Judd Gregg's dealings: Not why he quit

by Mark Silva

Sen. Judd Gregg could have been in the Obama Cabinet.

If he were, the New Hampshire Republican whom President Barack Obama nominated for Commerce secretary only to see Gregg withdraw over irreconcilable political differences, would face a lot more pressure today to explain a business dealing which the Associated Press has unveiled:

Gregg steered federal tax dollars to his home state's redevelopment of a former Air Force Base even as he and his brother engaged in real estate deals on the property, the AP's Sharon Theimer reports -- also reporting that Gregg says the business dealings had nothing to do with his withdrawal from a Cabinet nomination.

"Gregg (R-N.H.) has personally 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,'' the report notes. "Judd Gregg has collected at least $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments there, Senate records show, while helping to arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base.

"Gregg said he violated no laws or Senate rules. In a statement (today) he said all the federal money he steered to Pease had been requested by the National Guard, the city of Portsmouth or its mayor or other public officials "and did not involve my initiative but only my support of the requests."

Gregg not only withdrew from consideration for the Cabinet position of secretary of Commerce, potentially one of two Republicans on Obama's Cabinet, but also stepped up this week to speak for his party in opposition to Obama's proposed new $3.55-trillion budget as a runaway spending spree and deficit-buster.

Obama this week named Gary Locke, former governor of Washington state, as his Commerce nominee. The White House is probably just as happy to have Gregg on the other side of the fence criticizing the budget, in light of the news about business dealings that an erstwhile Cabinet member would have to explain.

"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,'' Theimer writes. "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.

"Under new Senate ethics rules, Gregg had to certify that federal aid he directed to specific projects was not intended solely to enrich him or his immediate family, including siblings. Senators are also supposed to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, though the Senate Ethics Committee seldom investigates or disciplines senators when questions are raised about their activities,'' the AP notes.

""I am absolutely sure that in every way I've complied with the ethics rules of the Senate both literally and in their spirit relative to any investment that I've made anywhere," Gregg told the AP. "These earmarks do not benefit me in any way, shape, manner financially, personally or in any other manner other than the fact that I'm a citizen of New Hampshire."

Gregg abruptly withdrew from Obama's team earlier this month, but says that had nothing to do with anything the White House had uncovered in his background.

A White House spokesman, Ben LaBolt, declined to discuss the matter with the AP, which had started looking into the Greggs' activities at Pease before then but had not yet contacted them or the White House before Judd Gregg withdrew.

"My decision to withdraw my nomination to be secretary of commerce was made solely due to differences in political ideology with the administration and the concern that I could not properly serve the president in his Cabinet with full support for his initiatives at all times due to these differences," Gregg said today.