Alaska: Rep. Young spending big bucks on lawyers
AP reports: With an election-year corruption investigation looming, Rep. Don Young has tapped his campaign war chest to pay not only his own million-dollar legal tab but also to hire lawyers for his campaign manager, who is also under FBI scrutiny.
The Alaska Republican spent more than $35,000 between October 2007 and April on lawyers for longtime campaign manager Steven Dougherty. That's more than Dougherty himself made during that period and nearly as much as the campaign spent on political polling, according to campaign finance reports.
The payments, which are legal under federal law as long as they are associated with the candidate's official duties, are another indication of how the FBI investigation has become a drag on the congressman. Instead of coasting to a 19th term, Young is shelling out money to pay his bills and Dougherty's even as he faces a well-funded opponent in August's Republican primary. ...
Dougherty has worked for Young's campaigns since 1996 and became campaign manager in 2000. Employers may pay legal bills for their employees during criminal investigations as long as there aren't competing interests — if Dougherty wanted to cooperate with authorities investigating his boss, for instance. -- Rep. Young taps campaign