David Dayen at FireDogLake reports on the latest effort to protect Big Oil on the Senate floor:

Bob Menendez and the Democrats plan to call for unanimous consent to bring up their Oil Company Bailout Prevention Liability Act during this week, daring Republicans to stand with their corporate paymasters and stop them. Last time out, Lisa Murkowski was designated the defender of Big Oil.

According to TalkingPointsMemo, Senator Murkowski prevented a vote on the oil bailout bill. And, she does, in fact, have strong ties to the oil and gas industry. Strong financial ties, that is:

In fact, the Senate didn't vote on the bill. Thanks to Senate procedures, Murkowski was able to block it simply by objecting to a voice vote request on the bill.

Like numerous Alaska lawmakers, Murkowski counts the oil and gas industry as a major backer. According to online records, it has contributed over $426,000 -- more than any other industry aside from electric utilities -- to her campaigns over the course of her career.

For Senator Murkowski, there's a pattern of protecting corporate contributors. Earlier this year, CREW analyzed the contributions to Murkowski from the industries affected by another energy-related issue.

It was recently revealed that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) consulted with registered lobbyists on language that would curtail the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

Well, one of these former Bush-era EPA officials, Jeffrey Holmstead, now represents powerful corporate interests. Mr. Holmstead is registered with the Senate Office of Public Records as a lobbyist with Bracewell and Guiliani, and since 2007 he has represented the following clients: AMEREN Corp, Arch Coal, CSX Transportation, Duke Energy, Edison Electric Institute, Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, Energy Future Holdings, Mirant, Progress Energy, Salt River Project and Southern Company.

After digging into Federal Election Commission records, CREW has discovered more money tying Sen. Murkowski to Mr. Holmstead and his clients than was previously reported.

Since the 2004 election cycle, Sen. Murkowski’s campaign committee and PAC have received at least $126,550 from Mr. Holmstead’s firm (total: $2,000), his clients (total: $118,000), and his clients' employees (total: $6,550). Some of Sen. Murkowski’s largest donors included in that figure are Duke Energy, which has donated $22,550 and Southern Co., which has donated $38,000.

At the time we released this info., CREW's Melanie Sloan said, "Energy companies do not generally make contributions out of the goodness of their hearts, they make contributions because it makes business sense." Oil companies see the business sense of investing in Murkowski, too. And, she and her colleagues are delivering -- even in the wake of the catastrophic Gulf Coast oil spill. 

It was recently revealed that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) consulted with registered lobbyists on language that would curtail the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

Well, one of these former Bush-era EPA officials, Jeffrey Holmstead, now represents powerful corporate interests. Mr. Holmstead is registered with the Senate Office of Public Records as a lobbyist with Bracewell and Guiliani, and since 2007 he has represented the following clients: AMEREN Corp, Arch Coal, CSX Transportation, Duke Energy, Edison Electric Institute, Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, Energy Future Holdings, Mirant, Progress Energy, Salt River Project and Southern Company.

After digging into Federal Election Commission records, CREW has discovered more money tying Sen. Murkowski to Mr. Holmstead and his clients than was previously reported.

Since the 2004 election cycle, Sen. Murkowski’s campaign committee and PAC have received at least $126,550 from Mr. Holmstead’s firm (total: $2,000), his clients (total: $118,000), and his clients' employees (total: $6,550). Some of Sen. Murkowski’s largest donors included in that figure are Duke Energy, which has donated $22,550 and Southern Co., which has donated $38,000.

CREW’s executive director Melanie Sloan stated:

"Given how much money Jeff Holmstead and his clients have contributed to Sen. Murkowski, no wonder she let him craft legislation. Energy companies do not generally make contributions out of the goodness of their hearts, they make contributions because it makes business sense."

Sloan continued, "Rather than merely getting the chance to comment on legislation, these companies actually got to write legislation themselves. It seems the investment paid off."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently consulted with two registered lobbyists on language that would curtail the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clear Air Act. The two lobbyists are Jeffery Holmstead and Roger Matella, both of whom CREW profiled last month in our December 2009 report, Smoke Screen, which outlines members of the Bush climate-change team who now work in lobbying and government relations.

In our Smoke Screen report, CREW wrote:

Jeffrey Holmstead was the assistant administrator for air and radiation at EPA from 2001 through 2005.

After leaving the administration in 2005, Mr. Holmstead joined the law firm of Bracewell and Giuliani, where he heads the Environmental Strategies Group. Mr. Holmstead is a registered lobbyist for Bracewell and Guiliani, and has lobbied for Ameren Corporation, an electrical utility company; Arch Coal, a coal producer; and Duke Energy, an electrical utility company.

Roger R. Martella, Jr. was general counsel for the EPA from 2007 to September 2008.

After leaving the administration in 2008, Mr. Martella joined the environmental practice group at Sidley Austin LLP, as a partner. Mr. Martella is currently a registered lobbyist and has lobbied on the behalf of the National Alliance of Forest Owners, a business alliance focused on the needs of private forest owners and managers, and the Alliance of Food Associations, a "business alliance dedicated to protecting the food sector and its consumers."

It seems that both men are hard at work in their post-government careers. Mr. Holmstead confirmed working with Sen. Murkowski’s staff to craft the exact phrasing of the measure.

The senator’s spokesperson contends that the senator "and her staff write all her amendments" and that she routinely consults with stakeholders from all perspectives. Yet, according to Politico, it was Mr. Holmstead and Mr. Martella who "walked Senate staffers through the details of the amendment, via speakerphone" during a meeting held at the Hart Senate Office Building on September 23, 2009.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, so far in 2010, Sen. Murkowski is the number-one recipient of campaign donations from electric utilities in the U.S. Senate, raking in a total of $157,046. Since 2004, she has received $389,313 in contributions from the electric utilities industry, making that industry her second largest contributor. Sen. Murkowski's third-largest contributor is the oil and gas industry, which has donated $365,813 to the senator. Two electric utility companies represented by Mr. Holmstead, Southern Co. and Duke Energy, have donated $26,000 and $24,050 to Sen. Murkowski respectively.

Two months ago, it was reported that three power plants owned by Southern Co. topped the list of U.S. coal-fired sources of heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions. Sen. Murkowski was named one of CREW’s Most Corrupt Members of Congress in 2007.

CREW executive director Melanie Sloan had this comment:

"We will never know whether the $50,000 contributed to Sen. Murkowski’s campaign by two of Jeff Holmstead’s energy clients is the sole reason she allowed him to help craft legislation, but surely, the money helped smooth the way. This is the sort of pay-to-play politics that makes Americans so suspicious of our elected leaders."

Some last minute drama in the waning days of the Bush administration on the issue of pardons.  Alaska's now senior Senator, Lisa Murkowski, wrote to then President Bush asking for a pardon for her colleague:

The Bush administration came to an end Tuesday, and with it went the chance of a pardon for Alaska's most powerful political figure since statehood, Ted Stevens.

Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator until his defeat in November, is now left to fight his conviction in the courts.

According to his friends, that's exactly how he wants it.

When Stevens was indicted July 29 on seven counts of lying on his financial disclosures statements, he demanded the earliest trial date possible, asserting he would be declared not guilty in time to face the voters for his seventh full term. That plan collapsed Oct. 27 when a District of Columbia jury convicted him on all counts.

"It's not over yet!" Stevens declared as he walked out of the courtroom. But his 40-year career representing Alaska in Washington, D.C., was doomed. Former Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, defeated him a week later.

Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who has taken Stevens' place as the senior senator from Alaska, sought the pardon from Bush in a letter to the White House on Jan. 7. Whether others also petitioned the president on behalf of Stevens couldn't be determined.

VECO Corp. is out and Penco is in as the top funder for federal candidates from Alaska according to the Anchorage Daily News. Keep in mind that all three of Alaska's members of Congress, Senator Ted Stevens, Senator Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, made CREW's list of most corrupt members of Congress in our report, Beyond DeLay. Penco is run by Bob Penney who is quite close to Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski. According to the ADN, Mr. Penney "last year appeared before the federal grand jury investigating Stevens." And, Mr. Penney's land deal with Murkowski is one reason she was named in Beyond DeLay. 

There's more:

Bob Penney gave $2,600 to Stevens' re-election campaign in 2007 and $4,600 to Murkowski. Others in the Penney family last year donated an additional $7,200 total to the Stevens campaign and $5,850 to Murkowski.

Penney has known Murkowski since she was the small child of then-Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski.

Lisa Murkowski was accused last year of getting a sweetheart deal from Penney on her purchase of a Kenai riverfront lot next door to Penney's home. Murkowski denied wrongdoing but decided last summer to sell the lot back to Penney as a result of the controversy.

Penney has long been a campaign contributor, giving money to Alaska candidates as well as Outside politicians including former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt of Washington, Missouri Sen. Kit Bond, former Montana Sen. Conrad Burns and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

But Penney's 2007 giving is far more than he's contributed in any year at least since 1990, the furthest back Federal Election Commission records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics go.

Bob Penney and Ted Stevens' ties go beyond campaign contributions. They were partners in a Utah land deal where Stevens made an initial investment of $15,000 in 1998 and said in 2005 that he made $150,000 when he sold his interest in the property.

Stevens and Penney have also been partners in racehorses with other influential Alaskans. And they are involved in bringing members of Congress, corporate executives and other VIPs to Alaska each summer for the Kenai River Classic, a king salmon fishing tournament that raises money for fish habitat.

Penney is co-founder and a current board member of the nonprofit Kenai River Sportfishing Association. Congress has earmarked $4.7 million of Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund money over the past four years to be spent under KRSA's direction on fisheries research and habitat work.

Over the past months, we've been profiling the 22 most corrupt members of Congress named in the 2007 edition of report, Beyond DeLay. Alaska has become ground zero for public corruption investigations. In fact, we named the entire congressional delegation to our report on the most corrupt members of Congress. We spend a lot of time in this blog discussing Senator Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young. Today, the spotlight shines on their colleague, Senator Lisa Murkowski:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is a first-term senator representing Alaska. Sen. Murkowski’s ethics violations stem from her purchase of land in Alaska for a price below market value, her acceptance of a mortgage on terms not available to the general public and her failure to accurately disclose the transaction in her 2006 financial disclosure report.

Kenai River Property Purchase

In December 2006, Sen. Murkowski and her husband paid $179,400 for a 1.2 acre vacant lot on the banks of the Kenai River in Alaska from long-time friend and campaign contributor Bob Penney. Three days after the purchase, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assessing Department valued the land at $214,900, 20% over what Sen. Murkowski paid for the land. According to numerous real estate sources in the area, the Kenai lots actually sell for significantly higher than the Borough assessed price because they are located on a world-famous fishing river. Mr. Penney, the seller of the property, has been questioned in connection with a criminal investigation into real estate transactions involving Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Mr. Penney, though a real-estate developer who has testified regarding the economic impact of fishing upon the Kenai River property values, claims that he was unaware that the Borough assessed value of Sen. Murkowski’s land had increased since 2005, when it was valued at $120,000.

By purchasing the land at a price below the property’s real value, Sen. Murkowski accepted an improper gift from Mr. Penny in violation of the Senate gift rule.

Mortgage for Purchase of Kenai River Property

Sen. Murkowski financed the purchase of the property with a loan for 80% of the purchase price from First Bank in Ketchikan. Sen. Murkowski once sat on the board of directors of First Bank, her sister is a shareholder and member of the bank’s board of directors, her father previously sat on the board of directors and her grandfather was president of the bank. Financial records show the maturity date for Sen. Murkowski’s loan as 2046, making it a thirty-nine year term. First Bank, however, told an Alaskan media outlet that the standard loans for undeveloped property such as Sen. Murkowski’s have a maximum seven-year maturity. On her 2006 financial disclosure form, Sen. Murkowski reported the term as 15 years.

By accepting a loan on terms not generally available to the general public, Sen. Murkowski accepted an improper gift in violation of the Senate gift rule.

Well, that was fast. It's never a dull moment with the Alaska Congressional delegation these days.  According to a report in the Anchorage Daily News, Senator Murkowski is selling back the land she purchased in a very controversial deal. But, of course, it doesn't mean the sale didn't happen:

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said this morning that she and her husband intend to sell back their Kenai riverfront property to Anchorage businessman Bob Penney.

Murkowski announced the give back a day after a Washington watchdog group filed a 15-page Senate ethics complaint against her, alleging that Penney sold the property well below market value. The transaction amounted to an illegal gift worth between $70,000 and $170,000, depending on how the property was valued, according to the complaint by the National Legal and Policy Center.

Murkowski told reporters in her Capitol office this morning that Penney, a real estate developer who does business in Alaska and Outside, has agreed to buy back the property for the $179,400 purchase price she and husband Verne Martell paid Dec. 22, 2006.

Major kudos are due to TPMmuckraker for breaking this story.  The title of their post is "Murkowski: Uncle!" 

A "conservative-leaning" organization, the National Law and Policy Center, has filed an ethics complaint against Senator Lisa Murkowski.   This stems from the land purchase she made from a political supporter -- a story broken by our friends at TPMmuckraker just last week.  Now, an ethics complaint from an ethics watchdog: 

A government watchdog group filed an ethics complaint Wednesday against U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, charging that her 2006 purchase of an exclusive Kenai riverfront lot was a “sweetheart deal” from Anchorage businessman Bob Penney.

The complaint, brought by Ken Boehm, chairman of the conservative-leaning National Law and Policy Center of Falls Church, Va., also charged that Murkowski filed false information about the land deal on her annual financial disclosure and obtained special treatment on a mortgage from the Ketchikan bank where her sister serves as a director.

Murkowski spokesman Kevin Sweeney said the senator would have no comment Wednesday. Penney said from his summer home on the Kenai River outside Soldotna that he wouldn’t comment, either.

The hits keep right on coming for Senator Lisa Murkowski. This weekend, she got slammed by the Anchorage Daily News over the growing controversy surrounding a suspect land deal, which was first exposed last week by TPM Muckraker. This story has legs:

Sen. Murkowski's Kenai River land buy looks fishy.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has come under fire for buying a prime Kenai River lot at a cut-rate price from a major campaign contributor. And for good reason. She got a sweet deal from a wealthy political supporter, Anchorage real estate developer Bob Penney.

Sen. Murkowski's husband, Verne Martell, bought the 1.27-acre waterfront lot for $179,000-and-change at the end of 2006, according to spokesman Kevin Sweeney. That was the value assessed by the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Sweeney told the Daily News on Tuesday.

That might sound like a defensible way to set the price, but in fact, it's not close to the going rate for a lot on the world-famous fishing river.

Three days after the borough recorded the Murkowskis' purchase, the assessed value went up to $214,900. So right off the bat, it looks like she got a discount of 20 percent.

In fact, her friendly political discount was probably far bigger. The online real estate listing service for Alaska has one Kenai riverfront lot. The parcel is only one acre -- a quarter of an acre less than Sen. Murkowski's -- but the asking price is $399,000. Per acre, that's almost three times what the senator paid for hers.

Lisa Murkowski's suspect land deal is featured prominently in today's Anchorage Daily News. And, the paper gives credit where credit is due -- to TPM Muckraker for breaking this story just a couple days ago:

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is drawing criticism this week over Kenai River property she bought late last year from real estate developer and political supporter Bob Penney.

The national political Web log tpmmuckraker.com raised the issue Monday when it quoted government watchdogs questioning whether the senator should do business with Penney, who has also been a business partner with Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

It also questioned whether the sale price -- initially unreported -- was below the market value.

After two days of criticism online and on talk radio, both Penney and a spokesman for Murkowski described the deal as a fair trade between people who chose to become neighbors on the river.

They said Murkowski, R-Alaska, and husband Verne Martell paid Penney the amount of the Kenai Peninsula Borough's most recent assessment on the 1.27 acres: $179,400. Murkowski's spokesman said there was nothing improper about the sale.

This year's borough assessment, completed after the sale, is for $214,900.

The assessed value was a fair selling price, Penney said, adding he sold the land next to his own place because he enjoys fishing with Murkowski's family and wanted them near.