Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is back in the news.
From Roll Call (subscription req'd):
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has acknowledged taking more than $5,500 in illegal campaign contributions from a seafood trade association since 2001, but he has informed federal officials he will only pay back a portion of those funds because some of the violations fall outside the statute of limitations for campaign finance violations.
In a June 28 letter to the Federal Election Commission, Young's campaign treasurer, Robert Bohnert, disclosed that from 2001 to 2006, the Pacific Seafood Processors Association donated seafood for Young's annual crab feed fundraiser in Washington, D.C. Young's campaign also provided the FEC with a yearly estimate of the cost of the crabs -- which qualified as an in-kind contribution by the association -- totaling $5,583.06.
What does this mean, besides easily-written headlines? Well, trade associations are by law prohibited from making campaign contributions to Members of Congress, so this is clearly a violation. But Young's assertion that the statute of limitations is only three years may not be entirely correct - the FEC has often imposed five-year statutes of limitation.
This is assuredly low on the list of worries for Rep. Young, who spent $262,138 in legal fees in the second quarter - more than anyone else currently in Congress. He is (so far) peripherally involved in a federal corruption probe in Alaska, and has extensive ties to Jack Abramoff.
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