Pro-Trump challenger’s residency issues catch Murkowksi’s eye

On Oct 4, 2021

Murkowski took aim at her would-be GOP challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, over the candidate’s ties to Alaska in an interview with CNN, an opening salvo in what could emerge as the most high-profile proxy war between Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and former President Donald Trump in next year’s midterms.

Murkowski alluded to a state investigation into whether Tshibaka illegally obtained a fishing license for a sportfishing event in 2019 because she had not lived in the state for the previous 12 months.

“Alaskans take their fishing very seriously,” Murkowski said. “She’s got a problem with her fishing license and residency problem.”

“That’s not what I care about,” she added. “That’s what others care about.”

Asked what she thought about her potential opponent, Murkowski said, “I don’t know her. She just came back to the state a couple years ago.”

Tshibaka, a former Alaska Department of Administration commissioner, has offered herself as a vessel for Trump supporters, earning the former President’s endorsement in June as he embarked on a revenge campaign against Republicans like Murkowski, who believed he should have been convicted for high crimes and misdemeanors for inciting the January 6 insurrection.

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Tshibaka, who has questioned the legitimacy of Biden’s win, got fresh scrutiny in Alaska a month after she won Trump’s backing.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that Alaska Wildlife Troopers were probing whether Tshibaka illegally received a resident sportfishing license for a Kenai River sportfishing event in 2019 because she allegedly received the permit just eight months after she moved back to Alaska. The report noted that knowingly violating the state law is a misdemeanor subject to a fine of up to $300.

The Associated Press then reported in August that law enforcement officials had completed their investigation and referred it to Alaska’s Department of Law. Jenna Gruenstein, the chief Assistant Attorney General of the Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions, told CNN, “The review of this matter is still in progress.”

Tim Murtaugh, a senior adviser to the Tshibaka campaign, said that Tshibaka was invited to the charitable event in her official capacity as Alaska’s Administration Department commissioner. He said the form was filled in for a license that expired after one day, showing a “clear intent to purchase a non-resident license,” even though someone also punched in the hole for a resident license.

“Lisa Murkowski is clearly worried about Kelly, if she is willing to attack her on this,” said Murtaugh.

The Tshibaka adviser then attacked the senator, saying she promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act before voting to keep it, and voted to confirm the “energy-annihilating” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. “Murkowski has a long record of demonstrating a lack of integrity that always comes at the loss of jobs, rights, and safety of Alaskans,” said Murtaugh.

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