The U.S. Attorney's Office has officially begun an investigation into whether a state contract was unfairly awarded to a company whose top officials donated money to Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign fund.

Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said University of Wisconsin officials told him a federal grand jury is probing the state travel contract given to Adelman Travel Systems of Milwaukee.

"I heard about it from UW officials," McCabe said. "But we've been contacted over the course of a pretty long period of time by FBI agents, state justice department officials and the U.S. Attorney's Office about this."

The authorities have been looking for information on Doyle's campaign contributions from Adelman officials over the past six months, McCabe said, and are also investigating other campaign practices that have raised red flags.

"Obviously in this case, they have reached the point where they feel a federal grand jury is warranted," McCabe said, adding other state-contract awards may also be brought into question.

Adelman Travel Systems beat out four other bidders in June for a state contract to provide travel services for state and UW System employees.

However, Adelman President Craig Adelman and another Adelman official each donated $10,000 to Doyle's reelection campaign, according to Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin.

"This whole case stems from the fact that Craig Adelman contributed a lot of money to Doyle's campaign and he gave it at a time when his company was awarded a three-year, $750,000 state contract," Heck said.

Additional questions came to light when some members of the procurement committee, which was charged with choosing a travel company for UW, revealed they felt a different travel group should have been selected for the contract.

In a previous interview, Department of Administration spokesperson Scott Larrivee said Doyle had no direct input regarding the contract award given to Adelman Travel, and that, in any event, Adelman was the best candidate for the contract.

McCabe said a procurement committee member who was mentioned in an article in the Wisconsin State Journal told McCabe he was involved in the grand jury inquiry.

Frank Kooistra, who was a committee member and associate dean of UW College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, was cited in the Wisconsin State Journal as having testified before the grand jury about the Adelman contract last week.

Both McCabe and Heck said though inquests into campaign monies is commonplace in the state, having a grand jury involved is a rare occurrence in Wisconsin, which was once known for having particularly clean government.

But Brian Shactman, chair of College Democrats of Madison, said the inquiry into the Adelman contract will not affect Doyle's chances for reelection and added that the campaign contributions had no effect on the awarding of the travel contract.

"The contracts are always awarded to the companies who will do the best job and offer the best price to the state," Shactman said. "I think the people of Wisconsin know the Doyle agenda is about working-class families, not this."

Cases of campaign fraud, like those surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff and U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, are far more important ethical matters, Shactman added.

However, the leading Doyle contender for the 2006 gubernatorial race, U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., has been a harsh critic of the governor concerning his campaign funds.

Green campaign manager Mark Graul called for Doyle's removal from office and said the scourge of scandal will not leave the Capitol until drastic measures are taken to purge corruption from the state.

"What we've clearly seen is Jim Doyle and the unethical actions of his administration have cast a cloud over our state government," Graul said. "He should return the campaign money he received from Adelman … and until he does that, then he will have that cloud remain over him and his administration."

Additionally, "legalized bribery" has been an issue in the state for the past few years by both major political parties, according to Heck. The problem of scandalous campaign actions is the result of politicians' need to raise as much money as possible in order to be elected to — and remain in — public office, he said.

"Until we change the system, these questions about campaign practices will continually be raised," Heck said.

Doyle press secretary Melanie Fonder did not return calls as of press time.

Kooistra did not return calls as of press time. Jan Richardson and Lisa Clemmons, both members of the procurement committee, declined comment on the grand jury inquest.