Ethics for VIPs; Dodd cleared, but housing ghosts linger.

COLUMN: IN OUR OPINION

Although a Senate ethics panel Friday cleared Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota of legal wrongdoing in connection with VIP mortgages they obtained through Countrywide Financial Corp., this is one housing deal that isn't quite ready for the closing.

For starters, the Senate panel chided the pair for failing to show sufficient vigilance about the public perceptions of their participation in such a program.

Moreover, it seems a third congressman, Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-New York, may now be feeling a bit of heat. Mr. Towns, who has refused Republican requests to subpoena Countrywide in the matter, himself received two loans from the company. Another coincidence? If so, it's one that isn't likely to sit very well with the public.

It became clear during the Senate's investigation that Mr. Dodd and Mr. Conrad either weren't paying close attention to their mortgage paperwork, or willfully ignored the evidence of favorable rates and waived origination fees contained in that paperwork. A former Countrywide official, Robert Feinberg, contradicted the senators' earlier version of events when he testified to Congressional committees that the senators were well aware of the advantages that were conferred on "friends of Angelo," the informal designation given to those with access to Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.

Mr. Dodd has claimed he thought that status meant enhanced attention to service, not favorable rates or other financial treatment. To his credit, he has apologized for contributing to "people's cynicism and distrust, that maybe I wasn't telling the truth." And Mr. Conrad donated the more than $10,000 in savings he realized to charity.

Still, Countrywide remains under investigation by Congress and by several states for practices that contributed to the mortgage market meltdown. That investigation could hold further embarrassment for the senators, and Mr. Towns' attempt to stymie that process can only create further difficulties of politics and perception for them. Ultimately, whatever the Senate finds - or fails to find - it is voters who will have the last word on the senators' careers.