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No Harm, No Foul? Young Refunds Costs for Suspect Fundraisers
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) has developed a bit of an M.O. (No, he hasn't threatened to bite anyone else like an Alaskan mink.)
In the last year, Young thrice doled out reimbursements for fundraisers in what appear to be last ditch efforts to redeem himself. Perhaps the lawyers he retained in March -- and has since paid at least $262,000 -- had something to do with the decisions:
-- In June, the congressman reimbursed the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa $2,602 for "lodging and reception" costs from a fundraiser in February 2005. The event, arranged by businessman Daniel Aronoff, raised $40,000 for Young and appears to be the impetus for the contentious $10 million Coconut Road earmark. The arrangement is now part of an FBI inquiry into shifty earmarks. The Anchorage Daily News noted the tardy payback last week.
(Young's campaign lists the Hyatt payment as a June 2007 expenditure, which is a bizarre way to handle a reimbursement for 2005. In any case, Young's chief of staff Mike Anderson told me definitively that Young has not visited Florida at all this year and there was no reception. Young's campaign contributions also confirm no fundraiser took place.)
-- Earlier this month, Young went for another do-over. He returned $5,500 to cover the cost of crab the Pacific Seafood Processors Association spent to provide the shellfish at his annual crab feed fundraiser. Initially, he told the Federal Elections Commission he would only pony up $2,400 because the statute of limitations had expired on the rest. It wasn't a great PR move.
-- Young's most substantial refund was spotted by The Wall Street Journal in July. Back in January, his campaign listed $38,000 payments to former Veco CEO Bill Allen for fundraising costs, despite not holding any fundraisers that month. Allen, though, did host Young's annual pig roast for a decade, which was a major money-maker for the Young campaign. Presumably, the money was meant to cover those ten years of parties. The Journal reported that Young is under federal investigation for his ties to Veco.
Comments (8)
Ed*ard Teller wrote on August 23, 2007 11:02 AM:Don's clock is ticking. He'll be announcing his impending retirement - probably the end of his term - real soon.
Weasel wrote on August 23, 2007 11:08 AM:Looks like that PSPA will be the next to be investigated by the FBI and IRS for bribing a public official. Who exactly are they anyway? So do they have a history of these kind of shenanigans like VECO and Abramof?
Now how about that San Juan trip? Oh and the African safari, who paid for that?
Bite_Me_Don wrote on August 23, 2007 11:20 AM:End of one term-
beginning of another term-
in prison.
parrot wrote on August 23, 2007 11:34 AM:Methinks Don doth return too much!
ohiomeister wrote on August 23, 2007 1:34 PM:A bit like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar and then deciding that that would be a good time to drop the cookie!
bjobotts wrote on August 23, 2007 4:16 PM:Don't worry. This will be over soon and then we can get back to business as usual. Want dark meat or white?
Cathy Harris wrote on August 23, 2007 7:23 PM:The Coconut Road/I-75 exchange has been on the planning books by the local planning committee for 26 years, with no funding. The ROW has already been bought up. There is a slight problem though, its only for an exchange on the WEST side of I75. The supposed briber's property is on the EAST side, where the exchange won't go. Does anybody get this point?
Cathy Harris wrote on August 23, 2007 7:23 PM:The Coconut Road/I-75 exchange has been on the planning books by the local planning committee for 26 years, with no funding. The ROW has already been bought up. There is a slight problem though, its only for an exchange on the WEST side of I75. The supposed briber's property is on the EAST side, where the exchange won't go. Does anybody get this point?