Last week, the home business of Rep. John Doolittle's wife, Julia, was raided by the FBI. The case stems from the couple's ties to Jack Abramoff.

This week, Rep. Doolittle let everyone know that he's innocent, he's not resigning, he's setting up a legal defense fund and, what's more, he's running for re-election:

“I have no intention of resigning from Congress and I have every intention of running for re-election again,” Doolittle told reporters from his district in a conference call, The Grass Valley Union reported Saturday.

Doolittle said he plans to set up a legal defense fund to cope with the mounting legal fees he faces. He has spent approximately $100,000 thus far in the three years he and his wife have been the subject of the investigation

The nine-term congressman also said the April 13 raid of his Oakton, Va. took him and his wife by surprise. In the raid, FBI officials searched his home and confiscated three computers and two large filing cabinets that his wife Julie, uses to run her fundraising business, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, Inc. Sierra Dominion previously worked for Abramoff’s lobbying firm.

Doolittle and his wife shouldn't have been that surprised. The Associated Press reported last November that Doolittle was facing scrutiny in the Abramoff scandal. And, CREW laid out the issues facing Doolittle in our report, Beyond DeLay, which we're happy to re-visit:

[Doolittle's] ethics issues stem from his wife’s relationship to his campaign and political action committees, as well as campaign contributions and personal financial benefits he accepted from those who sought his legislative assistance.

Julie Doolittle

Rep. Doolittle’s wife Julie is the owner and president of Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, a fundraising company retained by Rep. Doolittle’s campaign committee and his Superior California Leadership PAC. Ms. Doolittle has received at least $215,000 from Rep. Doolittle’s campaign committees since 2001, and has taken in nearly $100,000 for the 2006 campaign alone. Notably, the Association of Fundraising Professionals sent a letter to Rep. Doolittle stating that its long-standing ethics code, “explicitly prohibits percentage-based compensation” and urged the campaign to cease this practice with Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions.

Ms. Doolittle’s payments by her husband’s campaign appear to violate federal campaign finance laws and House rules, which prohibit converting campaign funds to personal use. By using his position as a member of Congress to financially benefit his wife, Rep. Doolittle may be depriving his constituents of his honest services, using his position for personal gain, and engaging in conduct that does not reflect creditably on the House.

Ties to Jack Abramoff

In 1999, Rep. Doolittle also assisted Jack Abramoff in securing a lucrative lobbying contract with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, helped Mr. Abramoff stave off legislation protecting workers in the CNMI and wrote letters on behalf of some of Mr. Abramoff’s tribal casinos. In return, Rep. Doolittle, an alleged gambling foe, has received $130,000 from gambling tribes with ties to Mr. Abramoff. If Rep. Doolittle has received contributions from Mr. Abramoff in return for legislative assistance he may have violated prohibitions against bribery, honest services fraud and House rules.