Today, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd puts some steam back into his engine. It is clear to Sen. Dodd and his advisers that time is short and he needs to “get out there” among Connecticut voters with those dog and pony shows that most politicians in trouble use. Dodd has been making the rounds at soft targets, business groups, senior centers and at any location where friendly crowds won’t ask those pesky questions about his finances and poor judgment.

Sunday, in the Hartford Courant, which is now making the Dodd saga an official news story, allowed Dodd to explain further the matters surrounding the purchase of his Irish cottage. It was a one source story – all the sources coming from Chris Dodd, with Chris Dodd’s take and nuanced explanation on how he managed to partner with the unsavory Ed Downe and the “Third Man” – William Kessinger, the fellow who spotted two-thirds of the cottage.

But the most nauseating moment in the story is Dodd’s Biblical reference to the pardoning of  Downe by Bill Cinton in the last days of his presidency and without Justice Department review. Downe was Connecticut’s version of Marc Rich.  Downe made millions on inside trading which meant others lost millions.  Here is what Dodd said when President Bush “commuted” the sentence of Scooter Libby:

By commuting Scooter Libby’s sentence, the President continues to abdicate responsibility for the actions of his Administration. The only ones paying the price for this Administration’s actions are the American people.”

After Clinton gave Downe an 11th hour full pardon based on a letter from Dodd, all was forgiven.

I’m a great believer: You deplore the sin, embrace the sinner. Ed did something wrong. He broke the law and he stood up and [pleaded] guilty. He paid a price. … I didn’t walk away from my friend at a dark moment for him.

In the  Courant piece, written by Matthew Kaufman and Dave Altimari, Dodd downplays some of the more damning facts that have emerged from the work of Courant columnist Kevin Rennie- including the true value of the cottage when he bought out Kessinger and Dodd’s fuzzy explanation on why he only paid one third for the property. Dodd’s assertion that the property wasn’t worth as much as other properties in Ireland because of a rickety bridge is pure blarney.

Also on Sunday, Dodd sat down with Dennis House on Face the State, which was taped Thursday. In that interview, Sen. Dodd admitted he was “tired” because of all the hearings he has held on the Banking and Urban Affairs Committee. Sen. Dodd said he “understands the politics,” but was more concerned with “doing his job.” 

Dodd stood by his friend, Downe, and given their financial relationship, one can see why. Could it be that Sen. Dodd did everything he could knowing that Ed Downe might hold the secrets to the purchases of the Irish home, the condo and what else?

 It still comes down to this no matter how you cut it – Chris Dodd wanted to live a certain life that his income couldn’t afford. Dodd found people, rich people, to help him buy it and then he somehow later found the scratch to take the property over while fudging on the value to avoid the IRS and public disclosure that would raise questions. By Dodd’s own admission, when Downe was being investigated by the SEC for insider trading, Dodd got out of his arrangements with Downe on the condominium they owned in Washington, D.C.  Was it the SEC or something else?

For someone who claims to be a pauper, Chris Dodd had his name on four deeds in 2007 – a home in East Haddam, a cottage in Ireland, a home in D.C. and an apartment in Iowa.  By comparison, Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, has five homes with his heiress wife, Theresa.

That’s what you call leveraging.