WASHINGTON —  A land deal involving Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., is being scrutinized by the U.S. attorney's office in Arizona, a law enforcement official in Washington said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the inquiry is ongoing, said the investigation has been under way for a few months and is still in its very early stages.

The official did not specify what land deal was under investigation.

A spokesman for the Arizona U.S. attorney, Paul Charlton, said he could not confirm or deny an investigation was under way.

Renzi also declined to comment, referring questions to his lawyer, former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods. The lawyer late Tuesday said Renzi was not aware of any investigation and had not been contacted by the U.S. attorney's office.

At least one transaction involving Renzi has raised questions in Arizona recently.

Records and officials involved in the October 2005 deal say Renzi helped promote the sale of land that netted a former business partner $4.5 million.

The property eventually was to be part of a swap in which potential buyers could exchange it for land owned by the federal government. And while Renzi's business partner, James Sandlin, made money off the land sale, Renzi never introduced legislation in Congress to complete the swap for the new owners.

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State records indicate that Renzi and Sandlin were partners in a real estate development firm dating back to at least 2002. It is unclear whether the two still have a business relationship.

Woods said Renzi walked away from the arrangement when he heard people had questioned why he was involved in the deal since it wasn't in his district and involved his former partner.

"He was trying to do the right thing and help a wide variety of constituents out,"Woods said."The minute he heard anyone insinuate there was a problem, he said,'Fine'"and walked away.

Sandlin's wife said he was out of town and could not be contacted.

The Sierra Vista Herald, a newspaper in southern Arizona, reported last October that Renzi was proposing a land swap to stop development of land near Fort Huachuca, an army post in southeastern Arizona. The report quoted Renzi as saying development of the propertycould affect flight operations at the post.

Land swaps such the one Renzi proposed are common in the West, where the government owns large swaths of land. Such swaps benefit both the individual landowner, who gets property owned by the government, and the government, which takes control of land that is environmentally sensitive or is otherwise worth preserving.

The deal Renzi announced would have included Sandlin's 480 acres near Fort Huachuca. The land was along the San Pedro River, an environmentally sensitive area of parched desert in southern Arizona.

Sandlin sold the property six days after the Herald article appeared.

Woods said Renzi got involved in the land deal to help environmentalists and Fort Huachuca _ not to help his former business partner make money.

"He was trying to do the best possible thing for all the various possible constituencies,"Woods said.

But at least one potential buyer rejected the same land deal in part because of discomfort about Renzi and Sandlin's relationship.

Troy Corder, a spokesman for the mining company Resolution Copper, said Renzi approached the company about buying Sandlin's property to include in a land swap the company was trying to put together.

Resolution Copper declined the offer, saying they"were uncomfortable with the relationship"between Renzi and Sandlin, Corder said.

The eventual buy, Preserve Petrified Forest Land Investors LLC, said it purchased the land assuming the swap would go through.

The group's manager, Guy Inzalaco, said legislation was drafted but never introduced. He didn't know why.

"We feel we've been somewhat victimized here,"he said.

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Associated Press writer Arthur H. Rotstein in Tucson, Ariz., contributed to this report.

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