Paul Hammel: Omaha World-Herald, 1/05/2012
LINCOLN — Attorney General Jon Bruning on Thursday blamed election-year politics for recent criticism from Democrats that he funneled a $100,000 grant to an influential farm group to curry political favor for his Republican run for U.S. Senate.
Bruning was criticized last month for the grant, which was provided to We Support Agriculture, formed this fall by the Farm Bureau and other agriculture groups to counter criticism by the Humane Society of the United States about livestock-raising practices.
In his first public comments on the complaints, Bruning said the decision to provide the $100,000 grant — the largest grant ever by his office — required more than the 32-minute review indicated by his office email records. He denied that the grant was hurriedly approved so he could present it at the Nebraska Farm Bureau Dec. 5 convention in Kearney.
Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20120105/NEWS01/701059865
