HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - While some are criticizing deals Sen. Chris Dodd has made with Countrywide Financial, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says Dodd has done nothing wrong and will be re-elected next year.

Blumenthal addressed Dodd's situation recently on Face the State, produced by WFSB in Hartford, saying there is no evidence that Dodd has committed any wrongdoing over what a Hartford Courant columnist called "sweetheart loans" he received in 2003.

Countrywide has been in hot water with state attorneys general around the country in recent months, including an 11-state settlement with nearly $9 billion in direct loan relief to customers allegedly misled about the terms of their loans.

Both Blumenthal and Dodd are Democrats. Dodd is the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

"That corporation has a lot of answering to do," Blumenthal said, "and I believe that Chris Dodd may regret having waited to disclose some of those facts (about his loans), but there's no evidence of wrongdoing on his part any more than the victims who were misled or deceived by Countrywide."

The Wall Street Journal wrote that Dodd is due to receive an estimate savings of $75,000 over the life of his two VIP mortgage loans from Countrywide.

Recently, Dodd allowed some reporters to review documents associated with his two mortgage but insisted they not make copies. Face the State host Dennis House asked Blumenthal if it would be OK for Countrywide to give him the same deal.

"We subpoena documents. We don't voluntarily necessarily accept representations made to us by companies like Countrywide," Blumenthal responded. "Chris Dodd has disclosed those documents, he has disclosed those facts and I believe the people of Connecticut will accept his explanation and elect him in 2010."

The Wall Street Journal article also noted that Blumenthal has said that he can not charge Dodd with anything anyway because Dodd holds a federal office, as did State's Attorney Kevin Kane.

It continues that Blumenthal filed a civil suit against Republican Gov. John Rowland in 2004 regarding corruption allegations. Federal prosecutors successfully asked a state judge to temporarily block the suit because they said he was making it more difficult for them to prosecute Rowland.

A Hartford Courant editorial also details a purchase made by Dodd in Ireland with a man who later pleaded guilty to violating tax and securities laws. Dodd was able to secure a pardon for Edward Downe Jr. from President Clinton on his last day in office.

"I did what a lot of people do," Dodd said in a WFSB article. "I invested in a piece of property. That was publicly on the records for years. It's sheer politics, there's nothing to the story."

From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.