In Sunday’s Hartford Courant, columnist Kevin Rennie (a former Republican state legislator) unravels the tale of how the senator got a pardon in 2001 for Edward R. Downe, a former partner in a real estate deal who had been convicted of securities fraud. But the story runs much deeper than Dodd trying to get his friend’s conviction voided.It seems that Downe owned a Washington condo with Dodd in the 1980s, when the former was involved in securities fraud. Dodd apparently lived in the place, which took a big financial burden off of the senator, who has never been a rich man. Another partner of Downe’s, William “Bucky” Kessinger, had another deal with Dodd involving lucrative waterfront property on Inishnee, an island on scenic Bertaghboy Bay in County Galway. Dodd has declared the property’s worth on his Senate disclosure forms as being $250,000, but it appears the property may be worth several times that amount. The implication is that this was yet another sweetheart deal in which the senator was sold the property at far below the market price.
What would have happened if Pelosi had not declared that this would be the "most ethical congress in history?"
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