Bush CPB appointee violated ethics laws

Beth Courtney, a member of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board of Directors, received a $10,000 fine for violating the Louisiana ethics code. Courtney is the CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB), the statewide public television network. President Bush appointed her to the CPB board in 2003

The state ethics commission found that LPB did business improperly with a video production company owned by Beth Courtney's husband.

Courtney and her husband's company Courtney Communications agreed to the consent opinion saying they violated the ethics code, and they paid the fine, according to documents approved by the state ethics board.

Courtney, head of the Louisiana Education Television Authority that operates LPB, signs contracts on behalf of LETA and a separate LPB foundation, according to the ethics opinion.

From 2000 to 2003, the foundation had contracts with John Camp Productions Inc. to develop three documentaries, and the production company hired Courtney Communications to do video production and editing for each documentary, paying him $46,869 for the work.

The ethics board said Courtney and her husband's company violated Louisiana's ethics laws barring a public employee and that employee's family members from doing work with the agency where the employee works.

Courtney's term as a CPB director expires in 2010.