Anyone watching Mike Allen Raving about "The Politico" on WJ this a.m.?

The Politico, financed by Allbritton Communications and based here in suburban Washington in a glassy tower that once housed Gannett, has smoothed the transition for print journalists with handsome salaries, though no one is talking exact figures.

Its publisher, Robert L. Allbritton, 37, scion of the banking and media family that once owned the defunct Washington Star, said in an interview that he would finance The Politico for “the foreseeable future” and has committed to paying for expensive campaign travel. He has hired a staff of about 50 people, almost half of them journalists.

“Newspapers have to be all things to all people,” Mr. Allbritton said. “On the Internet, there is no one site that delivers everything. It’s broken down into mini-mini-subdivisions of interests and they attract people who are passionately interested in one subject.”

Mr. Allbritton also said he has no political agenda and is in the business because it could be profitable; if Google or some other entity eventually wanted to buy it, he said, “that would be great,” but that it is not part of his business plan. (He had briefly considered buying The Hill last year, but declined; the asking price was a reported $40 million.)

Allbritton is the 35-year-old son and only child of Joe L. Allbritton, who gained control of the company and its Riggs Bank subsidiary in 1981. Though the family still controls nearly 40 percent of the outstanding stock, no family members will remain on the board or in the executive suite. Joe, who was chief executive until 2001, and his wife, Barbara, announced last April they would resign as directors as a money-laundering scandal engulfed the company.

In stepping down from Riggs, Robert Allbritton cited a desire to devote time to Allbritton Communications Co., his family-owned chain of television stations, where he is chief executive.

His decision to leave comes as several independent directors at Riggs have been conducting a review of his and his father's personal use of a former company jet. The Department of Justice is also conducting an inquiry into the use of corporate assets at Riggs.

Paul Clark, a spokesman for the Allbritton family, said the inquiries into the father's and son's use of the plane and a company-provided apartment played no role in Robert Allbritton's decision to resign.

Web Site Cites Bush-Riggs Link

A political Web site written by a Democratic operative drew attention yesterday to the fact that President Bush's uncle, Jonathan J. Bush, is a top executive at Riggs Bank, which this week agreed to pay a record $25 million in civil fines for violations of law intended to thwart money laundering.