Hartford Courant, ran an op-ed concerning Dodd's acquisition of his vacation home in Roundstone, Ireland. The article alleged that Dodd's former partner in buying the home had ties to disgraced Bear Stearns principal Edward Downe, Jr. who had since been convicted of insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. After paying an $11 million fine for his role in the scam, Downe later obtained a pardon in the waning days of the Bill Clinton administration. The controversial pardon was granted after Dodd lobbied Clinton on Downe's behalf. Dodd's letter to the President said, "Mr. President, Ed Downe is a good person, who is truly sorry for the hurt he caused others." After Downe's pardon, Dodd bought out the interests of his partner for a price allegedly based on a 2002 bank appraisal of the Roundstone home, which yielded little profit for Dodd's partner. Rennie criticized Dodd for claiming the Roundstone home was worth less than $250,000 in Senate ethics filings; some observers estimated the likely value in excess of US$1 million. In June 2009, Dodd provided a new statement to the Senate reporting the actual value of his Irish property at $658,000. The Wall Street Journal later compared this issue to the ethical charges which led to the political demise of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. AIG federal assistance and bonuses controversy From the fall of 2008 through early 2009, the United States government spent nearly $170 billion to assist failing insurance giant American International Group. AIG then spent $165 million of this money to hand out executive "retention" bonuses to its top executives. Public outrage ensued over this perceived misuse of taxpayer dollars. The Fox Business Network's Rich Edson broke the story claiming Dodd was responsible for the inclusion of a clause limiting excessive executive pay in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. On February 14, 2009, The Wall Street Journal published an article, Bankers Face Strict New Pay Cap, discussing a retroactive limit to bonus compensation inserted by Dodd into the stimulus bill that passed in the Senate. The same article went on to mention that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers "had called Sen. Dodd and asked him to reconsider." When the bill left conference, Dodd's provision had been amended to include a provision preventing limits on bonuses previously negotiated and under contract. This provision was lobbied for by Geithner and Summers. As Dodd explained in