He checked "none" on the state ethics form to a question that asked whether he had received any free lodging. He signed the form in January 2006.

Four months later, in May 2006, he did disclose the free lodging. He listed it on a federal ethics form.

In an interview yesterday, Dougherty, who is running for the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, maintained that he was not required to report his stay on either form.

Dougherty said the disclosure requirements did not apply to him because his grown daughter was the actual tenant at the Dockside apartments at Penn's Landing, living there for 10 to 12 weeks in 2005.

Dougherty said he stayed there as well - but only as an infrequent guest of his daughter.

He said he chose to disclose his stays on the second form, the federal one - for labor leaders - out of a desire to be completely "transparent."

Federal authorities investigating Dougherty have been looking into his stay at the elegant, 16-story building shaped like a ship. Witnesses, including the owner of Dockside, have testified before a federal grand jury.

Dougherty, who chairs the Redevelopment Authority, is also required by state law to file forms disclosing lodging given to him that exceeds $650 in a year.

Shortly after Dougherty filed the state form, news reports made public a flurry of federal investigative activity involving a close friend of Dougherty's, a civic group he heads and the Redevelopment Authority.

In late January 2006, federal agents searched the South Philadelphia home of the childhood friend, contractor Donald "Gus" Dougherty.

And in February 2006, federal authorities subpoenaed records from the Redevelopment Authority.

The next month, they subpoenaed records from the Pennsport Civic Association. John Dougherty is its president.

(Gus Dougherty recently pleaded guilty to 98 criminal counts, but is still to stand trial on charges he provided illegal benefits to John Dougherty. John Dougherty has not been charged with any crime, and has said he has done nothing wrong.)

Yesterday, John Dougherty said the federal investigative activity in early 2006 had no bearing on his decision to disclose additional information in his filing later that year.

In his first extensive comments on the issue, Dougherty said his daughter, Erin, moved into Dockside in 2005. He said the three of them could not stay in their South Philadelphia home because his wife, Cecilia, was recovering from brain surgery and their home was being renovated to be more accessible.

According to Dougherty, he and his wife stayed during her recuperation mostly at his in-laws' crowded home. Erin, however, needed a place for herself.

From the hospital, Dougherty said, he called developer Peter DePaul, owner of Dockside.

"I hear Dockside is half-empty," Dougherty said he told DePaul, and then asked if there was a unit for Erin.

He said that DePaul gave him the name of a Dockside contact person and that Erin made the arrangements.

"This wasn't a gift" to him, Dougherty said. "My daughter is the one who did the deal. My daughter is the one who was intended to pay the bill."

DePaul, in an interview last Saturday with The Inquirer, said federal investigators had asked him whether Dougherty's daughter had stayed at the Dockside unit. He said he did not know.

DePaul also said John Dougherty repeatedly sought to pay him for the use of the apartment, but that he refused to accept payment.

On occasion, John Dougherty said, he and his wife visited their daughter at Dockside and stayed the night because Cecelia fell asleep early. She was "taking a lot of medication. And I didn't want to move her," he said.

Dougherty said he would sleep at her side on the floor.

"I didn't stay there by choice," he added.

On the federal form, Dougherty said he had stayed "10 or 20 days."

Federal investigators have been focusing on whether the labor leader underreported the length of his stay, sources familiar with the matter have said.

Dougherty said lawyers and his accountant had advised him he was under no obligation to report the stays.

William Josem, a lawyer for the union headed by Dougherty, Electricians Local 98, said it was far from clear whether Dougherty had any obligation to report the stays, given that his daughter was the prime tenant.

"It is an arguable point whether he was required to or not," Josem said.

In his discussions with Dougherty, Josem said, the labor leader pushed for disclosure on the federal form.

"I was really on the fence about this, and John was really clear. 'Let's overreport,' " Josem said.

However, on the state form, filed earlier, Dougherty answered no when asked if he had gotten any gifts or free lodgings in 2005.

Dougherty's staff provided copies of his state ethics form to The Inquirer yesterday, nine days after the newspaper requested the public document.

Staff writers Mario F. Cattabiani, Joseph A. Gambardello and John Shiffman contributed to this article.