Someone below showed concern that Murkowski might be trying to undo an illegal act that can't be undone. This is true and Murkowski only is selling back the land because she got caught. Getting caught means the illicit transaction still is legally punishable.

The question really becomes...why did Penney sell the land to Murkowski for so less below the market value so that the difference netted in effect became a bribe? It is my belief that the originator of the bribe was Lockheed Martin and that this was a classic money laundering scheme.

Lockheed is a primary sponsor of the Alaska for the Kenai River event. Penney is one of its organizers. I believe an extra something was provided by Lockheed to cover overhead (or salary/finder's fee) Penney fabricated as an amount and claimed he paid out of pocket and was due reimbursement. That Lockheed overpayment then reimbursed Penney (as well as left spare change for a fee to launder the bribe) in the amount he later undercharged Murkowski for the land deal. This scheme is just a twist of some of the ones enacted by Jack Abramoff who too, used non-profits to launder money.

Murkowski is on the Foreign Relations committee amongst many things and Lockheed is a giant supplier to Russia which is run by the Mafia/its FSB members (former KGB and Putin is former NKGB). The true originator of the bribe likely was FSB members/oligarchs since Murkowski also is on the Energy and Natural Resources committee.

The bribe is the least of the charges Murkowski could be facing! I bet a million bucks Penney will take a plea deal since the feds are far more interested in snagging the senator who should have kept the oath of her office, and will offer Penney a good deal for his cooperation. I anticipate Penney will sing against Murkowski and tell the FBI/US DOJ what official acts she was to commit or did commit in exchange for the bribe. Probably it was that she committed the act and the sale of the land was the close of the illicit transaction. If it can be proven she was committing an official act(s) for the Russians (visible by her votes and legislation on the two aforementioned committees), Murkowski could face charges for treason.

The odds are greatest Penney won't spend a day in jail if he cooperates with the feds. He took no oath of office, so this arrangement seems fine to me and likely would be fine to most Americans.

U.S. drops Baghdad electricity reports
By Noam N. Levey and Alexandra Zavis, LA Times Staff Writers
July 27, 2007

WASHINGTON — As the Bush administration struggles to convince lawmakers that its Iraq war strategy is working, it has stopped reporting to Congress a key quality-of-life indicator in Baghdad: how long the power stays on.

Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that Baghdad residents could count on only "an hour or two a day" of electricity. That's down from an average of five to six hours a day earlier this year.

But that piece of data has not been sent to lawmakers for months because the State Department, which prepares a weekly "status report" for Congress on conditions in Iraq, stopped estimating in May how many hours of electricity Baghdad residents typically receive each day.

the investigation should continue. You cannot undo an illegal act. You can try to hide it, but Murkowski should not be allowed to do so.