Little was added to the latest chapter in Sen. Kent Conrad's lingering Countrywide Financial Corp. controversy this week, except his accuser has now given his side of the story under oath to Senate and House investigators.

Robert Feinberg, a former loan officer who handled the so-called "VIP" unit for the now-defunct mortgage lender, told the Senate Ethics Committee and House in June that Conrad, D-N.D., knew he was getting preferential loan treatment in 2004 on a beach house in Delaware and an eight-unit apartment in Bismarck.

Conrad again this week vehemently denied the allegations.

"I absolutely, categorically deny that Mr. Feinberg ever told me that I was getting preferential pricing on my loan," Conrad said.

Congressional ethics and political experts say it will take time before the veracity of the allegations made by Feinberg are officially vetted. For now, it will remain one man's word against another.

The ethics panel, which is historically secretive in its deliberations and is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, is not likely to report its findings until an opportune time, said Craig Holman, the government relations lobbyist for Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy and ethics in government group in Washington, D.C.

"The allegation that is being made by the mortgage loan officer � is exceedingly credible," he said. "That statement was made under oath."

The ethics committee has been investigating the matter for more than a year now, about the normal length of time needed for an inquiry, Holman said.

"It would be appropriate for the ethics committee to try to wrap up its investigation," he said. "The longer this simmers it's going to burn Conrad � the ethics needs to get this over and deal with it appropriately."

The consequences for Conrad and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who also has been named by Feinberg as a senator who received preferential treatment, could range from private to public punishments if any wrongdoing is proved. The committee can expel members from the Senate, but it's unusual and follows criminal investigations, Holman said.

Dana Harsell, a political scientist at the University of North Dakota, said Conrad's side of the story seems plausible, considering other borrowers may have been getting breaks on their mortgages through Countrywide at the time.

"I do think that a lot of people take him on his word," Harsell said. "And I think his opposition will try to capitalize on this."

The House investigation took place last month when Feinberg testified in a deposition with staffers for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Conrad and Dodd both cried foul over the House investigation this week, which a Democratic spokeswoman for the oversight committee called a "partisan deposition."

The Democratic chairman of the committee, Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., has said he will not investigate the matter.

"It's very unusual to have an investigation and only hear one side of the story," Conrad said, adding he wasn't given the chance to testify before the House panel. "It makes you wonder how serious they are at finding the truth."

Conrad said he is still waiting and wants to testify before the Senate Ethics Committee, which subpoenaed Feinberg.

In his testimony in the House deposition, Feinberg said Conrad "was aware" he was receiving preferential loan treatment.

In response, Conrad said Feinberg's allegations contradict statements he made to the Wilmington News Journal last year.

Feinberg told the newspaper that "he was not allowed to tell Conrad or other VIP customers that discount points were being waived," and that "(Conrad) didn't have to ask for anything specifically � it was given to him."

Elana Goldstein, Feinberg's attorney in Los Angeles, said during a Friday phone interview that Feinberg's statements to the newspaper last year are not inconsistent with what he is telling lawmakers now.

"Our client never said Conrad ever demanded or was even requesting preferential treatment," Goldstein said. "But he was aware and it was not being done for anybody else."

In 2004, when Conrad and his wife, Lucy Calautti, a lobbyist for Major League Baseball, were refinancing their three-story home in Bethany Beach, Del., through Countrywide, the company's former CEO Angelo Mozilo directed that Conrad get a 1 percent break on the mortgage, saving the senator $10,700.

Conrad took out another loan in 2004 for an eight-unit apartment in Bismarck with Countrywide for $96,000.

While it was against company policy to issue loans for properties with more than four units, Feinberg asked Mozilo about the possibility.

Mozilo responded in an e-mail to Feinberg that the company "make an exception due to the fact that the borrower is a senator."

Conrad said he was told of the four-unit policy when applying for the loan, but said officials approved the eight-unit apartment because of its potential value on the secondary market.

"It was a very profitable loan for them," Conrad said. "It wasn't some deal where they were somehow subsidizing me. They were making money on me a lot of money on me."

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@bismarcktribune.com.)