In separate letters released today, the Senate Ethics Committee has dismissed complaints against senators Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota over VIP mortgage deals they each got from Countrywide Financial Corp.

But each Democratic senator has also been admonished.

"The Committee does believe that you should have exercised more vigilance in your dealings with Countrywide in order to avoid the appearance that you were receiving preferential treatment," the letters tell both lawmakers.

The letter to Dodd is here. The letter to Conrad is here.

What are the committee's reasons? The letters say:

"Your mortgages were made in a commercially-reasonable manner based on terms and conditions available to borrowers with similar loan profiles."

"Your loans met all applicable underwriting standards."

"There is no credible evidence that you sought or knowingly received any financial benefits not available to other borrowers with similar loan profiles."

"There is no credible evidence that you used your official position for personal gain."

The complaints were filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Update at 2:04 p.m. ET. The Hartford Courant writes that:

For more than a year, Dodd has been hobbled by allegations that he benefited from improper VIP treatment when now defunct mortgage giant Countrywide Financial gave him and his wife $781,000 in loans on homes in Washington and East Haddam. Dodd repeatedly denied that he received favorable treatment.

"I'm pleased and gratified that the Democrats and Republicans on the ethics committee have dismissed this complaint and found that the underlying accusations simply were not credible,'' Dodd said in a statement. "I've said all along that I welcomed a close examination of my mortgages, and I've also said all along that Jackie and I received the same mortgages that anyone else could have received."