The Tragedy Of Chris Dodd

I have known that Dodd was a corrupt Senator, who protected his friends and campaign contributors, for many years.

[Policing Wall Street]

Christopher Dodd is the senior Senator from Connecticut. 

Dodd is the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. And most importantly Dodd is a believer in himself. 

Here we have Dodd at the pinnacle of the Senate and now he has announced his retirement because of his financial shenanigans.

When I was in high school we were taught that tragedy, especially Greek tragedy from which all literature has flowed, was based on the idea of a tragic flaw.  Thus, Oedipus thought of himself as above the Gods.  So too did Jason of Jason and the Argonauts.  And Agamemnon, who sacrificed his daughter, so the Greek ships could sail. 

None of them recognized that they were not above the laws of the gods. 

So too Dodd- only he has had a longer reign in the Senate than these other individuals had as kings. 

In 2008 Dodd campaigned for the Democratic nomination for the presidency- even though it was known that he had obtained a mortgage at a favorable rate from Countrywide.  Dodd was given these favorable terms because he was a friend of Angelo Mozzillo, the Chairman of Countrywide.  Countrywide was one of the largest originators of subprime mortgages.

Dodd, and his good Senate friend Chuck Schumer, always defended the innovation of Wall Street- and they received millions in campaign contributions from the same individuals, who wrecked the world economy.  Dodd even defended the bonuses of those individuals at AIG, who because of their reckless financial gambling, put AIG out of business- and this was after the government had performed a $160 billion bailout of AIG.

I have known that Dodd was a corrupt Senator, who protected his friends and campaign contributors, for many years. 

Since 1993 –yes 17 years ago– I had written to Dodd concerning the criminal activity at the American Stock Exchange.  And what action did Dodd take?  According to my sources Dodd took no action- except to send copies of my letters to his good friend, James Jones.

James Jones, a former Democratic member of the House of Representatives succeeded Arthur Levitt as Chairman of the American Stock Exchange in 1990. 

Beginning in March 1991 I was constantly writing to Jones and to members of Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission about violations of federal securities laws at the Amex including:  the stock fraud, PNF; manipulation of the XMI, a stock index by Morgan Stanley; and price rigging in options; the bribery of Steven Lister, Senior Vice President of Compliance, by the Italian Mafia; and other violations of federal securities.  

One evening in 1991 I spoke to Jones outside the Amex about violations of federal securities laws by Robert VanCaneghan and Louis Miceli, members of the Board of the Amex.  I also spoke to Jones about my illegal eviction from the Amex because I had requested an investigation into reports by Amex security guards that Miceli had been apprehended with an unregistered pistol. 

Jones refused to take any action and instead mouthed some nonsense about all rights being protected.

Over a two year period I spoke to Jones on perhaps three other occasions about the sexual assaults against female employees on Wall Street; the insider trading scandal of Motel 6 by Amex trading firms; manipulation of the XMI by Morgan Stanley; the stock fraud, PNF; etc.  Jones was always uncomfortable speaking to me because I was informing him of violations of federal securities laws at the Amex and, as an attorney, Jones knew that these crimes were prosecutable.  But Jones refused to take any action. In reality Jones wanted to do nothing- except to collect his salary of $1 million per annum.

On another occasion in 1991 I spoke to his aide de camp, Chris Finn, who held a senior position at the Amex, about the same aforementioned violations of federal securities laws.  On another occasion when I questioned Finn about my illegal eviction from the Amex because I had asked for an investigation into Miceli’s alleged possess of an unregistered pistol, Finn told me to forget about it and get a job. 

I replied that no one would hire me because the Amex was protecting Miceli.

Eventually in 1993 Jones was forced to resign.  Jones then used his political influence with the Clinton administration to be appointed Ambassador to Mexico.

I then wrote numerous letters to Dodd because he was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  

These letters to Dodd detailed the stock fraud, PNF; the involvement of the Italian Mafia at the Amex; the alleged sexual assaults perpetrated by Robert VanCaneghan and his admission of these assaults to members of the Amex Board; the manipulation of the XMI; the insider trading scandal of Motel 6 and the involvement of Amex member firms in trading on inside information; the laundering of drug money by Miceli and VanCaneghan; the smuggling of cocaine by Miceli aboard his boat, The Jaded Lady; etc.

So what action did Dodd take?  Well, Senate hearings are frequently open to the public.  And the hearings of the Foreign Relations Committee on the day Jones was to appear were open to the public. All but one.  Yes at the urging of Dodd the Jones’ hearing as Ambassador to Mexico was closed to the public.

All Dodd cared about was protecting his friend. 

But unlike those ancient tragic Greek heroes, Dodd had accomplished nothing that would gain him fame.  He did not return the Golden Fleece. 

He did not lead the Greeks to conquer Troy. He did have that affair with Bianca Jagger though.

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