Emshwiller also concealed that recordings of conversations with Dodd, Conrad or Towns would have been more than six years old and were supplanted by documentation for loans that were extended according to standard market terms. Issa's claim that he first learned about the recordings in June sounds extraordiary, given that his staffers first took Feinberg's testimony in December 2008 and anyone familiar with the industry knows that it's standard practice to record client communications.
Just like the birthers, who refuse to acknowldge Obama's birth certificate, Issa and Emshwiller refuse to acknowledge the mountain of evidence that the Countrywide VIP "scandal" has been thoroughly discredited. That mountain includes the tacit acknowledgement by the Associated Press that one of its reporters, Larry Margasak, lied. On July 27, 2009, Margasak wrote:
Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation's largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.
In fact, the official, Feinberg, retracted his story and was unable to confirm anything specific that contradicted Conrad and Dodd. As the AP later disclosed:
A transcript shows Feinberg initially replying yes when asked if he had told Dodd that he was getting special treatment. But when asked the same question again, he said, "I don't remember..., but, you know, it was conveyed in some way, shape or form."
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