AP Exclusive: Gregg had stake in, won aid for base

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090227/ap_on_go_co/gregg_real_estate/print



WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's former nominee to become commerce secretary, Sen. Judd Gregg, steered taxpayer money to his home state's redevelopment of a former Air Force base even as he and his brother engaged in real estate deals there, an Associated Press investigation found.

Gregg, R-N.H., personally has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cyrus Gregg's office projects at the Pease International Tradeport, a Portsmouth business park built at the defunct Pease Air Force Base, once home to nuclear bombers. Judd Gregg has collected at least $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments there, Senate records show, while helping arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base.

Gregg said he violated no laws or Senate rules.

But the senator's mixture of personal and professional business would have been difficult to square with President Barack Obama's campaign promise to impose greater transparency and integrity over federal budget earmarks — funding for lawmakers' pet projects. Gregg said that during his consideration for the Cabinet job, the White House did not know about his Pease earmarks, although the administration knew about his investments at Pease.

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Such efforts to convert defunct bases were encouraged by the federal government. But the personal financial involvement of Gregg and his brother, Cyrus, at Pease sets it apart from other bases' redevelopment.

Cyrus Gregg is a partner in Two International Group, a developer that quickly established itself as a major player at Pease. It has built roughly a dozen office buildings there since the base closed.