Alaska congressman rejects earmark report as "recycled story"

WASHINGTON — Rep. Don Young, who has made a career out of bringing federal dollars to Alaska, shrugged off reports Thursday that he steered millions of dollars to help a prominent campaign contributor with a Florida road project.

Young's role in the Fort Myers Coconut Road deal two years ago has received growing media scrutiny in recent months as the new Democratic Congress debates changes on earmarks, an agenda popularized by Alaska's so-called "bridges to nowhere" championed by Young and Sen. Ted Stevens.

Both Republican lawmakers were subjects of national news reports Thursday: Stevens in a Washington Post story (published in The Seattle Times) on the federal bribery investigation that has enveloped his son, former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens; Young in a New York Times story describing how he sponsored a $10 million earmark for a road project that helped Florida real-estate developer Daniel Aronoff, days after Aronoff helped raise $40,000 for Young's campaign.

The New York Times reported that its reporter received no response from Young other than an obscene gesture.

In a statement to McClatchy Newspapers, Young didn't dispute any facts in the story, which he called "old news."

But he dismissed any suggestion of trade-offs for campaign cash, noting that businesses with interests before the powerful Transportation Committee that he chaired until last year routinely gave its senior members lots of money.

"Every story that comes out is the same, with different players and different projects," Young said. "When you are the chairman of the largest committee in the House, and a senior member, and in charge of writing a $290-odd-billion bill, it's a guarantee that you are going to be raising more money than other, less-senior members. ... It's also a guarantee that there will be a plethora of projects for people to ... pick apart. This is a recycled story."

Young's defense is similar to one he gave in April to explain campaign contributions from Dennis Troha, a Wisconsin trucking executive who allegedly benefited improperly from road legislation originating in Young's committee.

Young, further dogged by the guilty plea of former aide Mark Zachares in connection with the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal, has retained a Washington law firm to represent his campaign.