people in the private sector do can result in the appearance of conflicts of interest. This is such an instance,” Kris Coratti, a Post spokesperson, told POLITICO. “Additionally, Senator Conrad’s response was included in both the story and the graphic to which he is referring.”

The Post has the right of this. Had a banking executive done what Conrad did he/she would be summoned before Congress for angry denunciations and investigated by the SEC.

But apparently this sort of thing is ok if you’re a Senator. Honestly, I think the government’s insider training laws are kind of absurd, but setting that aside there shouldn’t be a double standard for US Senators.

And given that Conrad is the same guy who expected us to believe that his phone call to former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo resulting in some discounted “VIP” mortgages wasn’t special treatment in exchange for helping usher a bailout for Countrywide through the Senate, I’d say his credibility is shot.

As Conrad heads into retirement, this is his legacy. A wheeling-dealing hypocrite not afraid to leverage his position of power into personal profit.