Murkowski Reveals Two More Murky Deals in Financial Disclosure Amendments

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Senators released financial disclosure forms last week, and among them were a series of amendments to earlier years’ disclosure forms from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

You might remember Murkowski for the sweetheart deal she failed to disclose in her forms last year. Murkowski had purchased a piece of property along the Kenai river from Bob Penney, a politically-prominent local developer connected to the Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) investigation, for about $120,000 under market-value. Murkowski failed to disclose the purchase, and later claimed it was for “personal use,” though this still did not make it exempt from disclosure. She later amended her disclosure forms to reflect the sale and finally reversed the sale, selling the property back to Penney for the purchase price.

She has now amended her 2004, 2005 and 2006 disclosure documents to reveal roughly $100,000 of as yet-undisclosed income in the latter two years and some $60,000 of undisclosed income in 2004.

In all three years, Murkowski was receiving $60,000 a year in payments on a promissory note, stemming from the sale of her 50% share of 313 E. Street, a property that was held by New Frontiers Ventures, LLC, which was co-owned by Murkowski, her husband and her parents, Gov. Frank and Nancy Murkowski. The property was sold to Garcia Investment Group, LLC in 2003.

A note on the disclosure forms state that New Frontiers Ventures was later dissolved on December 31, 2006.

In 2005, Murkowski sold her ‘Alaska Pasta Company’ to Hope Nelson, a member of the Alaska Federation of Republican Women who, in May 2007, also helped organize a birthday party for Sen. Murkowski. Nelson made a down payment of $45,000, and has since paid $40,800 a year on a promissory note.

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