[McKeating] pushed regulators for land swap, despite pledge (updated)

[ProSense]

Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008

McCain pushed regulators for land swap, despite pledge

By Greg Gordon | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Years after he resurrected his political fortunes from the Keating Five savings and loan investigation, John McCain promoted an Arizona land swap that would've benefited a former mentor and partner of the scandal's central figure.

The owners of the Spur Cross Ranch, a dramatic 2,154-acre tract of Sonoran desert just north of Phoenix, in the late 1990s sought to sell it to a developer who planned to build a premier golf course surrounded by 390 luxury homes.

Nearby residents and environmentalists, however, wanted to preserve the area's unusual cacti, stone formations and hundreds of Hopi Indian tribal artifacts.

After opposition surfaced, the developer sought McCain's help in forging a land swap with the U.S. Forest Service — a deal that also would benefit the owners of the ranch, including a company controlled by billionaire Carl H. Lindner Jr., an associate of S&L chief Charles H. Keating.

McCain and an aide pushed for the exchange in more than a half dozen sometimes-testy letters and phone calls up and down the Forest Service's hierarchy, according to former agency officials and correspondence. McCain's office even circulated draft legislation that would have overridden the agency's objection to surrendering national forest land. Ultimately, the deal fell apart.

McCain's behind-the-scenes maneuvering on Spur Cross contrasts with his image as a congressional ethics champion and his pledge — made after the Keating scandal in 1991 sullied his reputation — never to intervene with regulators again.

McCain's actions, which went on for nearly two years, also appear at odds with boasts in his 2002 book, "Worth the Fighting For," that he'd never pressured regulators at any time since 1991 and acted only on matters that "serve an obvious public purpose."

McCain said at the time that his efforts were aimed solely at preserving "one of the most pristine and beautiful desert areas in America."

In a statement to McClatchy, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds denied that the Arizona senator had tried to engineer the exchange and said "he certainly did not try to influence the Forest Service on the land-swap proposal."

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Update:

It is no secret in the Mountain West, where the federal government owns vast amounts of land, that land swaps often provide a vehicle for legislators to do favors for friends and contributors. A land deal that benefited a close business associate was at the heart of the controversy that led to the indictment of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) on 35 felony counts.

This isn’t the first land swap in which McCain’s involvement has drawn attention. The New York Times reported in April that McCain’s actions have repeatedly benefited Donald R. Diamond, a longtime donor, including McCain’s assistance in a land deal in California that ultimately netted Diamond a $20 million profit.

Moreover, as the McClatchy article notes, these incidents call into question McCain’s assertion in his 2002 book, “Worth the Fighting For,” that he has never intervened with federal regulators since Keating Five, and he only involves himself when there is a clear public interest.

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[ProSense]

1. McCain

is up for re-election in 2010. This will come in handy.

[ProSense]

2. No comment? n/t