Disclosures about the land deal came at an awkward time for the
state’s Republican Party, given a series of corruption investigations
centered on Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young, and on several Republicans in
the Alaska Legislature.

Unlike Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young are up for re-election
next year.

The cases have been a reminder that Alaska, whatever its physical
vastness and mineral wealth, remains a place where political and
economic power is in the hands of a few.

Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young are under F.B.I. investigation over their
ties to an Alaska oil services and engineering company, VECO, and its
former chief executive, Bill J. Allen, who pleaded guilty in May to a
conspiracy to bribe state legislators. The lawmakers have denied
wrongdoing.


From The New York Times, 8/1/07:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/washington/01stevens.html

Ethics Questions Plague Other Alaska Senator

By PHILIP SHENON and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN


WASHINGTON —

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, has been drawn into a
swirl of ethics accusations that have already brought F.B.I. scrutiny
to the two other members of the state’s Congressional delegation and
resulted in a raid this week on the home of Senator Ted Stevens.

There is no evidence that Ms. Murkowski faces a criminal
investigation, unlike Mr. Stevens and the state’s sole member of the
House, Representative Don Young, both Republicans.

But she has been forced to defend herself publicly against
conflict-of-interest accusations and announced last week that she
would sell back 1.27 acres of riverfront land that she had bought for
$179,500 from a local real estate developer who is tied to the
investigation of Mr. Stevens.

Ms. Murkowski’s announcement came a day after a self-described ethics
watchdog group in Washington filed a complaint over the land deal with
the Senate Ethics Committee.

The complaint accused Ms. Murkowski of paying an Anchorage developer,
Bob Penney, only a small fraction of the true value of the land and
said the deal amounted to an improper and potentially illegal gift.

_______________________________________________

And on and on and on

Harry

Disclosures about the land deal came at an awkward time for the
state’s Republican Party, given a series of corruption investigations
centered on Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young, and on several Republicans in
the Alaska Legislature.

Unlike Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young are up for re-election
next year.

The cases have been a reminder that Alaska, whatever its physical
vastness and mineral wealth, remains a place where political and
economic power is in the hands of a few.

Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young are under F.B.I. investigation over their
ties to an Alaska oil services and engineering company, VECO, and its
former chief executive, Bill J. Allen, who pleaded guilty in May to a
conspiracy to bribe state legislators. The lawmakers have denied
wrongdoing.


From The New York Times, 8/1/07:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/washington/01stevens.html

Ethics Questions Plague Other Alaska Senator

By PHILIP SHENON and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN


WASHINGTON —

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, has been drawn into a
swirl of ethics accusations that have already brought F.B.I. scrutiny
to the two other members of the state’s Congressional delegation and
resulted in a raid this week on the home of Senator Ted Stevens.

There is no evidence that Ms. Murkowski faces a criminal
investigation, unlike Mr. Stevens and the state’s sole member of the
House, Representative Don Young, both Republicans.

But she has been forced to defend herself publicly against
conflict-of-interest accusations and announced last week that she
would sell back 1.27 acres of riverfront land that she had bought for
$179,500 from a local real estate developer who is tied to the
investigation of Mr. Stevens.

Ms. Murkowski’s announcement came a day after a self-described ethics
watchdog group in Washington filed a complaint over the land deal with
the Senate Ethics Committee.

The complaint accused Ms. Murkowski of paying an Anchorage developer,
Bob Penney, only a small fraction of the true value of the land and
said the deal amounted to an improper and potentially illegal gift.

_______________________________________________

And on and on and on

Harry