AK-AL: Don Young lawyers up, and lawyers his staff up too

You know your legal problems are bad, when you're spending more on your campaign manager's legal fees than he makes, and more than you're spending on campaign polling despite facing the two toughest challengers you've seen in nearly twenty years.

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.

It's fortunate that Young has amassed such a formidable war chest over the years, as his campaign coffers are taxed on three fronts now. One, of course, is keeping him in Congress.

One is keeping him out of prison.

And the third, apparently, is keeping his cronies out of prison with him.

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.

The best part is, he's spending all his campaign money to defend himself from an investigation into, yup, his fundraising practices.

Young and Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens are under scrutiny for their relationship with VECO Corp. executives, who have admitted bribing Alaska lawmakers to push legislation favorable to their oil field services company. VECO executives were, until recently, Young's largest contributor and hosted an annual pig roast fundraiser for him.

He's on the hook for over $1 million in legal fees so far, so I hope it was all worth it.

Young still has not been charged; nor has Dougherty, or Senator Ted Stevens, who is also under federal investigation.