By Pete Yost, Associated Press
During an investigation of his conduct last year, President Bush’s housing secretary defiantly defended his dealings with federal contractors doing business with the department.
Alphonso Jackson survived that investigation, but now faces a new one stemming from the same forceful style that got him in trouble the first time.
The FBI and the department’s internal watchdog are examining Jackson’s ties to a friend who was paid at least $392,000 in federal money after Jackson passed along the man’s name for a job as post-Katrina construction manager at the Housing Authority of New Orleans.
Jackson, 62, has spent much of his career working for housing agencies in several cities. He has a personal friendship with Bush that dates to the late 1980s, when they lived in the same Dallas neighborhood.
Two weeks ago, within hours of news reports disclosing the criminal probe, the White House issued a statement saying the president supports Jackson.