Don Young opens a legal defense fund
January 30th, 2008
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who is under FBI investigation and faces a tough reelection fight, opened a legal defense fund earlier this month, according to House filings.
The House ethics committee approved the defense fund Jan. 9, but it has not reported taking any donations yet, and Young spokesman Mike Anderson would not say if anyone had written checks.
“We had some feedback from some folks who said they wanted to help us out but they wanted to do so through a legal expense fund, so we went ahead and did that in the hopes that our campaign funds can be freed up,” he said.
Young spent nearly $450,000 of his campaign money on legal expenses last year as several political opponents lined up to try to defeat him, one in his own party. Young is facing a primary challenge from state Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux and a potentially difficult general election as well. National Democrats feel that former lieutenant governor candidate Ethan Berkowitz would be a strong challenger. Diane Benson (D) — who has previously challenged Young — and former state party chairman Jake Metcalfe (D) are also running.
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