Last week, we learned that a land sale [0] to Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) and his business partners was illegal.  But that's not the only issue as The Hill [1] notes today, which we've excerpted below.  There's the question of the earmarks surrounding that deal.   We sure think that's a problem hence Calvert's inclusion in CREW's report, Beyond DeLay [2], naming the 20 most corrupt members of Congress.  He's one of them:

More broadly, Calvert’s role in the land deal has raised questions about whether federal money that he helped obtain for a desalination project for JCSD in a 2005 bill influenced its decision to sell the parcel to him and his partners without notifying others that the land was for sale. Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) sponsored the legislation along with Calvert and four other area congressmen.

Concerns surrounding the land deal as well as the grand jury’s investigation into the sale were discussed during internal House GOP deliberations earlier this year, when House Republicans debated whether Calvert should win a seat on the Appropriations Committee, according to two GOP sources attending some of the discussions.

Several GOP members expressed reservations about naming Calvert as Rep. John Doolittle’s (R-Calif.) replacement on the spending panel. Doolittle resigned after the FBI raided his home in an investigation stemming from Doolittle’s ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

For his part, Calvert has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. He also said in a statement that the grand jury’s report proves his innocence.

“The grand jury findings prove that there was no wrongdoing on my part or that of my investment partners,” he said in a written statement. “I find it regrettable that the Jurupa Community Services District failed to follow the proper steps in dispensing with its surplus property. When I invested in the parcel of land I was unaware the [JCSD] made the missteps outlined by the grand jury’s findings.”