Lisa Murkowski focus of ethics probe
Ouch. In addition to the
nepotism charges, now Senator Lisa Murkowski is under investigation for using tax-payer resources to help her re-election?
From the
ADN:
A Fairbanks man who thanked U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski for a vote last spring says her taxpayer-funded Senate office improperly provided his name to her election campaign.
Dan LaSota, the owner of a small business that develops software applications, filed a formal complaint last week with the Senate Ethics Committee, accusing Republican Murkowski of misusing her office.
Reading from a prepared statement, a spokeswoman for Murkowski, Kristin Pugh, said the campaign observes proper boundaries between official and election offices.
"We have, and will continue to make sure, that there is a strict and distinct separation between official Senate business and campaign business," Pugh said. Even as the ethics committee investigates what happened, the campaign "has good reason to believe" the complaint is politically motivated and will be dismissed, Pugh said.
LaSota acknowledges he will be voting for Democrat Tony Knowles and has contributed $50 to his campaign. That is why he became suspicious in the first place when a Murkowski campaign worker called him a couple weeks ago and referred to him as a Murkowski supporter.
LaSota's story goes back to May, when he first called Murkowski's Washington, D.C., office to urge her to vote for the Harkin amendment on overtime pay. The measure, named after author Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, would prevent the Bush administration from issuing regulations to disqualify a substantial number of workers from overtime pay.
"They were really busy when I called," LaSota said. "I made sure they knew I was a constituent, that I wasn't calling from Topeka, that I was here in Fairbanks calling. I left my information."
On May 4, the Senate passed the amendment. LaSota looked up the votes and saw that Murkowski was one of 52 yeas, taking a position counter to that of the president and Alaska's senior senator, Ted Stevens.
"I figured she deserved some thanks," LaSota said. He went to her official Senate Web site and sent a constituent message to that effect.
"It wasn't a campaign piece, I didn't ask to be placed in touch in her campaign, I didn't wish her luck, I didn't say any of that. I just thanked her for her vote."
On Aug. 6, he received a call from someone who identified herself as "Christina" from the Lisa Murkowski campaign. His caller ID showed Christina was calling from a number that later was traced back to Murkowski's Anchorage campaign office.
"She asked for me by name. She said, 'I understand you're a Lisa supporter.' "
LaSota was puzzled. "Why would someone think that? I'm a registered Democrat, I've given money to Democratic candidates in the past, I don't answer polls when people call."
The woman told him she had a copy of his e-mail thanking Murkowski.
"I said I wasn't aware that that senator's office was sharing constituent mail with the campaign office." There was pause, then the woman said, "Have a nice day" and hung up, LaSota said. The woman never got around to saying what she was calling about.
We all know the
nepotism poster kid did not deserve her senate seat, but now we see that
Lisa Murkowski do anything to keep it.
Posted by ruthlesshack
at 8:01 AM PDT
