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THIS JUST IN:
RULES PANEL SIRIKES
MOLLOHAN
EAR1vIARKS
The House Rules
Committee, prompted by a
request from Rep. Alan
Mollohan D-WV!,
effectively struck three
earmarks that the
lawmaker himself had
asked for from the
Agriculture appropriations
bill Wednesday night.
The Hill!
Fl-JMA SUSPIZNDS USE
OFDISASTER
TRAILERS
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency has
stopped donating and
selling disaster trailers
while it studies reports
that people living in them
after hurricanes Katrina
and Rita got sick from
formaldehyde exposure.
Associated Press!
JUDGE BACKS CIAIN
SUI! ON MEM OIR
Valerie Wilson may be the
best known former
intelligence operative in
recent history, but a
federal judge in New York
ruled Wednesday that she
was not allowed to say
how long she worked for
the Central Intelligence
Agency in the memoir she
plans to publish this fall.
NY Times!
DOCUMIHVTS SAY
ARM YIGVEW OFIEXAM
CHI£A'lING
The Army was warned at
least six years ago that its
online testing program
was vulnerable to
cheating, and has known
for nearly a year that
soldiers are obtaining
copies of exams and
answers on the lnternet to
fraudulently obtain
promotion points,
according to military
documents.
Boston Globe!
I!.C. 'I'O PAYS:
MILLION TO
PROTIESTORS
The District of Columbia
has agreed to pay $1
million to 120 protesters
who were improperly
rounded up by the policeMUCKRAKER. COM
What's in the FISA Bill?
White House, Congress FISA Talks Collapse
Jefferson Oice Raid Unconstitutional
FULL ARCHlVE ITPM MUCKRAKER HOME
Senate Aide's
Disclosure Shows No
Payments From
Stevens
By Laura McGann - August 3, 2007, 10:30
AM
If the Senate aide who has been
accused of handling Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK! personal nances while on the
govemmcnt clock received separate
payments from the Alaska senator, she
didn't list them on her public nancial
disclosure in 2006, the AP reports
Roll Call reported yesterday that the
aide, Barbara Flanders, didn't disclose
any additional personal income in 2007
either.
Flanders involvement in the ethics
scandal aired Tuesday when press reports said she testied before a grand jury
about Stevens nances and provided documents. Flanders is a fomaer personal
aide to Stevens and now is supposed to work full time for the Senate Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee. It appears she also handles Stevens
bills. If she wasn't paid for this work, Stevens should have listed her services as
a gift on his own disclosure f0I1TlS, which he has not done. If accurate, this kind
of an arrangement is a violation of federal law.
Stevens ofce offered a vague denial of wrongdoing:
Stevens spokesman, Aaron Saunders, said in an c-mailed
statement: "As the former chairman of the Senate Ethics and
Rules Committees, Senator Stevens has vast knowledge and
experience with the Senate rules. He has long-standing ofce
policies that are consistent with these rules, including
personally compensating staff members for performing tasks
that are outside their official duties."
Permalink | Comments 0! |TOPlCS: Ted Stevens
FBI "Gestapo-like" In Raid Of Stevens
Home
By Laura McGann - August 2, 2007, 5:44 PM
Sen. Lan'y Craig R-ID! called thc tactics used by FBI and IRS agents who
raided Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! home "Gestapo-like" today, the Crypt reports.
Craig's main objection seems to be that the agents could have parked a large
FBI - Stevens-848
li4A-ANMUCK RESOURCES
U.S.A. Scandal Tlmellne
TPM Document Collection
Bios of Key Players
Grand Old Docket
HOT TOPICS
Alberto Gonzales
Ted Stevens
Surveillance
U.S. Attorneys
SubpoenasLisa Murkowski
Iraq
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How to change the debateA nucklgkfi Tcd Stevens Archives http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted stevensl
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it . Q I
white truck in front of Stevens Girdwood home, photographed it and the
neighboring property and carried out black trash bags presumably lled with
evidence! much more discreetly than they did. Maybe Craig's never been to
Gtrdwood, because I just consulted our handy Girdwood map and it looks like it
might have been tough for a dozen federal agents to have shown up at the most
famous Alasl<an's house without any of the neighbors noticing:
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"I think some people say, Ah, but for the grace of God go 1.
Especially when you have the allegatiatons, you have the
judicial segment of our govemment, the executive branch, out
raiding the homes of senators, that is a very frightening
proposition. It is a bit Gestapo-like in its style and tactics,
Craig said on Wednesday. "When the FBI was offered a key
and invited into the home, they chose publicize it to make sure
the media was there rst, and they broke in. That is
gamesmanship. That makes senators very, very angry when they
attempt to cooperate when for reason they are caught in these
webs and yet they are denied that for the sake of the judciarys
publicity. That is wrong.
Permalink | Comments 4! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Uncle Ted's Eateries
By Laura McGann - August 1, 2007, 6:35 PM
Planning to eat at Uncle Ted's tonight? If
you are, plan on canceling.
A former aide to Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK! led papers in 2004 to create a
restaurant company called Uncle Ted's
Alaska LLC. But, unfortunately, it looks
like the aide got cold feet last year, right
around the time his boss criminal
investigation came to light. A few weeks
following The Anchorage Daily News
initial coverage of the scandal, the aide,
Trevor McCabe, dissolved the company.
"Decision not to pursue original business
idea," is the only explanation.
According to documents McCabe led
with the state, he was registered to run
eating and drinking places, food stores
and miscellaneous retail stores. Perhaps
he had a vision for a chain restaurant devoted to foods loved by Stevens, who isFBI Stevens849
TPMmuckraker Ted Stevens Archives http://wwwdpmmuclcraker com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
known as "Uncle Ted" up in his home state. Alas, we'll never know we can
only offer our suggestion of "Big Boy" inspired icon!. l can imagine a mean
salmon sandwich, you could even call it a "Murkowski" for fun. Certainly pork
ribs? chop? roast?! would have been in generous supplyl
This wouldn't have been the rst time that McCabe used his relationship with
Stevens for his benet -- a connection that's become clearer due to the federal
investigation of Stevens. He served on a marketing boartbvith Stevens son,
Ben Stevens, that provided federal grants to the seafood industry, while they
were paid "consulting fees" by the same companies receiving the money. He
also beneted from a string of the elder Stevens earmarks that have come
under FBI scmtiny.
Ferrnalink l Comments ?! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Company Tied To
Stevens Fishery
Scandal Got $3.5
Million Earmark
By Laura McGann - August 1, 2007, 12:54
PM
One of the companies involved in the
widening federal probe into Alaska
political corruption is positioned to
benefit handsomely from a $3.5 million
eamiark tucked into a 2008 Senate
spending bill by Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK!, CQ reports.
The company, Trident Seafoods Corp.,
was one of several that received federal
money via a local board headed by
Stevens son, Ben Stevens. While the
younger Stevens dolled out federal
grants supplied by his father, he
received "consulting fees" from an
association formed by the same companies winning the grants. Trident CEO
Charles Bundrant contributed $6,700 to the elder Stevens campaign and
affiliated PACs since 2004. He also gave the National Republican Senatorial
Committee $35,000 between 2005 and 2007.
The earmark CQ notes is for an airstrip that would service seafood giant
Trident, and the 100Alaskans who live in Akutan.
Trident and Stevens are no strangers. For years, company
founder and Chief Executive Charles Bundrant has been a
generous contributor to the Alaska Republicans campaigns.
And in December, according to the Seattle Times, a federal
grand jury investigating political corruption in Alaska ordered
Trident and other seafood companies to produce documents
detailing financial ties to the senators son, former Alaska
Fisheries Marketing Board Chairman Ben Stevens. FBI - Stevens-85f!
Permalink I Comments 4! | TOPICS: Ben Stevens :Ted Stevens
, rt i . Senate Leadership
H I'M;V 92 ; Backs Stevens
92 W, V. p _~.¬/1 _ By Laura McGann-August1,200'I,11:52~; » ,. 1 AM
~ Members of the Senate leadership toldi ~_ Tlzellill that Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! " should be allowed to keep his
-.5 -~f. committee seats.
4 of38 8/3/2007 5 14 PM
,__._- » _~ < - -~~ - .._l ~.. ,~-u-,.__- _ ...-1.1.. ..,;-..,......<.._.:.._._~.._............ c~._c.....,.1._h...,m-51,. ,-M-..~~....n sxa.'v¢=L'Iv.._Erv92rld .".:§/fcl »_-< --» -_;u~.a.s%.,,,..1._».,.--....<._>_.?,_.__~;,- 92. ~.-3., .,._. _».i _..» _M,»,»,-,.-.l,~-92-t .~- V - . -. 1- . t . .~ ___
TPMmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives ' http://www.tpmmuek1'aker.com/arohives/cats/ted__stevens/
1- a
'1 have Stevens temporarily removed from
his committee assignments until the
conclusion of a federal criminal
investigation looking into his dealings
with oil services company Veco and a
series of eamiarks that beneted one of
his pet projects in Alaska.
. . . , Unlike in the House, the Senate has
adopted a "wait and see" posture:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid D-Nev.! and Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell R-Ky.! both said Tuesday that
Stevens could continue serving on his Senate panels, since
charges have not been brought against him.
My personal feeling is that we have to be very careful about
punishing people during an investigation," Reid, a former
longtime appropriator, said Tuesday. I don't know anything
about the Stevens investigation, but Im not going to be in a
p0SltiOn where just because someones under investigation
theyre punished here in the Senate.
Permatink [Comments 8! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Stevens Vows To Block Ethics Bill
By Laura McGann - July 31, 2007, 6:47 PM
Just when we thought there was no more Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! news for the
day, John Brcsnahanhears that he's promising to block ethics legislation.
You couldn't make this up:
Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, whose home back in Alaska was
raided by federal investigators Monday in a wide-ranging
corruption investigation, has threatened to place a hold on the
Democratic-draed ethics legislation just passed by the House
and expected on the Senate floor by weeks end.
The senator told a closed session of fellow Republicans today,
including Vice President Dick Cheney, that he was upset that
the measure would interfere with his travel to and from Alaska
and vowed to block it.
And Sen. Lany Craig R-Idaho!, conrming Stevens threat,
said bluntly: There could be a lot of holds on this bill."
Permalink | Comments 0! ] TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Stevens Financial
Clerk Testies
. Before Grand Jury
By Laura McGann - July 2.1, 2001, 3:05 PMFBI Stevens851
E
i A Senate clerk for Sen. Ted Stevens
' R-AK! has testified before a grand
jury about the remodeling of the
senator's home overseen by Veco, the
AP reports.l
The Commerce Committee clerk,
Barbara Flanders, who assisted Stevens
with his personal nancial records, also
handed over documents related to the
5 of 38 8/3/2007 5:14 PM
and she knew about how the murky home
§g11_Te<i$1gven$tR~{92!»Q VJDC,PlX,gon1! remodeling pl0]¬0lI bills were paid.
Flanders is not the rst Capital Hill
staffer to be brought in to the investigation. Some of Stevens former aides have
already been questionedby the FBI.
Stevens has arftully claimed he paid every bill he received for the work done
on his house. But the contractor on the job has described a suspicious payment
process. The contractor, Augie Paone, said he would submit invoices to Veco
the major oil services company up in Alaska! and then would receive payment
from Stevens. Paone also said the cheeks were all coming from a special
account set up for the job.
The AP also conrms that Interior Department investigators have joined in the
investigation, probing a series of earmarks Stevens obtained: "The Interior
Departments inspector general and the Commerce Department have also joined
the case to investigate Stevens connections with a Seward, Alaska, marine
science organization that operates the Alaska SeaLife Center."
Permalink | Comments 4! ITOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
iV Stevens Investigation
Broader Than Veco
f Home Makeover
By Laura McGann - July 31. zoo"/,12=1s
PM
It's official: the FBI is looking into
more than Sen. Ted Stevens
Veco~overseen remodeling project.
Roll Call reports that the FBI and the
Department of Interior are also looking
into a series of earmarks for one of
Stevens pet projects.g.
1
The project, the Alaska SeaLife Center
in Seaward, Alaska, has received some
$50 million in federal money since
1998. One of Stevens former aides,
Trevor McCabe, was paid $55 8,000 of
that money for an adjacent piece of land. Federal investigators want to know
more about the arrangement.
It wasnt the only time that federal money found its way to McCabe's pocket.
McCabe is also tied to the federal investigation of Stevens son, former state
Senate President Ben Stevens. The FBI:-aided the younger Stevens offices last
year, gathering documents related to his time on an Alaska boardhat handed
out millions in federal grants to the seafood industry. While Stevens was on the
board, he partnered with McCabe in a consulting company that took fees from
the companies that received the federal money. The older Stevens saw to it that
the board was stocked with federal funds. °
If the three-pronged federal investigation into Stevens run by the IRS, FBI and
Interior Department doesn't impress you, Roll Call mentions that the raid of a
US senator's home is ahistorical moment in Congressional comiption:
"Stevens appears to be the only member of the Senate to have ever had his
residence raided by the FBI. "
Permaltnk l Comments 9! I TOPICS: Ted Stevens
I CREW: Stevens
Should Step Down
from DOJ Committee
Spot
By Paul Kiel - July 31, 2007, 11248 AMTPMmuckraker Ted Stevens Archives . http://www.tprnmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
FBI Ste-vens852
8/3/2007 5:14 PM
TPMmuekraker: Ted Stevens Archives http://wvvwftpnmiuekraker.com/archives/cats/ted__stevens/
, 1
Another D.C. watchdog, Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington, has joined the call for
Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! to relinquish
his committee seats, this time focusing
on Stevens seat on the committee that
funds the Justice Department. Says
CREW director Melanie Sloan:
"Senators should follow the
lead of their House colleagues
and require anyone whose
property has been searched in
connection with a criminal
probe to relinquish his plum
committee post. Senator Stevens, who sits on the subcommittee
responsible for funding the Justice Department, which is
conducting a probe into his potentially criminal activities,
should immediately resign his position on the Appropriations
committee."
A similar situation occurred in the House earlier this year, where Rep. Alan
Mollohan D~WV!, who's been under federal investigation since l£1S A]'!lil, did
not step down from his cliairmnnshipof the panel that oversees the Justice
Department's budget. Mollohan, however, recusecliimself from Department
matters. That recusal has been called into question, however. Roll Call reported
sub. req.! yesterday that Mollohan nevertheless voted against an amendment
last week that would have increased the FBI's budget by $6 million.
Pennalink I Comments ! ] TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Watchdog: Stevens Should Step Down
from Committee Posts
By PBIII Kiel - July 31, 2007, 10248 AM
Below is the letter the nonpartisan D.C. watchdog Taxpayers for Common
Sense sent to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell R-KY! this morning
asking that Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! get the temporary boot from his committee
seats.
The letter:
FBI Ste-vens853
7 of38 8/3/2007 5:14 PM
TPMmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives ' http://wwwipmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
The Honorable Mitch McConnell Minority Leader United
States Senate Washington, DC 205 10
July 3 l, 2007
Dear Leader McConnell:
Fm writing to request that you ask Senator Ted Stevens R-AK!
to temporarily recuse himself from his committee assignments
until the federal criminal investigation into his activities has
been resolved.
Under Minority Leader John Boehner R-OH!, House
Republican leadership have created a precedent of self-policing
by asking lawmakers under federal investigation to leave their
committee assignments until the investigation is completed,
particularly after a search warrant has been executed on their
home or business. By urging Rep. Rick Rienzi R~AZ! and Rep.
John Doolittle R-CA! to leave their committee assignments,
Leader Boehner drew a proverbial ethics line in the sand that he
will not cross. Now that a search warrant has been issued and
executed in his home, it is time for Senator Stevens to do the
right thing and step down from his committee assignments.
We dont make this request lightly. Senator Stevens has served
the people of Alaska in the Senate for 37 years. Like every
target of a federal investigation or criminal defendant, Senator
Stevens is entitled to due process and remains innocent until
proven otherwise. But the standard for holding a powerll
committee position should not hinge on the absence of a
criminal conviction. Even the appearance of using public office
for personal prot undermines public condence in Congress.
A judicial nding of probable cause that a search of the
Senators home would produce evidence of a crime certainly
has the effect of harming the public trust.
There is growing evidence that Senator Stevens may have used
; his powerful perch on the appropriations committee to direct
1 tens of millions of dollars of eamiarks to benet family, friends,
l business partners and former staff We think you would agree
that the use of public office for personal prot in any way,
shape, or form cannot be condoned. Indecisiveness will harm
the public trust and current Senate efforts on ethics reform. The
Senate needs to take decisive action to show taxpayers that
self-dealing will not be tolerated.
Thank you for your attention on this matter.
Sincerely,
Ryan Alexander
President
Taxpayers for Common Sense
FBI Stevens854
Pennatink | Comments 9! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Today's Must Read
By Laura McGann -July 31, 2007, 10:08
AM
Two dozen FBI and the IRS agents
took a close look yesterday at the
infamous remodeling job overseen by
Veco Corp. that doubledthe size of
Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! home,
snagging him in the widening probe
t into Alaska political corruption.
8 of38 8/3/2007 5:14 PM
5
u
I
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TPMmuclcraker: Ted Stevens Archives . http://wwwipmniuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
7 orful details.
The agents were at Stevens improved
home in the small town ofGirdwood
with curtains drawn well into the night
-- collecting evidence and shooting
photos and video of the house and
neighboring property. The FBI and IRS
declined to comment on the raid, but a
reporter perched outside Stevens home
got a pretty good idea of what was
going on:
The agents were obviously
cataloging the house and its
xtures, from light switches
and electrical outlets to abig stainless steel barbecue grill on a
second-floor deck that neighbors said was hoisted there with a
crane. At one point, agents climbed on the pitched metal roof to
take pictures of heat tape in the gutters.
One agent carried a full large black garbage bag out of the
house and put it in the white truck.
Stevens, who is the most senior Republican in the Senate, sits on the Commerce,
Science and Transportation and Appropriations committees. Known for his
aggressive earmarking, watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense will ask
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell R-KY! to temporarily remove
Stevens from his posts until the federal investigation ends, according to Roll
Call sub req.!:
According to a source with the group, this will be the first time
TCS has ever made such an appeal. But the organization will
argue in a letter to McConnell that given the current public
concern with Congressional ethics, he should take a path similar
to one the House GQP leadership has followed and request that
Stevens relinquish his seats on the two powerful committees
until the investigation is completed....
In the letter, TCS President Ryan Alexander will argue that
McConnell should ask Stevens to step down until this federal
investigation can be resolved and the public trust restored," said
the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
letter had not yet been completed as of this posting.
Stevens son, former state Senate President Ben Stevens has been implicated in
receiving questionable payments from Veco executives, and Rep. Don Young
R-AK! is under federal investigation for his ties to the company as well.
Update: See the letter from Taxpayers for Common Sense here
Permaltnk 1 CommentsE3! Must Rid: ilediStevens W f H - Stevens-855
BREAKING: FBI Raids Stevens Alaska g
Home
By Paul Kiel - July 30, 2007, 6:51 PM
From the Anchorage Daily News:
Federal law enforcement agents are currently searching the
Girdwood home of Alaska U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, an FBI agent
said.
8/3/2007 5:14 PM
1i.TPMmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives . http://www.tpmrnuckraker.com/archives/cats/tod_stevens/
Al1 I can say is that agents from the FBI and IRS are currently
conducting a search at that residence," said Dave Heller, the
assistant special agent in charge of the F BI's Anchorage ofce.
The search began this altemoon, he said.
That's the same home, of course, that was doubled by a renovation undertaken
in 2000 -- the contractor, curiously, was Veco, the corrupt oil company. Veco,
prosecutors have pointed out "was not in the business of residential
construction or remodeling. And that's not all that's curious about the
renovation.
Permalink 1 Comments 8! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Don Young Under Federal
Criminal Investigation
By Laura McGann - July 24, 2007, 9:09 PM
The Wall Street Journal reports that 18-term Rep.
Don Young R-AK! is under criminal
investigation for his dealings with Alaska oil
services company Veco Corp.
While the investigation into Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK! ties to Veco, including the remodclingof
his Girdwood home, has been widely reported,
this is the rst time Young has been implicated in
the scandal.
It looks like an annual pig-roast fundraiser snared the congressman known for
hugepork projects, including the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere."
From The Journal:
For a decade, former VECO Chief Executive Bill Allen has
held fund-raisers for Mr. Young in Anchorage every August,
known as "The Pig Roast, paiticipants said. Public records
show contributions to Mr. Young of at least $ l 57,000 from
VECO employees and its political-action committee between
1996 and 2006, the last year the event was held.
Mr. Young amended his campaign-nance lings in January to
reect $38,000 in payments to Mr. Allen, the former VECO
chief. The refunds, which haven't previously been reported,
were labeled "fund-raising costs" in documents led with the
Federal Election Commission.
Veco has been the recipient of a variety of federal contracts, but it's still not
clear what the company would have received in exchange for all of its alleged
bribes.
Permalink [Comments 9! | TOPICS: Don Young :Ted Stevens _ Ste/en5_856
Ted Stevens
Foundation Late To
Register, Pay Fees
By Laura McGann - July 24, 2007, 5:48 PM
The Ted Stevens Foundation was
founded in 2000 aiming to serve a
variety of admirable causes and work
on "educating and informing the public
about the career of Senator Ted
Stevens." The extent of its charitable
l
i
10 of 38 8/3/2007 5:14 PM
ling a FOIA request with Alaska, the
Sunlight Foundationdiscovered that
the group has failed to pay its dues and
register with the state for last three
years.92
A shortage of money isnt their excuse.
Back in 2005 The Ted Stevens
Foundation, which was renamed North
to the Future Foundation last year, had
net assets of $1.7 million in 2004 and
$2.3 million in 2005.
Besides spreading the wond about
Stevens accomplishments, the group
also aims "to make grants to other
public charities and to provide programs which educate, encourage
communication, relieve poverty and promote community welfare throughout the
state of Alaska and the United States.
How successful has it been at giving out money? According to Sunlighfs
research:
Between 2003 and 2005 the foundation has spent more than
$380,000 on fundraisers but has given out only two grants: one
for $40,000 to the Smithsonian Institute in 2004 and $10,000 to
the Anchorage Rowing Association in 2005, according to the
990s.
So, then, what does this non-profit actually do? Back in 2004 The lVasIu':tgzan
Past ran an editorial taking a guess at the real purpose: to shake down lobbyists
for the benet of sitting politicians.
At an event held at the Capital l-lilton in 2004, The Ted Stevens Foundation
aimed raise $2 million with tables going For $50,000 each. Some lucky donors
had a VIP at their table -- one of the two thirds of the Senate members that
attended. At the time, Stevens was the chair of the Appropriations Committee
and lobbyists were happy to donate to his "charity" for a little time by his ear.
The Washington Post editorial cuts at the heart of the problem with this kind of
a "non-prot":
When foundations like this are set up for the benet of sitting
lawmakers, requests for contributions have the inevitable air of
a shakedown: What lobbyist with an interest in appropriations
matters would fail to give to Mr. Stevens's charity? Meanwhile,
the money can come from corporations that are prohibited from
giving directly to the senator's reelection campaign, and in far
larger denominations than ordinary campaign contributions. All
of this activity is subsidized by the taxpayers, since
contributions to the fund are tax-deductible. Most disturbing of
all, the Stevens foundation -~ unlike some of the other charities
with ties to lawmakers -- doesn't plan to disclose its donors or
the amounts they give.
Permalink | Comments 1! |TOPlCS: Ted Stevens
Stevens To Walk
Backward Through
Alaska
By Laura Mi:Gann - July 23, 2007, 5:29 PM
Sen. Ted Stevens R~AK! announced
his plans this week to start an Alaska
awareness program where he'll guideTPl92/Imuckraker Ted Stevens Archives ' http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
FBI - Stevens857
8/3/2007 5 14 PM
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Q demonstrate its unique needs -- which
require lots of federal funds.
The guided tours will show capital
politicos maybe bloggers, too?! how
vast and remote the state really is,
especially for those in rural villages.
Interestingly, Stevens had a specic
rule for the press conference where he
unveiled his plan:
Stevens said he wouldn't
answer any questions with the word "investigation" in them,
which ruled out questions about the federal inquiry into
renovations that doubled the size of his Girdwood home in
2000. No charges have been brought, but a federal grand jury
has questionedpeople involved with it.
Permalink I Comments 7! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens
A Stevens Artful
Dodge
By Laura McGann - July 18, 2007, 2:42 PM
Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! gave an
artful explanation of how he paid for
the remodeling of his home yesterday
-- so agrantly artful that quite a few
TPM readers have written in to ag it
as a "non-denial denial."
The longest-serving Republican senator
was defending himself from
accusations that oil-services company
Veco Corp. paid for the renovation
project that doubled the size of his
Girdwood, Alaska house in 2000. A
grand jury in Washington has started
looking into the job because of Veco's
bizarre role as general contractor.
As a practical matter, Iwill tell
you. We paid every bill that
was given to us. Every bill that
was sent to us has been paid,
~ ' e personally, with our own
money, and that's all there is to
it. It's our own money.
Notice Stevens didnt say he paid for the whole job: he paid for what he was
sent
FBI Stevens858And who was sending him the invoices?
According to the sub-contractor, Augie Paone, who was hired by Veco to
handle the construction work, he would give his bills to Veco not Stevens! for
review. Then, payment 'om Stevens would arrive in the mail. The checks all
came from a special account set up specically for the remodeling job, Paone
told the press a few months ago. He recently hired a lawyer and is no longer
speaking publicly.
We haven't received a response on our request for clarication from Stevens
office.
Permalink 1 Eomments 8! ITOPICS: Ted Stevens :Vecu
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Stevens Needs
Second Disclosure
Extension
By Laura McGann - July 17, 2007, 11:45
AM
Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! is getting
another extensionto le his nancial
disclosure forms:
Spokesman Aaron Saunders
said he could not elaborate on
what changes needed to be
made and issued a brief written
statement.
"The Ethics Committee has
completed its review and has
asked Senator Stevens to make
a few technical clarications to his disclosure, the statement
said. To make these minor adjustments, the Committee has
granted the Senator another extension."
The disclosure paperwork was due May 15, but Stevens missedhat deadline.
He skirted it by asking the Senate Ethics Committee to review his nances from
the previous year. Other lawmakers facing legal troubles, like Rep. John T.
Doolittle R-CA! and Sen. Robert Menendez D-NJ!, did the same.
Permalink | Comments 5! l TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Stevens Popularity
Sinks To New Low
By Laura McGann - July 16, 2007, 11:26
AM E
I'll bet he hopes the grand jury has a
better opinion of him.
is A new poll shows that only 44% of
P Anchorage voters have a positive
1 1 attitude about Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK!.
That's quite a dip for Stevens,
according to pollster Ivan Moore, who
said that between September 2005 and
April 2007 the senator's popularity
rating ranged between 58 percent and
63 percent.
Stevens isnt too eoncemed:
"Moore is an opinion-making pollster, not an opinion-taking
pollster," Stevens told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Permalink |Comments ! | TOPlCS: Ted Stevens
Alaska Lawmakers to Get Ethics
Refresher
By Laura McGann - July 13, 2007, 11:49 AM
Sharpen those number 2 pencils, Alaska lawmakers. In a move to combat the
corruption scandals that launched the FBI's probe into the state's politics, a new
13 of 38FBI Stevens859
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state iaw requires legislators to undergo ethics training.
Gov. Sarah Palin signed the law earlier this week, right after former state Rep.
Tom Anderson R! was found guilty of seven counts of extortion, bribery,
conspiracy and money laundering. Anderson was accused of taking bribes from
the private prison industry in exchange for pushing for facilities across the state.
The legislature hopes the new law will help clean up its image.
House Bill 109 tightens up the denition of bribery, requires
legislators to make nancial disclosures when leaving ofce,
puts new disclosure requirements on consulting fees and meals
purchased by lobbyists for lawmakers and makes numerous
other clarications in laws applying to both the executive and
legislative branches.
Pcrmalink | Comments ! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens
The Senate: One
Happy Family
By Laura McGann -July 11, 2007, 2:40 PM
The family that's investigated together,
stays together.
Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! said his
fellow senators have stood by him now
that he faces federal scrutiny for his
involvement with oil eld services
company Veco Corp.
During an interview with reporters last
week in Alaska, a local public radio
station grabbed audio of Stevens
saying:
Thcre is sort of a cloud out
there, but it's not harmed my
role as a senator for Alaska, if
anything, it's is a strange thing,
its enhanced it because
senators read papers too, and
it's sort of a family, the senate
family comes around when
someones got a problem. And
they've all encouraged me: "Don't get excited about this because
so many people have been through it in their own states and it's
not an easy thing."
Too bad Sen. Conrad Bums R~MT! wasn't around to provide a shoulder to cry
on.
The audio 15 onhne here. FBI _ Ste/enS_86O
Permatink | Comments 87! |TOPiC$: Ted Stevens _
Stevens Secured Big
Federal Money For
Business Partners
By Laura McGann - July 10, 2007, 11:14
AM
The federal govemrnent has been very
good to two of Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK! business partners, Leonard
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W1 ' '~~--» ~-- -- ~- ~ ' ~~~-;~-~> A ~ ~~~~»»~~~~~~ ~~-|_|gq-; ~~~-A---.~ » --M-» » -»_ - ~ ~-;-s-».-M--~.-»» Us ~» - H» -»--___;_.~. . 4 ...- . -V i _- -, -
92.TPM1nuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/tod__stevens/
II lb. req.! John Stanton of Roll Call.
In 2004, Stevens slipped them a $3.5
million earmark for an empty plot of
land in Anchorage that was to be used
by the National Archives and Records
Administration. The deal meant $2
million prot for Hyde and Rubini.
What's happened since the initial
windfall for Stevens business partners?
Not much:
Since the land deal was
nished, federal funding has
slowed signicantly for the
project. Despite a price tag of
at least $29 million in construction costs, Stevens appears to
have taken only modest interest in securing funding for the
project since the land transfer. Stevens set aside $3 million in
2005 for site preparation, while the archives eamiark
diminished tojust $1.9 million last year.
However, according to a May l l, 2007, Anchorage Daily News
story, $290,000 tagged for the construction has been
reprogrammed fora new speed-skating-rink project being
planned next to the NARA land. Stevens also secured a
$940,000 earmark specically for the skating rink in 2004,
according to the story.
Stevens help to secure federal money for business contacts is atypical. Roll Call
surveyed the senators seated on the 29~member committee about whether any of
their business ties receive federal dollars:
Of the l9 Senate Appropriations Committee members whose
offices responded to requests for comment, out of 29 on the
committee, Stevens was one of only two members who
disclosed a direct business relationship between themselves or
their spouses and an entity that receives federal funds and
was the only member of the powerful committee who has such a
relationship himself.
Stevens is already in trouble with federal investigators for allowing an oil
services company to oversee the renovation of his home in Alaska. He was
quoted yesterday by the Associated Press saying the probe "could cause me
some trouble."
Permalink | Comments 0! [ TOPICS: Ted Stevens
1 l
t
L
iv
r
15 0f38 8/3/2007 5 14 PM1
5
=tStevens:
Investigation "Could
Cause Me Some
Trouble"
By Laura McGann - July 9, 2007, 3:45 PM
Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! told the
Associated Press that the ongoing
federal probe into his dealings with oil
services company Veco could have
ramications at the polls:
"The worst thing about thisFBI Stevens861
TPMmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives ' http://ww¬pn1rnuckraker.com/archives/oats/'ted_stevens/
tigation nge your life in terms of
5en.Ted Stevens MK! 0-'!DCFlX¢<>m! employment potential," Stevens
said in an inten/iew with The
Associated Press. "It doesn't matter what anyone says, it does
shake you up. If this is still hanging around a year om
November, it could cause me some trouble."
Stevens also commented on his home remodeling project overseen by Veco
that's reportedly of interest to investigators:
Tm working to get this concept out of my mind that someone is
trying to make something illegal out of all this, That's what's
really disturbing."
While Stevens was in Washington, Veco executives made sure his house was
safely ratcheted off the ground and a new rst story slipped in.
Permalink I Comments 5! ] TOPlCS:Ted Stevens :Veco
Kenai River Classic:
Where Politicians
And CEOs G0
Fishing
By Laura McGann - July 9, 2007, 3:23 PM
This weekend the annual Kenai River
Classic brought together members of
Congress, like Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK!, and heads of major defense
companies to help raise $1 million for
Alaska salmon habitat preservation.
The 200 or so participants who each
contributed at least $4,006! were
shown a good time. They shed the
Kenai River for giant king salmon
where a hospitality boat handed out
bloody matys and cigars and they
wined and dined along the riverfront.
The Anchorage Daily News has two
great photos you can see here.
The annual event has gone on for 14
years, drawing major corporations as
donors, including Lockheed Martin,
Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Boeing and the heavily-investigated BAEi Systems.
But some locals have piped up about the invitational, saying it does more harm
than good. This year, the Kenai Area Fisherman's Coalition took out an
opposition ad in the print edition of the local paper to complain about the
environmental and community damage caused by the event. You can see the FBI - SijeVen5-862
print ad here The group, which includes 10 sh biologists, calls the message of
the fundraiser disingenuous, arguing that the money ends up promoting
non~sustainable growth along the river, ultimately hurting the habitat. The
alliance is also rallying against the murky politicking taking place.
"People get seduced by were helping save the river," said Ken Tarbox, who is a
member of'sherman's group. "Lockheed Maitin doesn't care about this river. A
lot of people in the community here would not support this if they knew what
was going on."
Tarbox, and others, have said what is really going on is favor swapping. The ad
highlights what Stevens said at the 2002 River Classic, as captured by the
Anchorage Daily News:
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"We invite people we think can afford to put a contribution into
the till, [Stevens] said, "and people they want to meet."
By we, Stevens likely meant his co-host Bob Penney and himself. Penney is a
longtime campaign contributor who co-owns a racehorse with the senator and
has brought Stevens in on at least one incredibleland deal. Penney also testied
before a grand jury as part of the ongoing and expanding federal probe of Sen.
Stevens and Republican state lawmakers.
Permalink | Comments 8! ITOFICS: Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens Hires Ollie North's Lawyer
By Laura McGann -Juty 2, 2007, 6:16 PM
Taking his lead from Oliver North, Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! has hired Brendan
V. Sullivan, Washington's most expensive and most powerful lawyer, The
Washingtonian reports.
The move makes it look like Stevens isn't taking any chances in the ongoing
federal probe into his dealings with Alaska oil services company Veco Corp.
Sullivan is used to going to bat for heavy weight defendants, including North,
fonner HUD Seeretarylienry Cisneros, who pied guilty to a single
misdeamenor at the end of a $9 million probe, and four FBI agents involved in
the 1992 Ruby Ridge shootout.
Permalink | Comments ! |TOPlCS: Ted Stevens
Retired Fisherman
Spoke With FBI
About Stevenses
By Laura McGann -June 25, 2007, 6:17
PM
While former state Senate President
Ben Stevens R-AK! headed a seafood
grant board that his father, Sen. Ted
Stevens R-AK! funded with millions
in federal dollars, the younger Stevens
took in thousands of dollars in
consulting fees from the very
companies that won the allocations. At
least some of those fees, one retired
Alaska sherman has said under oath,
were veiled bribes.
The sherman, Victor Smith, spoke
with the FBI in Seattle last year, just
before a grand jury in Alaska issued at
least three sheries subpoenas. Smith
said the agents wanted information on how the Stevenses were connected to the
shery scandal that he and others have complained and written about for years.
"They were mainly interested in payments to Ben Stevens and anything I had FBI ' Stevens863
related to Ted Stevens," Smith told me.
In a signed affidavit available here!, Smith recounts a meeting between two
afliated shery associations where the head of one group elded a question
from a member. The member wanted to know how Ben Stevens would be paid
$500,000 now that his father had gotten $53 million for a project that would
benet the industry. According to Smith's afdavit:
* The reply from Zuanich was Im condent that, with a little
convoluted accounting, we can keep the payments to Ben
Stevens off of PSVOAs books.
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Since 2001, the younger Stevens has pulled in upwards of$775,435 in
consulting fees, according to theducliomge Dni.{vNew.-r. Though, the Alaska
Public Offices Commission recently ned Stevens $5,630 for failing to disclose
$480,000 in payments he received from various companies. The complaint
against Stevens was led by former Alaska state representative Ray Metcalfe
who has followed Stevens relationship with the sheries for years. Metcalfe
estimates that Stevens has been paid at least $904,000 in fees by sheries
between 2000 and 2005. Smith's affidavit was included in the complaint.
Stevens was already roped into the ongoing federal investigation in Alaska
when an executive at oil services company Veco Corp. pied guilty in May to
bribing him with $240,000. His father is also under investigation for his
dealings with Veco as well, including for having his home remodeled under the
company's oversight.
Permallnk Comments 2! [TOPlCS' Ted Stevens
More Reasons For A
Far Away Stevens
; ,1, Investigation
5 By Laura McGann -June 26, 2007, 2:09
. PM
t We noted last week that a Washington,
J , DC grand jury -- rather than one in
t Anchorage -is investigating Sen. Ted
~ Stevens R-AK! shifty involvement
with oil services company Veco Corp.
Today the/inchorage Daily News
offers more fodder for why federal
investigators would want to set up shop
so far from home.
The story is about the headache
prosecutors are nursing in selecting a
jury for the trial of former state Rep.
Tom Andseron R-AK!. Anderson is charged with taking $24,000 in bribes
from a company hoping to build a number of private prisons in Alaska. Though
the case is not directly tied to the Veco scandal, Anderson was a Veco
consultant while in office.
Prosecutors are hitting two problems with potential jurors that cut in opposite
directions: their apparent low regard for local politicians and the inevitable ties
within a small community. Here's what two rejected jury candidates had to say
about Anderson:
"1ve already made up my mind," Donald Bums of Soldotna told
aU.S. District Court judge on Monday. Burns, wearing a
T-shirt and a baseball cap, said he listens to talk radio, watches
TV news and reads two newspapers. "l hope they hang him, he
said.
When longtime Anchorage resident Hannah Davis heard about
the charges against Anderson, her reaction was, "Oh no, not
another one," she told the judge. Too oen, people in power,
from Anchorage to Washington, D.C., use their positions for
personal gain, she said.
As for community ties, one potential juror said she had gone on a date with
Anderson and said she found the accusations "kind of unbelievable."
How a potential jury would receive Stevens if he were ever on trial is hard to
say. Stevens has been in ofce since 1968 and is an Alaska icon, bringing his
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l9 of38state millions in federal dollars. His re-election campaign has already raked in
$1 million and no viable competitor has stepped up to the plate. But some in the
state have called him less popular and morevulnerable than in past elections.
However a jury might cut for Stevens, it's clear that a prosecutor won't nd 12
Alaskans who've never heard of him.
Pemtalink | Comments 2! ITOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
Fisheries Netted
In Federal Alaska
Probe
By Laura McGann - June 22, 2007,
6:00 PM
Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! had his
son, former state Senate President
Ben Stevens, head a board that
distributed $12 million in federal
grants to promote seafood
companies that, at the same time,
paid the younger Stevens upward
of $775,000 in "consulting fees."
This arrangement has caught the
FBI's attention. Last fall, at least
Aiaska gate §é6_B~enSwvens R three Sl16Xl¬S were issued grand Jury subpoenas to hand over
documents related to the lobbying
and consulting work provided by the younger Stevens and a former aide to Sen.
Stevens, Trevor McCabe. The subpoenas also sought any documents connected
to the older Stevens. Two of the companies are based in Seattle, and another is
in Juneau.
Since 2001, companies in the industry have paid Stevens upwards of $775,435
in "consulting fees," the Anchorage Daily News has reported, for work that
Stevens has never publicly explained. Others have said Stevens has pulled in
even more fees. The Alaska Public Offices Commission recently ned Stevens
$5,630 for failing to disclose $480,000 in payments he received from various
companies. The complaint pdf! against Stevens was led by former Alaska
state representative Ray Metcalfe who has followed Stevens relationship with
the sheries for years. Metcalfe estimates that Stevens has been paid at least
$904,000 in fees by sheries between 2000 and 2005.
Stevens anangement with the seafood industry is strikingly similar to his setup
with the oil services company, Veco. Former chief executive ofVeco plcd guilty
just a few weeks ago to bribery charges, including paying Stevens $240,000 in
"consulting fees" as a bribe for favorable legislation. The media focus on the
probe in Alaska has so far been on Veco, but it looks like there is plenty of
shery work for the grand jury to investigate.
Permalink lcomments 4! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
Stevens Friend That
Business Partner
By Laura McGann - June 21, 2007, 6:17
PM
Anchorage real estate developer Bob
Penney, who testified before a grand
jury about the bribery scandal in
Alaska, is good to his friend Sen. Ted
Stevens R-AK!.
So good that he brought Stevens in on a
real estate deal that fetched the seniorTestied Is Also FBI - Stevens-865
8/3/2007 5 14 PM
TPMrnucl<Iaker Ted Stevens Archrves ' hp://wxxtpmmuclqaker com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
s estment in just ve years. The
investment, reported by The Anchorage
Daily News in 2004, sheds some light
on the nancial ties between the two
via Nexis!:
Penney said he and his business partners invited Stevens to join
them in "appreciation for all he's done for Alaska and the
country. We respect him very, very much.
The group of investors purchased a 96-acre plot 30 miles outside of Salt Lake
City, Utah in a. growing area with a plan to sell off individual pieces over the
course often years. Stevens $15,000 ballooned to at least $100,000 and
possibly as much as $250,000.
The real estate deal is not the only nancial endeavor between the two. Penney
is also pan of a group of investors called Alaska's Great Eagle a nod to Stevens
days as a pilot in WWII! who bought a race horse with the senator and former
chief executive of V eco, Bill Alien.
While Veco oversaw the renovation of Stevens Girdwood, Alaska home, the
horse's manager, Bob Persons checked in on the remodeling project while
Stevens was in Washington.
Persons was ordered by the Washington grand jury to produce
documents going back more than eight years, including all
letters, e-mails and other documents involving Ted, his wife,
Catherine, or Ben Stevens. Specically mentioned were records
about a race horse partnership, Alaska's Great Eagle, he
manages for Ted Stevens, Allen, Allen's son Mark, Penney and
others.
So far, the main focus of the Stevens investigation has focused on the Veco
remodeling project.
Permallnk I Comments 2! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
Veco Gives, But What
Does It Receive?
By Laura McGann -June 19, 2007, 7:04 PM
Over the course of the federal probe in
Alaska, it's become clear that oil services
company Veco dabbled in shady dealings --
some connected to Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK!
and his son Ben, a former state senator. Two
top executives, who've pied guilty to bribing
. state lawmakers, have also played general
contractor for Sen. Stevens and doled out
$240,000 in "consulting" fees to his son. Veco has contributed more than
$70,000 to Stevens campaigns over the years making the company his second
largest donor!, and $25,000 more to his political action committee. FBI ' Stevens866
But what has Veco fetched in return?
As easy as it has been to document Alaska lawmakers who've fed their
campaign funds and lined their pockets with Veco money, it's less obvious how
the company has directly beneted in return. Here's a glimpse at what Sen.
Stevens has done directly for the company. Back in 2003 The Los Angeles
T imes ran a story about family ties amongst lawmakers and corporations via
Nexis!:
VECO had helped build a$70-million pipeline for Pakistan, but
the government was slow to pay. As it happened, Pakistan
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desperately needed congressional help on a trade issue, and Ted
Stevens was positioned to block the necessary legislation.
Before long, Pakistan's representatives in Washington
concluded that their trade bill would go nowhere until Pakistan
settled with VECO and its partners. Pakistan agreed to
arbitration. The bill sailed through.
Other clear cut examples aren't so easy to come by, but generally speaking Veco
has done well for itself securing federal contracts. The company has won
National Science Foundation contracts twice. One contract from 2005 was
worth $100 millionto provide" Arctic research support and logistics services in
Alaska, Greenland, the North Pole, Canada, Russia and other Arctic locations."
The company has also disclosed other lucrative-looking contracts, though the
exact values are unknown.
The question is: I-low many of those contracts received the helping hand of Sen.
Stevens?
Pennalink 1 Comments 4! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
AP: FBI Questions
Former Stevens
Aides
By Paul Kiel -June 19, 2007, 5:12 PM
And the federal investigation into Sen.
Ted Stevens R»AK! continues to gain
steam:
Former Capitol Hill aides to
Sen. Ted Stevens are being
questioned by the FBI as part
of an investigation into the
senator's relationship with a
wealthy contractor.
A lawyer close to the case,
speaking on condition of
anonymity because the
investigation is still under way,
conrmed the FBI had recently
questioned former Stevens
aides about Bill Allen, a contractor who has pleaded guilty to
bribing Alaska legislators.
Permallnk I Comments ! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens Friend
Testified Before
Grand Jury
By Laura McGann - June 19, 2007, 1:59
PMFBI Stevens867
If you're a CEO looking to help
preserve sh habitats and catch a 60
pound salmon in one weekend, Bob
Penney is your man.
He is also old friends with Sen. Ted
Stevens R-AK!. TheAncIzorage Daily
News reported this weekend that
Penney testified before a grand jury in
Alaska a few weeks ago as part of the
ongoing federal inquiry into conuption
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, r
Penney is a esh face in the probe that
~ V - ~ - has grabbed Stevens, and had already
touched the senator's son, Ben Stevens;
several other state lawmakers; and two top oil services executives at Veco, both
of whom have pled guilty to federal C !lTl.lplIl0[1 charges.
The longtime Alaskan entrepreneur is known for founding the Ted Stevens
Kenai River Classic over ten years ago to help protect the sports-shing river
that is home to a wild salmon run. The weekend event now draws politicians
from as far away as Washington and executives from donors like Veco,
Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Shell.
Here is a description of the 2002 toumament from theinchorage Daily News
via Nexis!:
Ashore, people owed around Bob Penney's big riverfront
house Monday evening, headed for the broad expanse of paved
driveway that runs down to it. There, anking a sound system,
stood a couple of hefty trophies topped with berglass king
salmon. The opening ceremony of the ninth annual Kenai River
Classic was about to occur.
In the river of people were United States senators, the secretary
of labor, the govemor, most of the hierarchy of the Department
of Fish and Game, a couple of state legislators, the mayor of
Anchorage, thepresident of the Kenai Peninsula Borough
Assembly, the president of the University of Alaska, a
so-spoken former astronaut, a retired famous college
basketball coach, a few entertainers, a writer with a new book
about Alaska and executives from many, many companies.
They constituted, as they do every year, the greatest
concentration of political and economic power in Alaska.
Though officially meant to raise money to preserve the river, Stevens breaks
down what the event is really meant to do:
"We invite people we think can afford to put a contribution into
the till," [Stevens] said, "and people they want to meet."
Many of those in his audience had paid $6,000 for themselves
and a guest to attend. Along with corporate sponsorships -- the
opening dinner was put on by Alaska Communications System
and Veeo -- and the proceeds from an auction, the fees meant
the tournament could gross $1 million, as last year's did.
Penney declined to tell the/inchorage Daily Ncwswhat he said in his
testimony. So far he has no obvious ties to Stevens infamous home remodeling
project, which has caught the FBl's eye.
FBI Stevens868
Pormalink l Comments 7! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
. " . ; _ 2nd Strain of Probe92 .. ',g ~ » V -. .,A Proceeds Far from e-5 e ,.92 .
__.."-~ - ,_ _ »sr , ,, . Stevens Sway5 *~ By Paul Kiel - June 19, 2007, 12:29 PM
P J t As theAnclzorag.e Daily News
K, ,- ' reported yesterday, a federal grand,p jury has been investigating Sen. Ted Stevens R~AK! ties to the corrupti_ __W_7__ '5; M p____ Alaskan oil company, Veco. Both the
22 of 38 8/3/2007 5:14 PM
t led guilty to corruption charges.
But just as surprising as the fact of the
investigation is the location of it: far
away from Alaska, in Washington,
D.C.
The heavy lifting in the probe so far has
been done by a grand jury in
Anchorage, Alaska. That investigation has resulted in a number of guilty pleas
by executives and indictments of state lawmakers.
But the existence of the second grand jury raises the question of why
prosecutors split the investigation. ADNwent to the experts and came up with a
number of theories:
Legal experts in corruption cases said that while its unusual for
prosecutors to use grand juries in separate jurisdictions in an
investigation, they may have sound reasons. The experts also
cautioned that even though prosecutors may be presenting
evidence to a grand jury, that doesn't mean crimes have been
committed.
Paul Butler, a law professor at George Washington University
and a former federal attomey who prosecuted a U.S. senator and
several FBI agents, said it could simply be a matter of
convenience for witnesses.
Jules Epstein, a law professor at the Widener University School
of Law in Wilmington, Del., and a criminal defense lawyer,
said the grand juries could be investigating separate, unlinked
crimes.
Peter I-Ienning, a law professor at Wayne State University in
Detroit, said prosecutors might bring a case against a popular
elected official in Washington to avoid being "home-courted."
Given that witnesses in the probe have been ying out from Alaska to testiiy, I
think it's fair to discount the "convenience" explanation.
But that prosecutors might have chosen D.C. as the venue to make their case
against Stevens =~ and perhaps his son, Ben, a former state senator, who's been
implicated in charging documents -- makes a whole lot of sense. There's simply
not a more powerful gure in Alaska or perhaps in the history of Alaskan
politics! than Sen. Stevens, who's served in the Senate since 1968, and who
even, back in-1958, played a role in shepherding Alaska to statehood while
working at the Interior Department.
By bringing their case in D.C., prosecutors avoided the task of making their case
in Stevens backyard, where the vestiges of his power are everywhere. As the
senior senator from the state, Stevens has traditionally even been responsible for
tapping candidates for the local U.S. attorney spot - though the Justice
Department notablyovcrrulcd the senator when appointing a replacement last
September.
Prosecutors also avoid having to convince a jury full of Alaskans who grew up
surrounded by landmarks named after Stevens, who's responsible for bringing
back tens of billions of dollars to the state over the past forty years.
One of the lawyers involved in the case certainly thought that's what prosecutors
are up to:
Penney's attomey, Bruce Gagnon, said of [Alaska businessman
Bob] Penneys appearance before the grand jury: "I think you
know as well as I do what they're interested in." Asked whether
that was Ted Stevens and Ben Stevens, Gagnon said, "Yeah,TPMmuckraker Ted Stevens Archives http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted__stcvcns/
FBI Stevens869
8/3/2007 5 14 PM
TPMmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives http://wvatpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted__stevens/
24 of38yeah."
"And why are they going off in Washington, D.C., as well as
here?" Gagnon wondered out loud. "It may well he because they
want to try this case back there."
Permaltnk | Comments 4! I TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Paper: Grand Jury
Examines Stevens Ties
to Oil Co
By Paul Kiel - June 18, 2007, 9:35 AM
From the/lnchamge Daily News:
A federal grand jury in Washington,
D.C., heard evidence last month 1
e about the expansion of U.S. Sen. Ted
Stevens Girdwood home in 2000 and
other matters connecting Stevens to the oil services company
Veco Inc....
The existence of the Washington grand jury investigation is the
strongest indication to date that Stevens himself has become a
subject of the wide-ranging federal probe that surfaced with
FBI raids on state legislative ofces last August. Fonner State
Sen. Ben Stevens, Ted Stevens son, was among the legislators
whose offices were searched. Ben Stevens has denied
wrongdoing.
Earlier this month, Sen. Stevens adnrittedthat the FBI has asked him to
preserve records relevant to his ties to Veco.
*i°fi i'liE.!£°L IZE"$ ""*,l_T9"Li,"iT?F_psp°"°"= " °° T
Stevens Asks For
Extension To File
Financial Disclosure
Forms
By Laura MeGann - June 15, 2007, 10:48 AM
Sen. Ted Stevens is following in the footsteps
of Rep. John T. Doolittle R-CA! and Sen.
Robert Menendez D-NJ!, who are both under
federal investigation, by asking for a review
of his nancial records from last year,
allowing him to put off ling his ofcial disclosure forms.
The forms were due to the Senate Ethics Committee by May 15, but Stevens _ _were not among them . The IVashington Post and McClatchy report that the FBI Stevens 870
request for a review could be a sign that Stevens is in trouble with the law. From
McClatchy:
Ethics reviews of lawmakers nancial reports are unusual
unless they are under a legal cloud. A source close to Stevens
office said he has requested such reviews before, although this
is the rst time it has delayed the report's release.
Last week Stevens admittedthat the FBI has asked him to hold on to
documents they may want to review as part of its ongoing probe into a
corruption scandal in the state. His son, former Alaska State Senate President
l
8/3/2007 5:14 PM
_, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii A _ S,
TPMrnuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives http://wwatpmmuckraker com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
25 of38Ben Stevens has already been snared by the investigation. The head of a local
oil services company, Veco Corp., pled guilty to conspiracy and bribery charges,
implicating the younger Stevens in receiving some $240,000 in illegitimate
consulting fees.
The Washington Post points out who else has asked for a ling extension:
Nearly 80 lawmakers received extensions for their nancial
disclosures, which are required by federal law. Knowingly
ling false disclosure forms is a federal crime. Prosecutors have
aggressively pursued apparent violations in recent corruption
investigations on Capitol Hill, including those of former
congressmen Randy "Duke" Cunningham R-Calif.! and Robert
W. Ney R-Qhio!, both of whom are now in prison.
Other lawmakers who have faced nancial scrutiny and
received extensions include Sen. Robert Menendez D-N.J.!,
who is under federal investigation for renting property to a
nonprot organization while also pushing for federal grants for
the nonprot, and Rep. John T. Doolittle R-Calif.!, who is
under investigation for his wife's rm doing unspecied work
for imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff while her husband
performed legislative favors for him.
Permalink l Comments ! I TOPICS: Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens Admits
Involvement In FBI
Probe
By.Laura MoGann - June 7, 2007, 11:24 AM Sen.
Ted Stevens R-AK! has admitted he is
involved in the FBIs probe into Alaska
lawmakers dealings with oil services
company Veco Corp. In an interview with the
Waslzingron Post, tight~lipped Stevens said
, . he is getting ready to hand over documents to
investigators.
"They put me on notice to preserve some records," Stevens said
in a brief interview about his legal team's discussions with the
FBI. He declined to say what kinds of records were involved
i but connned that he had hired lawyers and that his son, former
state Senate president Ben Stevens, "is also under
investigation.
Its no surprise that the FBI has asked Stevens for records now that his home
remodeiing job overseen by Veco has caught investigators eye. But this does
appear to be Stevens rst ofcial public comment about the federal probe.
Stevens acknowledgment that his son in under investigation firms up what the
press pieced together in May. Former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens
was identied by the press as state senator B described in the guilty pleas oftwo former Veco executives. The Veco executives admitted to giving Stevens FBI ' Ste/en5'871
about $240,000 in consulting fees that required no work in exchange for
political favors. Stevens was the only lawmaker to t the description. Permalinu
Comments 0! I TOPICS: Ted Stevens :Veoo VT
Alaska Lawmakers: Kohring, Get Out
By Laura McGann -June 5, zour, 11:51 AM Alaska state lawmakers have had it
with one of their own. Two Republican leaders in the Alaska legislature
cononted Rep. Vic Kohring R-AK! in his home to push him to resign instead
of dragging them all down. Kohring has been indicted as part of the wide
federal probe into Alaska politicians dealings with oil services company Veco
Corp. The Anchorage Daily News reports:
8/3/2007 5 14 PM
_ :t_.A. __._ . _
Prosecutors have accused Kohring, a Republican, of selling his
vote on the state petroleum tax last year to the Anchorage oil
eld services company Veco Corp. Kohring and two former
legislators also under indictment have pleaded not guilty. Veco
executives Bill Allen and Rick Smith pleaded guilty to
conspiracy, bribery and tax charges. Allen and Smith have since
resigned from Veco.
The probe has brushed Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK!, whose house got a makeover
seven years ago under Veco's direction. The senator's son, former Alaska Senate
President Ben Stevens, has also been tied to the investigation by local press
who concluded he was one of the lawmakers to take cash from Veco executives
who recently pled guilty to federal bribery and conspiracy chargessermalink I
Comments ! |TOPlCS: Ted Stevens : Veco
Stevens Contractor
Hires a Lawyer, Opts To
Keep Quiet
By Laura McGann -June 4, 2007, 9:39 AM An
Almka contractor, Augie Paone, painted
most of the picture we have of how a major
state oil services company oversaw the
renovation of Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK!
house. After giving a few interviews last
. . week, Paone has hired a lawyer and will no
longer comment publicly. I spoke with
Paones wife on the phone yesterday who said the family would not release the
|awyers name. The lawyer has advised them to stay quiet, she said. It's too bad
the Paones felt the need to lawyer up, though its probably not that surprising. In
an interview with the Arrclromge Daily News, Paone said he was
uncomf'ortable" with taking the renovation contract initially because he had not
provided an estimate to Veco Corp., the company that handled the job for
Stevens while the senator was in Washington:
"I didn't suspect anything, but I just wanted to make sure," he
said. "When you work with a house of a legislator or a senator,
you make sure you hold on to all the billings, just in case
something happens."
That was a good move. The job has piqued federal investigators interest as part
of a broad investigation into public corruption in Alaska. Six months ago the
FBI asked Paone for records and invoices from the job. He also testied before
a grand jury. Paone said he had done work for Veco Corp.s offices and for a
company executive before they offered hinl the work on Stevens home seven
years ago. He charged normal rates, but saw the job as a favor - a favor he
couldnt decline to offer- rather than a typical contract:
Bill Allen Veco CEO! and some of the Veco boys, some of
the Veco guys, were the ones that approached me and wanted to
know if I could give them a hand," Paone said. I did it more as
a favor, you know. It's one of those things when somebody is FBI _ SteVenS_872
the head, and packs that much power and asks you for a favor,
it's kind of hard to say no."
Allen pled guilty to bribing ve state legislators last month in a classic
cash~for-votes scheme. One of the charges stems from a meet-up between State
Rep. Pete Kort in a hotel suite where Kott complained about having to cheat,
steal, beg, borrow and lie, to ensure government-backing of a pipeline valuable
to Veco. In response to the legislators complaints, Allen said: I own your ass.
Sounds like Allen would take a no thank you well. Permalintq Comments 8!|
TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
Vecos Adventures inTPMmuckraLer Ted Stevens Archives . http2//w%tpn"n"nucl<ralcer.com/archives/cats/'ted_stevensl
8/3/2007 5:14 PM
- '_ A:
Sub-Contracting
By Laura McGann - May 31, 2007, 6:18 PM As
we reported a couple of days ago, the federal
investigation into a bribery scheme centering
on one of Alaska's biggest oil scnrices
companies has crossed paths with Senator
Ted Stevens R-AK!. And Stevens problems
seem to come down to some highly creative
' methods Stevens used to remodel his Alaska
home. According to contractor Augie Paone, it all started when a group of
unnamed "friends" got together to renovate the senator's house as a weekend
project. The group of friends ended up being unable to pull it off But in the
groups defense, the job was pretty ambitious. The plan was to ratchet the
one-story house off is foundation, build a new rst floor and then place the old
rst oor on top of the new rst oor. Unfortunately for the do-it-yourselfers,
they ran into a few problems. Thats when the local contractor, Paone, came into
the picture. Paone has provided most of the sordid details in this story, since
none of the other players are talking. According to Paone, it wasnt Stevens who
sought him out to x the mangled construction, but oil company Veco Corp. It's
not clear how involved Veco had been in the do-it-yourself phase of the
remodeling. But Paone says Veco was in charge when he came on board. Veco
hired Paone and and collected and reviewed the $100,000 worth of invoices he
submitted as the project progressed. Paone would then receive payments signed
by Stevens -- checks which according to Faone appeared to come from a special
account created for the renovation. Paone says he didnt know Stevens before
working on the house and dealt with Veco during the project. He told a local
television station he doesnt think the arrangement raises any red ags.
"The senator doesn't know me, so some of the people I had
contacts with were more familiar with the senator, so they kind
of took over his interests and they kind of oven/iewed the
billings. After they saw them, it was just faxed over to the
senator and the senator a few days laterjust mailed me a
check," Paone said.
I-leres the straightforward arrangement: oil company decides to remodel
senator's house, oil company nds contractor, contractor creates new rst oor
in senator's house, contractor sends invoices to oil company, oil company
reviews bills, oil company faxes bills to senior senator, senior senator pulls cash
from a special account set up specically for the construction and pays
contractor, senior senator never speaks to contractor. The arrangement looks
fairly questionable on its face. And it looks even more questionable when you
take Veco's track record into account. The person from Veco who hired Paone
was Veco CEO Bill Allen. Allen happens to have just pied guilty this month to
federal conspiracy and bribery charges for giving things of value to local
lawmakers. in a court document accompanying his guilty plea, the Anchorage
Daily News noticed a seemingly irrelevant description of what the company did
not do while he was in charge: "Veco was not in the business of residential
construction or remodeling." So far Stevens has refused to explain the
arrangement. But it has piqued the FBIs interest and investigators are looking
into it. Paone says the FBI interviewed him about six months ago and that he
testicd before a grand jury in December. In response to questions about the
remodeling, Stevens spokesman sent me a statement saying the senator is not
<:0mmenting.PermaIink | Comments 8! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
' l" lSen. Stevens Denies Sear ch of Home and
Ofce
By Laura McGann - May 31, 2007, 4:15 PM What did the FBI search in the tiny
Alaska town of Girdwood last summer? The mystery continues.
I~ 7 7 ____ _ : ____ e 4TPMmuckrakcr: Ted Stevens Archives . http://w92%tpmmucl<;raker.com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
FBI - Stevens873
27 of 38 3/3/2007 5 14 PM
TPl92/lmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives
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28 of38 8/3/2007 5 14 PM4" e .r ->l '3-,;~ ,_92.-92__ 7...- ..a
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A spokesman for Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! told me today it wasnt his boss
home or ofcc -- two favored guesses. Stevens has been tightlipped in the FBIs
broad probe into oil company Veco Corp.s dealings with Alaska state and
federal lawmakers. But today his ofce opened up slightly. Stevens spokesman
Aaron Saunders denied a raid of Stevens home or ofce and sent me a copy of
this local television story with the following portions underlined:
The FBI will not comment on whether Sen. Stevens is being
investigated. But when the agency served search warrants on
lawmaker's ofce last August, one search warrant was served in
Girdwood. Agents said it wasn't at the senator's home or ofce,
but they won't say where.
'Iheres not much else in Girdwood. Any guesses? Permallnkl Comments 2! |
TOPICS: Tod Stevens: Veco
Stevens Not A Target,
Investigation Still a
Problem
By Laura McGann - May 30, 2007, 2:22 PM
Yesterday we talked about how Sen. Ted
Stevens R-AK! home improvement project
has piqued the interest of federal
investigators. A local oil companys
involvement in hiring one of the contractors
who built the new level to Stevens
single-story home -- undemeath the existing
ground oor- seems to be the questionable part. The92ssociated Press
followed up today on the story by adding that two sources close to the
investigation said Stevens was not considered a target of the investigation.
That won't comfort Sen. Stevens. The careilly-crafted language "I'm not a
target" has been peddled by other politicians tied to investigations, like former
Sen. Conrad Burns R-MT! and Rep. John Doolittle R-CA!. The phrase
makes the politician sound practically exhonerated, when really, prosecutors
tend to wait to send out a target letter until shortly before an indictment is
issued. Feel like pleading guilty? Now's your chance.! Fomier number two at'. http://wwtpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted_stevens/
FBI - Stevens874
TPMmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives . http:/lwwatpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted__stevens/
ther1Senate President Ben Stevens, one of Ted Stevens sons.
The FBI said at the time that it also had executed a search
warrant in Girdwood, among other places, although the location
of that search has never been officially disclosed.
The FBI hasnt said what it searched, but the list of possibilities isnt very long.
Take a look at amap of Girdwood, population 2,000:
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Permaiink | Comments 7! I TOPICS: Ted Stevens :Veco iA Extreme Makeover:
Veco Edition
By Laura McGann - May 29, 2007, 12:24 PM Sen.
Ted Stevens R-AK! jacked his house off the
ground, inserted a new rst story and placed
the old rst floor on top, thanks to the help of
a top executive at local oil company Veco
Corp. who hired at least one key contractor to
complete the feat of a job. Veco is entwined
in a broad federal investigation that has led to
the indictment of four current and former
Alaska politicians and ensnared former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens,
son of Ted Stevens. Local press concluded that Stevens was state "Senator B,"
listed in the charging documents of two former Veco Corp. executives who pied
guilty to federal bribery and conspiracy charges, saying they gave the younger
Stevens $242,000 in illegitimate consulting fees. Neither Stevens has been
charged with a crime. lts unclear how the senior Stevens home doubling is
connected to the broader investigation, but the Feds are now eyeing the
construction job according to the Anchorage Daily News , which noticed a line
in the Veco executives plea bargains that could link the senator to the probe:
The sentence, preceded by a listing of a dozen Vcco-related
enterprises around the world, said: "Veco was not in the
business of residential constnrction or remodeling."
it/taybe they dabbled. Permalink| Comments ea! iromcs: Ted Stevens :Veco FBI - SYEVEHS-875
A Guilty Plea Hat Trick For Alaska
By Laura McGann - May 16, 2007, 4:45 PM A third corruption guilty plea since last
week came out of Alaska yesterday. This time, prominent lobbyist Bill Bobrick
owned up to a conspiracy to bribe former state Rep. Tom Anderson, who
himself was indicted on seven felony counts of bribery, extortion and money
laundering in December. Last week, top executives atone ofBobricks client
companies, VECO Corp., pied guilty to charges of bribing three state
representatives and two senators. The Anchorage Dniiy News had the story on
Bobrick this moming.
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1
The prosecution says in court papers that Bobrick and Anderson
began conspiring in July 2004. Bobrick created a sham
company to mnel payments to Anderson in exchange for his
doing the bidding of a private corrections company in the state
Legislature, the prosecution says. Prosecutors quote Bobrick
telling an informant that he and Anderson were "pitching a
bunch ofpeople to get money for the legislator.
Permalink I Comments ! ]TOPlC$: Ted Stevens :Vec0
Another Bridge,
Another Part of
Nowhere
By Laura McGann - May 14, 2007, 12:15 PM
When your bid to build a bridge to nowhere
is shut down, try to get federal funding for
another bridge, to a different part of nowhere
- where your friends own property. John
Stanton of Roll Call wrote a great story
, , Sub. Req.! that parses out the likely
motivations for the Alaska Congressional
delegations work over the last few months to snag federal cash for a bridge to
connect an area where no one lives to Anchorage. Why bother to invest in
infrastructure to nowhere? Well, it could make the remote area, called Knik
Arm, a major suburb, but more importantly, folks with familial and political
ties to Republican Rep. Don Young and Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski
would prot:
If the area is successfully developed, that could mean a
signicant windfall for a number of people close to the
Congressional delegation including Youngs daughter, Joni,
Stevens chief of staff and campaign manager and Murkowskis
state director - some of whom purchased land in the area just a
few months before then-Transportation and Infrastructure
Chairman Young began substantive work on a massive highway
bill in early 2003.
Here's more from Roll Call:
According to land records compiled by the Matanuska-Susitna
Borough, Senate nancial disclosure forms and published
accounts, Stevens current Chief of Staff George Lowe owns a
2.6 acre parcel of undeveloped land on the Knik Am1, which he
purchased in December 2004 from the Alaska Mental Health
Trust Authority, according to a copy of the deed. Former
Stevens aide Lisa Sutherland also stands to see signicant
nancial gain 'om the development of Knik Arm. Sutherland, a
close condante of Stevens, worked for the lawmaker from
1977 until this March in a variety of capacities, including
deputy staff director on the Appropriations Committee and then
staff director on the Commerce, Science and Transportation _ _Committee. Sutherland left the Senate payroll in March to work FBI Stevens 876
full time on Stevens re-election campaign.
Permalink l Comments 4! | TOP|C$: Ted Stevens
Vecoz A Mucky Force
in Alaska Politics
By Laura McGann - May 8, 2007, 6:24 PM
Veco Corp., the oil company at the center
of abribeiy scandal involving at least
ve lawmakers has spent the last three
decades establishing itself as a force in Alaska politics. Some 2,000 Alaskans
30 of'38 8/3/Z007 5:14 PM
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Ir
work for the company that cleaned up after the Exxon-Valdez catastrophe and
controls a conservative opinion armof the Anchorage Daily News. And, for
lawmakers at the state and federal level, Veco is a major source of campaign
nancing. Two Veeo heads, Bill J. Allen and Richard L. Smithpled guilty
yesterday to bribery charges for paying lawmakers for votes, including the
former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens, son of Sen. Ted Stevens.
According to the plea agreement, Veco paid Ben Stevens about $240,000 in
consulting fees that were actually in exchange for political favors. Stevens
lawyer said his client is not guilty of any wrongdoing. Since 1993, Veco says it
has completed about $25 billion worth of projects involving oil rening,
pipeline work and power production. Recently, it created a separate corporate
entity to handlefcderal contracting, to meet the recent growth in the market.
Veco prides itself on honesty, which the company lists as its second priority
behind safety, and just before being a good corporate citizen they are, after
all, engaged in the political process. Permallnkl Comments 0! | TOPICS: Ted
Stevens: Veco'¥-~~¢a - --- ..» »»- »- »-»¢t Ted Stevens Son
s Identied In
Corruption Case
By Laura McGann - May 8, 2007,
12:11 PM Roll Call sub req.! and
the Anchorage Daily News
named Ben Stevens, son of Sen.
Ted Stevens R-AK!, as one of
the unidentied legislators
involved in the 92/ECO
cash-for-favors corruption
scheme. According to charges
led Friday against two top
executives at the oil company,
Stevens company allegedly
received $243,250 for consulting
fees that were in fact for the
purpose of obtaining Stevens!
official support on matters
pending before the Alaska State Legislature. Bens dad, Sen. Stevens, is pals
with one of the executives, Bill J. Allen, who pled guilty to bribery charges
yesterday. The two men belong to a group that bought a race horse named "So
Long Birdie," for a bargain-basement price of$40,000 in 2005.
l
Allen and his wife also have hosted numerous fundraising
events for Stevens, as well as his fellow members of the Alaska
delegation, Sen. Lisa Murkowski R! and Rep. Don Young R!.
A preliminary review of campaign nance records shows Allen
and other executives at VECO have made $206,900 in
campaign contributions to the Alaska delegation, with more
than $72,000 of that total going to Ted Stevens.
Ted Stevens does not seem to be on prosecutors radar screen in the corruption
investigation. Permalink | Comments 3! l TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
Top Veco Execs Plead Guilty To Bribery FBI - Stevens-877
By Laura McGann - May 1, 2001, 4:45 F-M The Anchorage Daily News reports that
top Veco Corp. executives pled guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges in
federal court today, under a deal that could buy them gentler sentences in
exchange for cooperation in an FBI corruption investigation. Bill J. Allen,
Vecos chief executive, and Rick Smith, the companys vice president and chief
lobbyist could sit behind bars for ve to 15 years and shell out up to $250,000
in nes on each count.
In the written charges, prosecutors say Allen and Smith
conspired "to offer and provide things of value to" three state
representatives and two senators, none of them named in the ,
document. Among the specics listed, Allen is accused of
I
I
31 of 38 8/3/2007 5:14 PM
L ____ _.paying a special bonus" of corporate mds to certain Veco
executives so they could make illegal campaign contributions.
The two executives will likely provide important testimony in the cases of three
state legislators charged with extortion and bribery in federal court last week --
and the two anonymous state senators implicated in their guilty pleas. As
reported by Paul on Friday, the indictment alleges a classic cash-for-votes
corruption scheme. One of the legislators, Pete Kott, met with Allen in the
exeeutives hotel suite where he complained about having to cheat, steal, beg,
borrow and lie, to ensure govemment-backing of a pipeline valuable to Veco.
In response to the legislators complaints, Allen said: I own your ass." The
indictment masks the identities of two Alaska state senators, calling them only
by A and B. It's not clear ifAlaska's Senate President Ben Stevens, son ofU.S.
Senator Ted Stevens R-AK!, whose office was raided by the FBI in August, is
one of them. Permalinkl Comments 8! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
Feds Indict Alaska GOPers
By Paul Kiel - May 4, 2007, 6:06 PM I tell you, corruption doesn't get any uglier
than Alaskan corruption. The investigation surrounding VECQ an Alaskan
oil company, has nally borne fruit. Two Republican members of the state
legislature were indicted today, one of them the former speaker of the house.
There's still no word on the fate of former state Sen. Ben Stevens, son of Sen.
Ted Stevens R-AK!, who is also under investigation. Oh, and it's ugly. Pete
Kott and Bruce Weyhrauch are on the hook for trading votes for cash and sweet
jobs, plain and simple. From The Anchorage Daiip News
The indictment says Kott asked executives of the unnamed
company for money and a job after he left the Legislature.
Weyhraueh, an attomey, asked for a job and legal work, the
indictment says. On about Sept. 26, 2005, the indictment says,
Kott called an unnamed company vice president and said, I
need a job. The vice president replied, Youve got a job; get
us a pipeline, the indictment says.... In a meeting on April 18,
2006, Kott told the company executives, Youll get your
pipeline, the govemor gets his bill, and lll get my job in
Barbados ... Kott met with the company executives in their
hotel suite on May 7, the indictment says, and told them he had
tried to defeat an amendment to the oil tax the company didnt
like. l had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie, Kott said,
according to the indictment. The companys chief executive
responded, I own your ass, the indictment says.
These two are among the same group of legislators who took a shine to calling
themselves the "Corrupt Bastards Caucus." No W011 lerPermallnk | Comments
1! | TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
Alaska Finally Closes Bribery Loophole
By Paul Kiel - January s, 2001, 9:45AM Attention Corrupt Bastards, the loophole
is closing:
A group of House Democrats wants to change a state law that
they say allows politicians to sell their votes in exchange forTPMmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives . http://w92$tprnmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted_stevensl
campaign donations. That's right: It's not already a crime under FBI _ St _878state law, according to Anchorage Reps Les Gara and Harry evens
Crawford, who led a bill to close what they call a legal-bribery
loophole.
Permalink | Comments ! 1TOPlCS:Ted Stevens
Dem Still Holding Pork Database Bill
By Paul Kiel - September 7, 2006, 8:20 AM An unknown Democrat is still holding
the Coburn-Obama bill to create a searchable database of federal grants and
contracts, The Hill reports. And that Senator is now the only one holding up the
bill, since Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK!, who had reinstated his earlier hold, has
since changed his mind droppedit. So who's that unknown Senator? We don't
know. And-neither do we know what concern the Senator has -- whether it's
8/3/2007 5:14 PMl
LTPMnmckraker: Ted Stevens Archives . http://wwatpmrnuckraker.com/archives/catslted_stevens/
1c
about the bill's cost, asthe Pork King claimed, or whether it's the speed with
which the bill's been moving forward, as thepork-inclined senior senator from
West Virginia asserted Sure would be good to know, wouldn't it'5errnalink |
TOPICS: Reform: Ted Stevens
W Alaskagate: While
l We Were Out
By Justin Rood ~ September 5,
~ zoos, 12:34 PM Over the long
weekend, more details emerged in
the growing Alaska state
legislature scandal, which has
now involved more than two
dozen search warrants and a
growing posse of federal agents
from around the country, and
includes the IRS as well as the
FBI. The probe has put two
names in the headlines: Ben
Stevens, president of the Alaska
State Senate and son of Sen. Ted
Stevens R-AK!, and VECO
Corp., which has given
generously not only to Alaska
state legislators but to friendly
U.S. lawmakers as well, including Stevens senior. What are the feds
investigating? Investigators appear to have a keen interest in legislation
recently hammered out by Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski R!. Currently
awaiting passage by the state legislature, the deal would pave the way to build a
$21 billion natural gas pipeline to tap the statcs North Slope reserves. VECO
has been a strong supporter of the deal. However, the probeseems to have
expanded - in scope and in size -- past that one deal:Alaslca stateS"en.B en"§tevens,R
"They are alter people paying for votes during the recent oil and
gas special sessions. I think that was fairly transparent," said
political pollster Marc Hellenthal, who said he was interviewed
Friday afternoon by two FBI agents from Sacramento, Calif.
Agents also told him what they are looking for "goes back
longer than that."
The FBI has brought in agents from around the country for the
investigation. The lntemal Revenue Service and other federal
agencies also are involved, Gonzalez said. The investigation has
stretched to past legislators, including former Sen. Robin
Taylor, R-Wrangell, who was interviewed Thursday by FBI
agents. Taylor is now a deputy commissioner in the state
Department of Transportation. "They interviewed him about his
past as a lawmaker and his dealings with Veco," said Will
Vandergriff, deputy press security for Gov. Frank Murkowski.
"He said they are just expanding their net."
What's the Corrupt Bastards C:rucus?It was apparently an inside joke
among a dozen legislators singled out in a March 2006 Anchorage Daily News
op-ed for donations they received from Alaska petro-giant Veco Corp. The
moniker didn't appear in the article. Rather, "Somebody walked up and said,
You corrupt bastards, and that name stuck, Alaska House Finance
Co-Chairman Mike Chenault R! told the Daily News:FBI Stevens879
Hats were even made with the initials CBC on them, but that
was the extent of the CBC deal, Chenault said. . . . House
Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, said he saw [State Reps] Smith
and Kott handing out hats in June during the rst special
session when lawmakers voted down the petroleum tax bill. But
he did not see anything with the Corrupt Bastards Club on it.
They were handing out hats down at the Baranoff Hotel! at
33 of 38 8/3/2007 5:14 PM
TPMmucktal92er Ted Stevens Archrves http://wwwtpnmtuckraker com/archrves/cats/ted_stevens/
the bar down there. All they had was VECO on them, Harris
said. Chenault said he may still have a CBC hat, but he cant
recall.
Permalink | TOPICS: Ted Stevens : Veco
From D.C., Alaska
Senator Keeps An Eye
and A Hand! Out For
His Son
By Justin Rood - September 1, 2005, 5:31 PM
Ah, how the bennies of the father are visited
upon the son! A 2003 article counted at least
nine separate cases in which Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK! has done favors for companies or
organizations which paid his son Ben over
$1.5 million in salary and "consulting fees." And there havebeen more since
then. The article, from the Los Angeles Times, was unearthedby the
Washington, D.C.-based Sunlight Foundation.! Ben Stevens, president of the
Alaska State Senate, recently had his ofces raidedby the FBIL News out of
Alaska indicates the feds are looking for information surrounding a major
resource legislation package that beneted at least one of the companies father
Ted helped out, VECO Corp Since the Times piece was published, the elder
Stevens has done more favors which beneted Benin late 2003, the U.S.
senator nagled a $29 million eannark for The Alaska Fisheries Marketing
Board." Guess who got to chair the group -- which for two years did not
disclose its activities? That's right: Ben Stevens. A spokesman for the father
said he merely "recommended" his son for the post.! And last December, it was
revealed that Stevens senior inserted a provision into a bill worth $10 million to
a shing venture for which his son Ben secretly held an investment option. The
provision was estimated to be worth $1.5 million to Ben. ln the end, Ben didn't
collect that prot, however; the venture soured for unrelated reasons.! There's
no evidence Ted Stevens is of interest to the investigation announced yesterday
-- although he does have an office in the same town where one of the FBI
warrants was executed. Keep in mind, however, investigators are required to
follow up on any evidence of wrongdoing they come across. And judging by the
news pictures, the FBI has been wheeling a lot of documents out of those
ofces. if they've already got reason to believe that evidence as outrageous as
"Corrupt Bastards Club" hats exist, who knows what kind of stuff they might
stumble across. Perrnalink | TOPICS: Ted Stevens: Veco
Alaska inst Ran PLEASE Tn U;n;;;;J"
Found the Hats
By Justin Rood - September 1, zoos, 3:31 PM AP reports on the recent raidon
Alaska lawmakers offices, including those of Ben Stevens, son of Sen. Ted
Stevens R-AK!:
Among the items federal agents were searching for in Alaska
legislative offices this week are hats or garments labeled
Corrupt Bastards Club" or Corrupt Bastards Caucus,"
according to the search warrant. FBI _ Steve-15-880
Permalink §TOPlCS: Ted Stevens
For AK Scandal
Company, Money Can't
Buy Happiness -- But
Influence? Perhaps.
By Justin Rood - September 1, 2006, 12:15 PM
When FBI agents raidedthe offices of
Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens and ve
other legislators, they were looking for
34 of 38 8/5/2007 5 14 PM
~_ __ _ __ 7 H____...____ ..:.¢_v _~ _;<_A_'___ *4 1 7 :41
§;f,-&§;;;n evidence of improper ties between those state
lawmakers and a company called VECO
Corp. That left some scratching their heads. What's VECO? Based in Alaska,
the privately-owned, nonunion company deals primarily in petroleum and
petroleum-related services; its estimated revenue in 2004 was S500 million, and
it employs around 5,000 people worldwide. Thats small by oil megacorporation
standards, but it's big in Alaska, where the company has been called "a titan in
the Alaskan oil industry." VECO has over two dozen subsidiaries, but it likes to
spend money on inuence. It's the top campaign contributor to both Alaska Sen.
Lisa Murkowski R! and its congressman, Don Young R!. And although it's
only the second-biggest contributor to Sen. Ted Stevens R!, with over $70,000
in donations to the senior senator from VECO employees according to
FECInt'o.com!, it keeps close ties to Stevens in other ways. For one, its dumped
$25,000 into his "Northern Lights political action committee. The company
also paid his state Senator son, Ben he of the raided office! over $200,000 for
various reported purposes, including lobbying his father. What's more, the son
of/ECO president Pete Lethard was reported to work for Stevens in
Washington, D.C. Also, the company briey owned the Anchorage T2'nzt;.sin
1992 it shut the paper down, and switched to funding a haltlpage of editorials in
theAncIiorage Daily News. The section, called "Voice of the Times," is
reportedly devoted to "conservative," "pro-industry" views. Permallnll TOPICS:
Ted Stevens: Veco
FBI Raids Ofce of AK
Senator's Son
By Paul Kiel - August 31, 2006, 11:08 PM
Yesterday, the FBI raiclcdthe ofce of Ben
Stevens, who's president of the Alaska State
Senate -- and son of Sen. Ted "King of Pork"
Stevens R-AK!. Investigators searched his
ofce and those of ve other legislators! for
. evidence of anyties "nancial information
and gifts"! between the lawmakers and VECO
Corp, "an Anchorage-based oil eld services
and construction company whose executives
are major contributors to political campaigns," according to the APVECO, a
reader notes, is one of father Ted Stevens biggest campaign contributors. Its
employees donatcd$45,750 during his career. This is the second time in a week
Ted Stevens name has made headlines at TPMmuckraker ~- earlier, readers will
recall, he was unmaskedon this site as being the GOP masked holder" who
held up the Obama/Cobum porkbusting transparency billUpdate: Is this part of
what the Feds want to know about? From an April 28 article in the Anchorage
Daily News: "Veco, an Alaska oil eld services and construction company
whose executives are major contributors to Republican political campaigns, paid
[Ben] Stevens $57,000 last year for unspecied business services, according to
Stevens most recent disclosure." And more, ti-om a Nov. 3, 2005 AP article:
"Ben Stevens business relationship with the oil eld service company Veco,
which has paid him $243,000 since 2000, was cited as an example of
'coiruption' in the recall petition brought against Stevens by Republican
Moderate Party founder Ray Metcalfe. Permalink ITOPICS: Tod Stevens: Veco
Are Even Porkbusting Projects Full of
POl'k? |:
By Paul Kiel - August s1, zone, 3:03 PM The Congressional Budget Ofce
calculates pot! that it would take $15 million dollars to create and maintain the
database of online searchable database of government grants and contracts for
ve years. But Ellen Miller of The Sunlight Foundation says today they've
commissioned the Washington, D.C.~based nonprot OMB Watch to do the
exact same thing. The cost? $234,713 for three years. So is Sen. Ted Stevens
R-AK! vindicated for havingalleged cost concerns? And, more importantly,
does OMB Watch have an Alaskan bridge-building division3>ermaltnk |
TOPICS: Reform: Ted Stevens
Who's Sc0opin' Who?
By Paul Kiel - August 30, 2006, 5:36 PM About an hour ago, CNN posteda story
on Sen. Stevens exposure as the secret pork-meister and highlighted the way a
_ 11%-~ ~ Ti >7 .77 _ __ .7FPMmuclcraker Ted Stevens Archives ' hlilfpI//W92$tpII1IXll.1Cl t"dl ¢I.COI1!/8.IChlV6S/CZtla/lI6d_StBV6I1S/
BI Ste-vens881
8/3/2007 5 14 PM
TPMinuekraker Ted Stevens Archives http://www/cpmmuckraker COD!/ICl'11V¬S/C3.iZS/lI¬d__Si6VCl1S/
host of different blogs yes, including TPMmuckraker.com! helped smoke him
out. But 'lPMm Reader/1C still isn't satised, and emailed us the following:
[CI921N: Sen. Stevens is the secret senator!
POSTED: 4:38 p.m. EDT, August 30, 2006 "CNN has
conmied that Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has placed
a hold on a bill that would require the government to publish
onlinc a database of federal spending. ['I1Mm: "MASKED"
BILL-BLOCKER REVEALS SELF] By Paul Kiel - August
30, 2006, 1:59 PM
"A spokesman for Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! just conmied his
boss was the man behind the secret hold on the Coburn/Obama
spending database bill, which has captivated a segment of the
political blogging community in recent days. CNN... Catch-up
News Network
Hey, he said it. We didn't. Permalinkl TOPICS: Ted Stevens
V Bill's Cost Troubled Me,
Pork King Says
By Paul Kiel - August ac, zoos, 3:56 PM Sen.
Ted Stevens RAK! held up a bill that would
create a free, searchable database of
government contracts and grants because he
was worried about the proposal's price tag, his
spokesman told me this aftemoon. Its cost has
been estimated at $15 million. Stevens ofce
has asked Sen. Tom Cobum R-OK!, the
sponsor of the bill, for "a cost-benet analysis
to make sure this docs not create an extra layer of unnecessary bureaucracy,"
spokesman Aaron Saunders said. The Senator wanted to make sure that this
wasnt going to be a huge cost to the taxpayer and that it achieves the goal
which the bill is meant to achieve. Saunders added that Stevens hold was not
"secret," and that he would back the bill if the analysis shows that "it achieves
its goal and it achieves its goal well." But Sen. Coburn's spokesman John Hart
questioned Stevens motive. "The only reason to oppose this bill is ifhe has
something to hide, Hart said. I-lart said that Stevens, who's on the Senate
Homeland Security and Govemmental Affairs Committee, failed to attend any
heaiirigs on the bill, an assertion hacked up by vote tallies. "lf he had
concems, he should have addressed them in regular order rather than blocking
something that will benet millions of taxpayers," Hart said. He added that after
Stevens ofce raised the concems, Cobum's oice requested a meeting, but
never got one. The Congressional Budget Ofce liasealeulated that Cobums
proposal would cost "$4 million in 2007 and about $15 million [total} over the
2007-2011 period. By comparison, Stevens -- who's beeicalled the "King of
Pork" by one govemment watchdog -- was recently publicly lambasted for his
appropriation of more than $200 million for the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere,"
which wouldlink Ketchikan, Alaska population 8,900! with its airport on
Gravina Island population 50!. Despite the fact that Stevens office has refused
until today to admit that he placed the hold, Saunders said, "This senator does
not place secret holds." A number of senators offices initially refused to
comment in response to both public and media requests as to whether they'd
placed the hold. Sens. Hatch and Crapo both waived that general practice in FBI _ Ste/enS_882
light of Majority Leader Bill Frists request that senators respond to bloggers'
and readers questions. TPMm still awaits conrmation from two senators, Byrd
and Bennett, that they do not have a hold on the bill. Sen. Cobum initially
revealed Stevens identity as the holder two weeks ago at a town meeting in
Sallisaw, Oklahoma -- but that revelation seems to have been unintended. It was
an "off the cuff comment, his spokesman told me. Update! As to why
constituents, TPMm, and others weren't told when they called Stevens office
that he had placed the hold, his spokesman just explained, Sen. Stevens was
traveling, the staffers that worked this issue had also been traveling so it was
hard for our people to get the information about this particular hold. Permalinll
T OPICS: Reform: Ted Stevens
'*MASi<~ED"
36 of38 8/3/2007 5 14 PM
__ _ 1 ;____ __- _____ __ _ _ __ _ _ _
TP192/lmuckraker: Ted Stevens Archives http://wvstpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/ted_stevens,
37 0f33 8/3/2007 5:14 PMBILL-BLO CKER
REVEALS SELF
By Paul Kiel - August 30, 2006, 1:59 PM A
spokesman for Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! just
conmed his boss was the man behind the
secret hold on the Cobum/Obama spending
database bill, which has captivatetla
r segment of the political blogging community
in recent days. "Sen. Stevens does have a hold on the bill," said the spokesman,
who would only speak on the condition he not be named. He added that Sen.
Tom Cobun-l's R-OK! ofce was notied of the hold after it was placed. So
Cobum's comments two weeks ago may have been duly infonned. So why does
Stevens say he placed the hold? Why did it take this long for him to say so? And
will he li it? We'll have more S00l1...Permalink |TOPlCS: Refomwz Ted Stevensit S S Coburn: Stevens
Blocked My Bill
By Justin Rood - August 29, 2006, 11:27 PM
Twelve days ago, at a town meeting in
Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Sen. Tom Cobum
R-OK! accused Sen. Ted Stevens R-AK! of
obstructing his porkbuster-database bill with
an anonymous hold. That's accordingto an
Aug. 18 article in the F oit Smith Ark.!Times
Record:
One of the senators most criticized for his personal projects,
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has a hold of his own on Cobums
bill to make public the spending patterns of the government.
Called the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency
Act, the legislation calls for the creation of a database open to
the public where citizens can track government spending. Hes
the only senator blocking it," Cobum said of Stevens.
Cobums ofco was not available for comment this evening. The article has
gone largely unnoticed in recent days, as hundreds ofbloggers and blcg-readers
at TPMm and elsewhere! have called Senate offices in an effort to detennine
who placed the "secret" hold on Cobum's bill. The piece does not tum up in a
Nexis search, although it is in Google. Stevens has been the odds-on favorite
since the hunt for the Holder Who Dare Not Speak His Name began. But did he
really do it? Well, he had a motive: As the paper and others have noted, Stevens
and Cobum have clashed before -- in particular over Stevens now-legendary
"bridge to nowhere." Cobum attempted and failed! to block the $233 million
boondoggle. And revenge certainly ts the senior Alaskans m.o. "Stevens can
play rough," the Seattle Timesnoted in June. "Despite denials from his staff, he
retaliates - and doesn't mind waiting years to do so." Stevens ofee has so far
refused to comment on the hold. Ninety-ve other senators have conrmed
they were not responsible. Thanks to TPMm Readers MEGC for the tips.
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l» lladn.cox.n | Beth Bragg : This ctiict-of-iriterest thing must confuse Tedéd Lisa Page 1 of 2
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Anchorage Daily News
This conflictof-interest thing must confuse Ted and Lisa
BETH BRAGG
COMMENT Beth Bragg
comment
Published: August 3, 2007!
As yet another fine mess embrolls an Alaska lawmaker, you have to wonder:
Why is it so hard for these people to recognize a conflict of interest?
Had either Ted Stevens or Lisa Murkowski asked themselves the most basic of questions before
saying yes to offers way too good to be defensible, they'd find it much easier to stay out of the
cross hairs of the FBI, the IRS, political watchdog groups, bloggers, comedians and plain ol'
ordinary Alaskans.
The questions they should have asked are AB-C, 1-2-3 simple:
Would ordinary Alaskans be offered similar deals or favors?
Would Bob Penney sell his 1.27-acre Kenai River lot for $179,400 on Craigslist?
Would Bill Allen run a classified ad seeking horne~remodeling projects to oversee?
The answer to each is no. Which is whythe answer from the senators should have been no way.
It's that simple.
It doesn't matter that Penney has known Murkowskl since she was 5 years old or that Allen has
been friends with Stevens since the Paleozoic era. _
What matters is that Murkowski and Stevens are United States senators, and everything they do
must be free of even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Note the use of the word "appearance." For some reason, lawmakers and even some ordinary
Alaskans! seem to think there needs to be an overt, egregious ethical lapse for something to
qualify as a conflict of interest.
Wrong. It's about what looks fishy or oily, not just about what actually is fishy or oily. You don't
need an indictment or a conviction for certain behaviors to erode trust.
Whether Murkowski makes decisions that will benefit sport fishing Penney's domain! or Stevens
makes decisions that will benefit the oil industry Allen's! doesn't really matter.
What matters is, by accepting deals or services unavailable to the rest of us from well-connected
heavyweights whose prosperity might be affected by lawmakers decisions, Murkowski and Stevens
FBI - Stevens-885
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!_adn.c%m I Beth Bragg : This cwlict-of-interest thing must confuse Ted ad Lisa Page 2 of 2
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give ordinary Alaskans legitimate reason to wonder if the senators can do their job without being
compromised.
There's no question both got something the average person won't get. If in doubt, review the
previous questions.
Murkowski realized the appearance of a conflict was significant enough to give up the land she and
her husband bought from Penney. Her cry-me-aKenai-River-lament that criticism of the deal cost
her family the Alaska home they deserve is shameful. She never should have taken the deal in the
first place. She deserved every bit of scrutiny she received. She and her husband should have
shopped for land the same way other Alaskans do, or at least those Alaskans who don't have cozy
relationships with the rich and powerful.
When you're an elected or appointed official, ethics trump friendships. You must avoid the
appearance of conflict in matters both professional and personal. Simple as that.
Problem is, Alaskans have long enabled the pervasive mentality among lawmakers that it's OK to
cash in on their office and influence, that it's OK to take consulting jobs they wouldn't get if they
were merely cabinet makers, that it's OK to let oilindustry bigwigs like Allen dictate lobbying laws.
Juneau insiders say they've long been aware of the culture of corruption at the state level, but it
took federal investigators to kick over the stone and expose the Tom Andersons of that world. And
most Alaskans sat by quietly as majority lawmakers delayed fixing state ethics laws that had
allowed a former attorney general to take a lead role in a project that could have steered business
to a company he owned more than $100,000 worth of stock in.
The other day I heard a woman talking about the scene in "The Simpsons Movie" where Homer
learns Alaskans receive annual checks for "letting the oil companies ravage" the state's natural
beauty. "I always wondered why we got them, she said, not considering for a minute the line was
a commentary on the state's love affair with the industry that helped spawn Allen and his dirty
deeds.
Lawmakers may be too stupid or too arrogant to recognize obvious conflicts, but ordinary Alaskans
deserve part of the blame for letting them get away with it for so long. Even now, people defend
Murkowski by saying her long friendship with Penney exempts their deal from criticism and defend
Stevens by saying his four~bedroom, three-bath Girdwood home assessed at $440,900 is modest
and therefore immune from scrutiny.
Until everyone accepts that the only rewards lawmakers deserve is their salary, their considerable
power and influence, and perhaps their re-election, we're stuck in this fine mess together.
Beth Bragg's opinion column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Her e-mail address is
[email protected].
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Cowdery's boat bums and sinks -
RESCUED: Fishermen pick up the legislator and his passengers.
Anchorage Daily News AK!
August 3, 2007
Author? KYLE HOPKINS
[email protected]
Star?
Estimated printed pages: 2
Sen. John Cowdery's boat caught re and sank Wednesday night near Whittier, according to
two shermen who took him to safety.
Tory Freeman said he and a friend were nishing a day of shing when they heard a report
over the radio of a boat in trouble. They saw Cowden/s 40-plus-foot boat nearby, carrying
the Anchorage Repubiican and three adult passengers, billowing smoke.
"The cabin was totally lled with like this really thick, white smoke; it was like an electrical
re," Freeman said.
"John Cowdery stuck his head out of the cabin, and we yanked him out of there."
The re began on a boat called the Johnita about 6:40 pm. on the southwest side of Esther
island, said Chief Petty Ofcer Barry Lane of the U.S. Coast Guard.
lt wasnt the rst time one of Cowdery's boats has sunk.
Gn his personal Web site, Cowdery writes that he bought a 50-foot-plus pleasure boat
around 2000 and named it Johnita ll. One of Cowdery's stat? members got married on that
vessel,rhe wrote.
Whittier harbormaster Mike Davidson said the Johniia ll sank in the winter of 2000 or 2001 at
the Whittier dock, but was recovered and repaired.
Cowdery could not be reached for comment Thursday. A woman who answered the phone
at his home hung up when a reporter identied himself.
Freeman and a longtime friend, Jeff Ohman, spent Wednesday bottomshing near Whittier.
Ohrnan said they were headed home when they passed Cowdery's boat and saw smoke, but
thought it was just heavy exhaust.
Then no more than two or three minutes later a mayday call came over the radio, and they
turned Ohman's new 22-foot Hewescraft -- the Live and Learn -- to help.
"The boat was engulfed in smoke like you see in a house re," Ohman said.
Cowdery told the shermen that he'd just lled the boat with fuel, Freeman said. After the
senator and his passengers boarded the good Samaritan boat, they left for Whittier and
watched as the Johnlta erupted in ames, Freeman said.
Another boat in the area soon reported that the boat had sunk. The shermen said no one
appeared to be hurt.
The Coast Guard is investigating the Incident
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Palin to discuss special session -
OIL TAX FORMULA: Legislature would address possible malfeasance.
Anchorage Daily News AK!
August 3, 2007
Author: STEVE QUINN
The Associated Press
WIRE
Estimated printed pages: 2
Gov. Sarah Palin will outline her plans for a special session on the states petroleum prots
tax during a news conference here this morning.
Palin will be joined by Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin, who is expected to have a report
prepared on the tax system passed last year, said deputy press secretary Sharon Lelghow.
The tax formula, based on prots rather than gross sales, has been under scrutiny atter
three former lawmakers came under federal indictment in ll/lay.
Vic Kohring, Bruce Weyhrauch and Pete Kott, all Republicans, are charged with taking
bribes or extorting favors in exchange for votes on the state's oil tax last year.
All three were arrested May 4 and have pleaded not guilty. They are awaiting trial this talt.
The day after they were charged, Palin pledged to take a look at the potential role any
malfeasance may have had on the current tax.
"There are a lot of things we will be walking through, investigating and studying," Palin told
The Associated Press that day. We will see what kind of inuence was effective in terms of
the administration proposing what they proposed and lawmakers adopting what they
adopted."
One day atter the state's Legislature adjourned in mld~l92/lay, she announced plans to have
this session, possibly outside of the state's capital, in the fall.
Today, she will answer long-awaited questions of where and when.
Recently she said she would like to have the session where there is a road system providing
access to a majority of the lawmakers and citizens, which Juneau does not have.
But Palin had also said she was alarmed at the cost for the one-day session lawmakers held
in Anchorage two months ago. it surpassed $100,000.
Still, Leighow said the governor's wishes to take advantage of the road system has not
changed, making Anchorage and Fairbanks likely candidates.
"Gov. Palin has always favored having this special session somewhere on the road system
so Alaskans could have access to the lawmakers," Lelghow said. "She's never wavered."
Just because the announcement is to be made in Juneau does not mean Palin will call for it
to be in the capital, Lelghow said.
Palin has spent most of the interim in Anchorage or traveling out of state, including a trip to
Kuwait to visit Alaska-based soldiers serving in the Middle East.
Her oice and mansion have been undergoing repairs, asbestos abatement and restoration
during the interim, so working outside the capital was logical, Leighow said.Access World News: Document Why 0 Page 1 of 2
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House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, said he has not heard any specics about the
sessiorfs mission or location.
What I want to do is encourage the governor to do what's most benecial to getting in a
good process for whatever they are proposing," Harris said.
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, .
Despite reservations, Alaskans vote for reform
Anchorage Daily News AK!
August 3, 2007
Author: ll/lcCIatchy Newspapers
Staff
Estimated printed pages: 2
Alaska's entire congressional delegation voted for the ethics bill.
There had been some question earlier this week whether Sen. Ted Stevens would vote for
the measure because he had objections to the stricter provisions for chartered plane travel.
Both he and Sen. Lisa Murkowski said they thought the new rules would make it more
expensive to charter planes to travel within the state.
But for Stevens, it was no time to cast a vote against ethics reforms -- just days after the FBI
raided his house as part of a corruption probe. The raid proved awkward timing for GOP
leaders, who were working to show that they are as tough on ethics as their Democratic
counterparts who pushed the bill through the House and Senate.
Murkowski said she had spent a lot of time thinking about how to vote on the bill, in part
because she thought that earmarks should be even more transparent than the standards in
the legislation.
Like Stevens, she had concerns about the charter plane provisions. And like Stevens, she
has had problems. A watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against her after news reports
surfaced about a sweetheart land deal she had with a developer and family friend.
l92/lurkowski, stung by the criticism over the deal, sold the land back for its asking price.
It's also clear that people across the country want to hold Congress to high standards,
Murkowskl said, and now is the ideal time to pass such guidelines and show the public that
they are serious about change.
"People want to know that we really have made a change in that dlrection," she said.
Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, voted for the measure in the House earlier in the week.
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t adncom I oil and gas indus hire consultants to review oil tax Page 1 of 1
State to hire consultants to review oii tax
TASK: Experts wiii iook at other pians, consider aitematixres to the PPT.
The Associated Press
Pubiished: August 4, 2087
= Last Modified: august 4, Z087 at Q5218 AM
FAIRBANKS -- The state Tax Division hopes to hire rive consuitants to review Alaska's new oii
: tax.
E
; _ .. . W . "The state's going to need to draw on a number of areas of expertise,
1 5t° " t°°i$ and each of the contractors has certain strengths in different areas,"
¬°" _ B"t_°" this 5t°"v said Jonathan Iversen, Tax Division director.
1:-mail a friend
7 gig"; this Barring protests, the state will award contracts to Gaffney Cline &
Seed Newsvme Associates, Arthur D. Little, Research Associates, PFC Energy, and
D Send ii;-,g.; Via Am Maiiidalé Consultants Inc.
r= * ;A A AOnt we g i Ail five have done work internationally. The state Department of
Revenue has contracted in the past with ail the companies except
Research Associates, according to deputy revenue commissioner Marcia Davis.
Research Associates is operated by Richard Fineberg of Ester and is the oniy Aiasi<abased
company. Fineberg served as senior oil and gas adviser to the governor in the iate 19805.
The division requested. proposais in Joiy for a consuitant to heip gure out how Aiaskas new
petroieum profits tax, or PPT, compared to other taxes around the worid, and to heip consider
alternatives if needed.
The proposal request described a six~month contract running through January 2068. Consultants
wouid be expected to testify on new tax proposals, The contract budget was capped at $400,000.
The Tax Division nicked consultants based on their understanding of the project, work plan,
experience and cost. A preference was given to Alaska applicants.
Iversen said the division plans to split tasks among the companies and to have some "cross-
checking," with multiple companies researching the same topic.
Companies wiii be paid for tasks they are assigned.
*its an expensive undertaking, but we wiii be using these experts frugaiiy," he said.
The Department of Revenue aiready is reviewing the PPT. According to Iversen, the consuitants
wiii acid to the expertise avaiiaoie at the departments of Revenue and Nature! Resources.
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INAccess World News: Document isplay . Page 1 of 3 * 3 I
Palin sets special session date -
OCT. 18: She wants review of oil prots tax; location still undecided.
Anchorage Daily News AK!
August 4, 2007
Author: STEVE QUINN
The Associated Press
WIRE
Estimated printed pages: 4
Alaska's oil tax system is not only failing the state, but it's tainted with corruption, Gov. Sarah
Palin declared Friday.
So she will call lawmakers back to work Oct. 18 to review the state's petroleum prots tax,
also known as PPT.
Palin, however, has not selected a site for this special session, which could take up to 30
days. A one-day special session in June was held in Anchorage.
This means lawmakers will be in session soon after the Oct. 1 deadline for interested
companies to submit applications for building a multiblllion~dollar pipeiine to ship trillions of
cubic feet of natural gas to market.
The tax formula, based on prots, not gross sales, is coming up short of projections,
according to a report prepared by Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin. _
PPT came under additional scrutiny in May after three former lawmakers were indicted on
bribery and extortion charges in connection with the tax law.
"PPT just is not working as had been promised," Pailn said. We are in great need of
creating an environment here in Alaska of investment.
"Revisiting PPT can tackle that issue and also allows legislators to basically start anew, to
remove the taint of corruption and restore public trust."
Palin's comments tall right in line with concerns by Democrats that date back to last year
when PPT was being debated in regular and special sessions.
Many Democrats say the state is losing millions under this formula, but Palln did not call for
any specic changes just yet. Still, she plans to give legislators specic direction for
reviewing PPT by Sept. 4.
Galvin's report states that PPT forecasts will fall short of projections of a year ago and that
PPT is not doing enough to stimulate investment.
On one hand, Galvin's forecasts for scal year 2008, which began July 1, show PPT would
generate $250 million more than the previous system, considered outdated for the North
Slope production. It still comes up $800 million short of what was predicted last year by
former Gov. Frank l92/lurkowski's administration.
Last year, the state also underestimated operating costs that oil companies would be
deducting, Galvin said.
Some lawmakers, however, want to make sure the administration isnt rushing toward
judgmentjust one year after the new system was put in place.
"i don't know if there has been enough time under the present system," said House Speaker
FBI Stevens892
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0Access World News: Document Display _ r 0 0
John Harris, R-Valdez. "But if the administration makes a good case that the system is
broken, and it needs to be changed, then we ought to took at it."
Harris also told Palin in an unsolicited May 7 letter that he would support revisiting the PPT
should she deem it necessary.
His letter followed the arrests of former lawmakers Vic Kohring of Wasilla, and Bruce
Weyhrauch and Pete Kott of Juneau on bribery and extortion charges.
All are Republicans and charged with taking bribes or extorting favors in exchange for votes
on the oil tax last year.
All three were arrested May 4 and have pleaded not guilty. They are awaiting trial this fall.
The day after former lawmakers were charged, Palin pledged to take a look at the potential
role any malfeasance may have had on the current tax.
Once the Legislature adjourned a few weeks later, Palln announced her intent to have a
special session on PPT, possibly outside the capital.
Palin said she rst wants feedback from lawmakers on where they believe the session
should be held. She wili ask Senate President Lyda Green and Harris to submit a
recommendation by Sept. 4.
"The governor is right in that it's incredibly important content, but we need to have the
special session in Juneau," said Minority Leader Beth Kerttula.
"We have the infrastructure in place," she said. "You don't want to make decisions like that
when you're worrying about where you're going to have an office or where you're going to
sleep."
Palin has made several trips back to Juneau since the end of the session, including trips for
biil signings. She has signed 62 bills since May 16.
She has attended a national conference in Michigan and traveled overseas to visit Alaska~
based troops in Kuwait.
For iawmaking, Palin said she understands that sessions held outside of Juneau are an
emotional issue for those who cherish the citys role as the capital.
She said she is simply trying to make the Legislature more accessible to the public year-
round and not renew a push to move the capital.
That's why she wants the legislators consideration for a site that has road access, which
Juneau lacks, she said.
"The desire by a lot of Alaskans to be able to participate and access their lawmakers via
special sessions isn't a step toward moving the capital out of the city of Juneau," she said.
"l keep repeating that, but i guess our actions will have to speak louder than words. That's
our message."
lNSlDE
EXTRA HELP: The state hopes to hire consultants to review the petroleum prots tax.
Page B-6
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Reports of corropiion shake Alaska delegations credibility -
CRlTiCiS;li; Stevens, Young shrug off questions and continue to work.
Anchorage Daily News {AK}
August 5 2067
Author; ERIKA BOLSTAD
eooisiao@ao'n.com
Stan
Estimated printed pages: 6
it was just two days after Monday's FBl raid on US. Sen. Ted Stevens house, and his
colleague, U.S_ Rep. Don Young, was at a press conference to attack a Democratic energy
hill. it was the rst time reporters were able to ask Young any questions since the news
emerged that ha, too, was under federal -investigation.
Young swaited away the inquiries. He didn't really open up until he was asked about Alaska-
related projects he inserted into a federal water bill - including money for a study of the
proposed bridge across Knik Arm, a project known to the rest of America as one of the
bridges to nowhere." He grinned, happy to answer questions about the millions of dollars he
has squirreled away for his home state.
"Uh yeah, l did real well, Young said, before hopping an elevator and avoiding additional
questions. Fm hapoy.
These days, though, such boasts make many in hoth Alaska. and Washington cringe,
especially as it becomes more apparent that two-thirds of the states congressional
delegation is being investigated for irnproprieties connected with how they allocated federal
money. Many people also have started to question how a delegation weakened by criminal
investigations and ethical concerns can continue to effectively represent a place that, since
statehood, has depended on federal money and attention to thrive.
NEWS REPQRTS DOl92lT HELP STATE
Even as she refused to speculate about the investigations involving her two colleagues,
Alaska's other U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowsld, said she realized that the news about the
Alaskan delegation - as well as recent questions about the ethics of the Kenai River real
-estate deal she was involved with -- hacint been good for the state.
"There has been a very intense media scrutiny on Alaska," Murkowski said. "And it's one
thing if you read about it in our own newspapers or hear about it on the 6 dciock news. its
another thing when you see the media reports coming out of New York and the Washington
Post. We all want coverage to be good about our stale. And l acknowledge that it is not
particularly good news for Alaska."
There was another development in Washington last week that had an effect on the
cieisgation. The i-louse and the Senate passed an ethics oili calling for more detailed and
transparent disclosures about earmarlts, the spacial spending allocations that have made
the Alaska delegation so infamous its a change that has made it inst a little bit unsavory for
Stevens and Young to continue to brag, as Young once did in Z003 of an appropriations hill,
that he "stuffed it like a torlrey." i
The Alaska that once appreciated such talk has changed in the past 48 years. said Willie
Hensley, a former state lawrnaker and a iounder of the NANA Regional Corp. who now lives
in Washington and handles giovernmeni relations for the Aiyesita pipeline.
As the state matures, its leaders have to he cautious about how they look to the rest of the
nation, Hensley said. That means they can no longer afford to appear as though theyre
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craveniy grabbing for iederai money -- and its ieaders can": he tarnished hy ethical prohiems.
There is sirnpiy iess toierance for such behavior, even though Aiaska might stiii need the
federal help, he said.
"Alaska is somewhat fragile, he said. Oil is about the oniy thing that pays its way, really. i
don't think we have a lot of room for error in our politicai judgments, and we have to have the
best people we can in there, using theirjudgment and influence."
NO RESPONSE, THANKS
Like Young, Stevens aiso has refused to taiir about the investigation, or directiy address the
question on a tot oi peopie's minds: Has the investigation become such a distraction that it
hampers his abiiity to worit on hehait of the state?
His spokesman, Aaron Saunders, said in a written statement that "Sen. Stevens remains
committed to working with members of the Appropriations Committee to ensure Alaska
receives the same rights bestowed upon other states ~- the right to basic transportation,
clean drinking water, essentiai education programs, quaiity pubiic housing and other things
that Americans in the Lower 48 take for granted.
And in tact, both Young and Eitevens have been busy. even with the distraction oi reporters
camped outside their offices hoping theyii say something about the ongoing investigations.
Stevens and Murirowski co-sponsored a resoiution to protect Arctic sheries. Congress
passed a Stevenseponscred hilt to direct more money to research in science, technoiogy,
engineering and math. He introduced iegisiation to enhance chiid pornography enforcement.
And he and the rest of the state's delegation approved sweeping ethics reforms in Congress.
Young, who had prostate surgery and was out for a "few days in Juiy, jumped right hack into
the iegisiative tray by attaching a Democratic energy hiii as "energy suicide" on the House
oor Saturday - as Congress went into an extended session. And as the former chairman of
the House Transportation committee, he caiied on the president and Congress to consider a
new gasoiine tax that wouid pay for uogrades to the countnfs infrastructure, improvements
that Young said wouid heip prevent tragedies titre the Minnesota bridge coiiapse-
As senior GOP iawmairers who heid i!OW6i'iUi committee posts, both Young and Stevens
had already iost much of their inuence when Democrats took control oi Congress last fall.
But their legacy of federal earmarking lives on in Alaska.
For years, Aiaska has topped the iist of states with the most pencapita iederai government
spending. There is no uncieresiinnating the roie tederai spending plays in the states
economy, said Scott Goioismith, an economist with the institute of Sociei and Economic
Research at the University of Aiasira Anchorage.
One third of Aiaskas economy is based on oii, another third is based on iederai govemrnent
spending, and the tinai third is everything eise, said Goldsmith. FBI _ StevenS_895
The federal doiiars that come into Aiaska are clearly a very important part of the economy
and inuence the economy in myriad ways," he said. "Just because they're trying to tighten
up in generai on earmarks, those earmarks and grants in general are in jeopardy. and to the
extent that gets squeezed. it has a negative effect on our economy."
But Goidernith aiso points out something interesting about the iederai money that keeps one-
third of the states economy aoat: its mostiy in the form of everyday spending that wouid
come to Aiaska regardiess or who is in oriice. it inciudes saiaries tor iederai ernpioyees such
as postai workers. miiitarg spending, highway money and even Sociai Security payments to
retirees.
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"iirirrch of the federal money that comes into the state is insuiateo or not realty very sensitive
to the kind of probiems were seeing right now with our delegation," Goicismith said. Those
come independent of what your legisiators are doing."
SENSE OF iiviPEl92iDii92iG FALL
Politicatiy, many smelt hiood.
For the rst time in years, Rep. Don Young has a chailenger with iunclraising juice: Jake
Metcalfe, a former Anchorage Schooi Board president and former head of the state
Democratic Party, who announced his candidacy iasi week. Democrat Diane Benson, who
challenged Young in 2808, is also running. There may be more. Theres also serious talk
about both Republicans and Democrats considering a run against Stevens - people who
wouldnt have dared take him on in past years.
The delegations actions have consequences for the state, said Ethan Berkowitz, a
Democrat and former state lawmaker who ran for iieutenant governor last year. Berkowitz is
now considering a bid for Stevens seat, and also has thought about running for Young's. He
expects to make an announcement in September.
"As tong as the current delegation is there, Aiast<as going to he cot up in the process,"
Berkowiiz said. "in my judgment, theyre hurting the state. The national perception of Alaska
is something we need to change."
irtetcalte was in Washington test week and said it was scary to see the heariiines about
Alaska politicians under investigation. He said Young and Stevens have been in Washington
too long.
"Their generation has passed and i think their effectiveness has reaily diminished in the past
tour years, he said. Part of that has to do with the Bemocrats taking over, not part oi it is
the style of leadership. When you have the corruption and the offices stained by whats
happened, peopie dont believe government works for them. They believe it works for the
specie! interests and campaign contributors.
That generational shift may have already started within the state's Republican Party, with the
election last year of a governor whose rst order of business was to pass an ethics reform
bill.
"it's a generational shift thats going on, but its also a values shift that's going on," said Gov.
Sarah Palin.
The "culture of corruption" that has become ingrained in Alaska politics is a poor example to
the rest oi the nation as the state tries to be taken seriously in negotiations over a natural
gas pipeiine, Paiin said.
"We have to prove that we are responsinie, that we are trustworthy, that we are truthful no
here." she saicl. Our actions have to speak iouder than our words."
Find Erika Boistao oniine at a~:in.comfcontact!eI:>oistat:l. FBI - Stevens8Q5
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8
The Alaska political corruption investigations
Anchorage Daily News {AK}
August 5, 200?
Author: Compiled by David Helen and Richard Maser/Anchorage Daffy News
Siaff
Esiimateo prinfeo pages: 6
A broad federal investigation of public corruption has been under way in Alaska for more
than three years, although it didn't become widely known until Aug. 30, 2006. Thais when
teams of federal agents execuied search warrants at the oices of six state legislators and
elsewhere around the state. The government has since brought indictments and won a jury
verdict and several guilty pleas. The investigation continues, with grand iuries hearing secret
testimony in Anchorage and Washington, D.C. Last week, federal agents searched the
Girclwood home of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, drawing national attention.
Auihorities have said very little about the overall shape of the inquiry, where it's headed or
what's being invesiigatecl. l~leres some of whats known:
WHO IS CONDUCTWG THE iN92/ESTIG/5.TlONS'?
ifs losing run by the Fill, the lRS and the LLS. Justice Depertmenifs Public integrity Section
from Washington, D.C., which focuses on government corruption cases. Two prosecutors
from the alaslra U.S. Attorneys Cilce have been assigned to the effort.
CHARGED AND AWAlTii92iG TRlAL
Former Alaska House Speaker Pele Knit of Eagle River. indicted in May on bribery, extortion
and conspiracy charges, Kotl is accused of ial-ring payoffs and a promise of a iob from Vacs
to help push an oil-production tax favored by the inclustnr through the Legislature in 2006.
Aside from cash, has accused of being paid a "fraudulently iniiated" fee by Veco for flooring
work and a promise of a future job. He pleaded not guilty. Trial is scheduled for September.
Former Rep. Vic Kohring of Wasilla. The chairman of the Special Committee on Oil and Gas
was indicted in May on bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges, accused of taking cash
and a loan from 92/eco executives in exchange for supporting the companys position on the
oil tax. A member of the Legislature when indicted in l92/lay, he later resigned under pressure
from constituents and Republican House leaders. He pleaded not guilty. Trial is scheduled
for October.
Former stale Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau. Charged with bribery, extortion and
conspiracy, Weyhrauch is accused oi switching his vote on the oil lax after receiving
instructions from Kori and Bill Allen. i~les also accused of soliciting work for his legal practice
from 92/eco in exchange for his vole. He pleaded not guilty. Trial is scheduled for September.
PLEADED GUll.TY FBI - Qtgveng-8§}7
Longtime deco CEO Bill Allen. He pleaded guilty in May to charges of bribery, extortion and
conspiracy for his dealings with four legislalors: former Reps. Pele Koti, léiruce Weyhrauch
and Vic Kohring, and former Sen. Ben Stevens {described in the plea as "State Senator 8 }.
The first three were charged; Stevens has not been. Allen also admitted paying a "l>onus in
company funds to executives for illegal campaign contributions in 2-385 and 2006. For more
than two decades, he was a maior political fundraiser for Alaska politicians. He resigned
from Veco alter his guilty plea and awaits sentencing.
92/eco vice president Rick Smith, who ran the compangrs government affairs operations. He
worked part of the year out of a suite in .iuneaus Baranof Hotel that was being secretly
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monitored by the FBL in May he pleaded guilty to the same charges as Ailen. i-is admitted,
with Alien, to making more than $489,980 in payoffs to elected otiiciais and illegal campaign
contributions. Resigned after plea, awaits sentencing.
Lobbyist Bill Bobrick. is longtime ioobyist at the city level and one-time head of the Alaska
Democratic Party, he pieaded guilty in ittay to conspiracy for bribing Anderson while working
for a private prison company, Cornell Cos. He testitied against Anderson and is awaiting
sentencing.
TRK-ED AND COi~i92riGTED. AWNTING SEl92lTEl92CiNG
Former Anchorage state Rep. Tom Anderson. in December, he became the rst person
charged. On July 9, a federal jury convicted him on all counts of bribery, conspiracy and
other charges connected with taking payoffs from Bill Bobrick, a lobbyist for a private prison
company. Anderson worked as a consultant for 92/ecc, the oil field services and engineering
company at the center of the broader investigation, although none of the charges against
him concerned Veco. It was revealed during his trial that federal agents were investigating
corruption in the Alaska Legislature as far back as early 2004. He's awaiting sentencing.
OTHERS CONNECTED WlTH THE ll92l92/ESWGATIONS
U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. He has represented Alaska since 1968 and is the most senior
Senate Republican in history. Stevens has come under political attack recently from scal
consewatives and others for his use oi earmarks to direct programs and money to Alaska.
Some of the earmerits beneted his son Ben and a former aide, Trevor iiictlaize, and their
clients. 92r'ecos Alien oversaw a construction project in 2008 that doubled the size of Stevens
Girdwood home, and investigators have been trying to learn it at least some of that wort: was
an irnproper gift.
Former state Sen. 8en Stevens. in his piea agreement, Allen admitted making improper
payments of $243,250 to "State Senator B" -- an unmistakable reference to Ben Stevens, the
former state Senate president. Ben Stevens ottice was searched in the August 2l3l36 raids
and was later visited again by Fi3l agents seeking information about his fishery interests and
benets he may have received from legislation written by his father. He was paid hundreds
of thousands of dollars as a consultant for various commercial fishing companies and
groups, and chaired a federally funded panel, created in an earmark by his father, that
awarded grants to some of those entities.
Li.S. Rep. Don Young. Alaska's sole U.S. representative since i9?'3, Young has been widely
reported to be under investigation over his own ties to Veco and use of earmarks, aithough
details of what is being examined are unclear. Since 1989, he has received more than
$212,000 in campaign donations from Ailen, Smith and other Veco executives, making the
company by tar his top contributor. One of Young's aides has pleaded guilty in the Jack
Atzramoti lobbying scandal, and Young himself has ties to the lobbyist. Young has come
under political attack for adding earmarks to transportation legisiation that would benet a
Wisconsin trucking company and a Fioricia real estate mogul, both oi whom contributed to
his campaigns. Young recentiy reported spending $282,800 in campaign funds on
unspeciiied legal fees during the rst six months of 290?.
Trevor i92licCei:e. Seward native and former legislative director to Ted Stevens. he became
partner in a consulting business with Ben Stevens, and iohoieo tlongress on behalf of a
Southeast salmon group that obtained federal funds from Ted Stevens. An attorney and
iohbyist, it-*icCabe has represented other seafood interests as well. With two partners.
ivlctlabe soid property to the Aiaska Seal.ite Center in Seward at a price substantially above
its appraisal after Ted Stevens provided the money in an earmark.
Frank Prewitt. Former state corrections commissioner who became a consultant to Cornell
Cos., a private prison company that wanted to buiici a large prison in Alaska at one time
FBI Stevens~898
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teaming with Veco!. Prewitt was being investigated by the FBI in 2004 when he agreed to
work for the government to root out corrupt legislators and lobbyists. He passed out money
and recorded conversations, providing the foundation for the Anderson case.
Sens. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage, and Donald Olson, D-Nome, also had their ofoes
searched in August 2006, but have not been charged.
ENTITIES CONNECTED WlTl-l THE lN92/ESTlGATlON$
Veco Corp. An oii eld services and engineering company that operates extensively in
Alaska and elsewhere, Veco has been among the most politically active companies in the
state for years. It has lobbied in Juneau for legislation benecial to the oil industry and
aggressively supported pro~development candidates in Alaska and Outside. Since 2000, the
company received more than $40 miilion in federal contracts, according to the database
FedSpending.org. Allen and Smith are the only two 92/eco executives charged. While Bill
Allen has stepped down, his family still owns a majority of the company. Denver-based
CH2M Hill is in negotiations to buy it.
Alaska SeaLife Center. The Seward research center and visitor attraction was built, in part,
with settlement money from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and run with heavy federal nancial
support engineered by Ted Stevens. Investigators are examining a deal in which the SeaLife
Center bought property from former Ted Stevens aide Trevor l92/lcCabe and partners at a
price substantially above its appraisal after Stevens provided the money in an earmark.
Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board. Created by Sen. Ted Stevens in 2003 to boost the North
Pacic shing industry, the nonprot has distributed some $30 million in federal money to
seafood companies and other entities to promote their products. Ben Stevens served as
chairman of the board until last year, and while he was in that role the board awarded
millions in grants to groups that paid him consulting fees. Last November, a grand jury in
Anchorage issued subpoenas to several North Pacic seafood companies and groups
demanding records on their dealings with the marketing board, Ben Stevens, MoCabe who
also sat on the board! and others.
FBI Ste-vens899
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Ange? litrorid News U ' . Page 1 of 2
ank,I,., diocese ttttoi !d fdeoss
Paper: Anchorage Daily News AK!
Title: Kohring asked to step aside -
SCANQAL: Corruption charges against Wasiila representative taint other lawmakers. some say.
Date: June 5, 2807
House leaders have asked Rep. Vic Kohrlng to consider resigning because of his indictment in a bribery scandal, as pressure in the
Wasilla lawmakers district mounts to remove him from oiiioe by special election.
House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, and l-louse lvlaiority Leader Ralph Sarnuels, R-Anchorage. said they relayed to Kohnng last
week the concerns of teiiow lawmakers that the corruption scandal is tainting them all. They met with Kohnng in his Mat-Sn home.
A federal grand jury indicted Kohring last month as part of a wider corruption probe. Prosecutors have accused Kohring, a Republican,
of selling his vote on the state petroleum tax last year to the Anchorage oil lieid services company 92/ecc Corp. Kohring and two former
legislators also under indictment have pleaded not guilty. Veco executives Bill Allen and Rick Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy,
bribery" and tax charges. Allen and Smith have since resigned from 92!eco_
Kohrings trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 22 in Anchorage.
Samuels said he and Harris approached Kohrlng to share serious concerns expressed by several other lawmakers regarding the
impact the corruption scandal was having on the puhlids trust in the Legislature.
"We didnt go out there to try and force him to resign; we lust want to make sure he understands where his colleagues are at with the
situatlon," Harris said, adding that Kohring was still innocent until proven guilty.
Harris said he was not considering expelling Kohring from the House at this/time.
But in Wasilia, public pressure has led to a call for his resignation and even inspired Recall vi-2," Tsshirtsaies.
Wasilia City Councilman Mark Ewing last month began gathering signatures for an application requesting a special election to strip
Kohring of his House seat. The application for the recall must have at least 709 signatures before the state Division of Elections will
review it. Ewing said volunteers had already collected the required minimum but planned to double the amount in a blitz weekend"
before ling it next week.
The focus is lo gel us some representation in Juneau that is stable and trusted," Ewing said. A lot of his supporters who gave him
$580 every time he ran are signing this thing."
Getting the 709 signatures is only the rst of several steps that must be completed before a recall election would be held.
it the Division of Elections approves the recall application, Ewing would then need to collect at least 1378 signatures - equaling 25
percent oi the voters from the districts lest election. The elections division could order a special recall election alter this second set oi
signatures is in hand.
Gov. Sarah Palin, who is from Wasilla, said last month Kohring should step down. As governor, Palin would appoint another Republican
to replace him if he resigned or is recalled.
Kohring said Monday that he would respond only to questions for this article that were e-mailed to him. He then did not respond to the
e* a=*- FBI ~ Stevens-906
Kohring was aware of fellow lawmakers concerns, Samuels said. Kohring responded openly to the discussion, saying he continued to
labor over what would be the best for him, the Legislature and his constituents, Samuels said.
t~les aware of the situation that hes put himself and everyone else in, Samuels said. Even he did nothing wrong, there is the
negative perception in the public that affects the whole institution oi the Legislature."
Harris indicated Monday that he expected to have t<o'nrings decision within a few days on whether he will retain his House seat or step
down.
if he resigns, it would remove him from participating in a special legislative session to revisit the oil tax that is tentatively scheduled for
this tall.
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Palin announced that she would cail for the special session shortly after the 92/eco executives pleaded guilty on May 7 to bribing
lawmakers for their votes on the petroleum tax
Palin at the time said the corruption probe surrounding the tax debate had tainted the law and called into question if it was the right tax
law for the state.
Several lawmakers have questioned if it would be appropriate for Kohring to participate in the debate again, given the allegations
against him.
"l have a strong feeling that it won't be an issue at that point," Harris said regarding l<ohrings presence in the fall special session. "l
think we'll see a decision here pretty soon. Whether or not that's going to be him saying he will step down is ultimately his decision."
Daily News reporter Sabra Ayres can be reached at [email protected] or 1-907-586-1531.
Caption:
Kohring
Caption:
Photo 1: VicKohring_060507.jpg
Copyright c! 2007, Anchorage Daily News
Author: SABRA AYRES Anchorage Daily News Staff
Section: Main
Page: A1
Dateline: JUNEAU
Copyright c! 2007, Anchorage Daily News
FBI Stevens901
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§:;coessq92»¢'o1ld News 0 0 Page t of 3
iNes/;s%an!c;,s siccess World literate
Paper: Anchorage Daily News {AK}
Title: Anderson trial starts with iury selection -
EX-LAWMAKER: Prosecutors plan to play tapes that record alleged influence-peddling.
Date: June 25, 2007
tapes secretly recorded by a federal informant will nally become public when they are played for jurors being chosen today to nearthe
corruption case against former state Rep. Tom Anderson.
Jury selection is set for this morning as Anderson's trial begins on seven felony counts that include oritrery, extortion and money
launirlering.
The trial is expected to take two weeks, half for each side.
lt will be the first real test of the prosecution team handling corruption cases against four former or current Alaska legislators. The teem
is led by the U.S. Justice Departmerrts Public lniegrity Section out of Washington, D.C., and includes two assistant ti.S. attorneys
based in Anchorage. Anderson is the rst to go to trial.
Prosecutors have laid out their casein a 29~page trial rnemoranclum that provides new details.
»
Andersons lawyer is Paul Stockler, who is ghting to keep the government from showing certain documents to the jury, such as
Anderson's tax returns and credit card bills.
"He di<int agree to perform any legislative acts in exchange for money, and the government is not going to be able to prove that he dict,
said atockler, who has listened to hundreds oi hours of recordings.
Anderson, 311!, was elected to serve East Anchorage in the House in 2002 and again in 208%. He didn't run last year. His wife is state
Sen. Lesil McGuire, and their relationship is an issue in the government's case.
HELP FOR PRISON
The prosecution says Anderson was part of a scheme initialed by former lobbyist Bill Bobrick to funnel payments from a private prison
company to Anderson.
Prosecutors assert that Anderson sold his legislative otce for $l 2,828 to help the private prison company.
While Bobrick is not named in the Anderson court documents, he has pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit extortion,
bribery and money laundering and agreed to testify against Anderson.
Bobrick for years had a long list of clients with city business out gave them up after his guilty plea
in a written snowman; of the case, prosecutors say they will rely on recordings made by a condential source" in Z864 and into 2805.
They havent named the source, but Frank Prewitt, e former state corrections commissioner, conrmed it was him. After leaving his
state post, Preoitt became a contract consultant for Cornell Companies, a private prison rm based Outside.
Prewitt said in a recent e-mail that he'll be testifying but couldn't talk further with the trial so near.
in summer 2004, Prewitt was working as a condential source on other, unrelated investigative matters," the prosecution says without
providing further description.
On July lo, 2004, Bobrick left a message on Prewitts machine to ask whether they could try with Cornell to help out Tom Anderson."
in a meeting ve days later, Prewifl asked "what could Tom do?" Bobrick answered "be our boy in Juneau." He said he planned to
create a political newsletter, which he later said would be published on the Internet. Anderson would help set it up and write for it,
Bobrick told Prewitt.
The real question, Prewitt said, was what can Anderson do for Cornelli"
Oomeil was not aware oi the bribery scheme or Prewitfs role in the undercover investigation, the Justice Department has said.
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Bobrick noted Anderson's romantic relationship with another legislator and said Cornell would "get two legislators!-- you know, Chair of
Labor and Commerce Anderson!, and Chair of Judiciary {other etected oiciai} that's the minimum we're going to have next year."
McGuire, than a state representative, chaired Judiciary. She and Anderson married in 2085.
Stockier, An-:'ersons defense attorney. said hes stunned that the prosecution brought up McGuire because he said she hasni done
anything wrong.
"l'm at a ioss as to why they would put that into the pretrial memo," Stockler said. You can imagine what effect that had in that
household as I'm trying to get Tom ready for trial.
Once the trist begins, the prosecution is expected to ptay snippets oi the tapes made by Prewitt. Stockter said the defense wit! push to
get ionger or different sections of the recorded conversations before jurors so they have a more comptete picture or Anderson.
On Thursday, Stoctder tried a motion to oar the prosecution from using Andersons Visa statements, bank records, credit reports, and
tax returns.
"Any minuscule relevance of this type of evidence is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion of
issues," Stockler wrote.
Prosecutors did not return catts tast weak but their iriai memorandum describes the eariy days of the atieged scheme and iists a variety
of otriciat acts they ctaim Anderson performed for money.
PUSH FOR FEA$¬Bii..lTY STUDY
in an Aug. 17, 2004, meeting with Anderson, Prewitt said he couid pay $24,000 to the legislator and Bobrick but would need Anderson
to further Cornell's interests in the Legislature. in particular, Cornell needed help pushing the state Department of Corrections to do a
ieasioiiity study for a private prison.
Anderson said he ooutd cait the corrections commissioner in October and say "in November you have this feasibiiity study} done,"
according to the triat meme.
Alt the money shouid go through Bobrick, Anderson said. The Alaska Public Otoes Commission "oniy needs to know {"Lobt>yistA"}
pays me and then were always safe," Anderson is quoted in the trial memo as saying.
On Oct. 20, 2004, Prewitt asked Anderson for heip changing the ruies on halfway houses. Cornet! wanted to minimize costs by shifting
inmates and staffing. State rutes at the time required minimat staing leveis, regardiess of the number of offenders.
The next day, Anderson taxed a letter to then~Correotions Commissioner Marc Antrim on tegisiative tetterhead. The ietter drew from an
e-rnati draft provided by Prewitt. Anderson asked for a meeting witti Antrim about budget chaiienges for the private contractors."
A day after that, Prewitt made the second of three $8,000 payments to Bobriok, who kept haif or more of the money each time. Later,
after Anderson complained about his share, Prewitt made a separate $2,000 payment directly to him, prosecutors say.
Aii the money was provided by the FBL
On Oct. 29. Anderson met with Antrim in his Anchorage iegisiative office and talked about haiiway houses.
The next month, Anderson sat down with Prewitt and described his understanding of the retationship.
"Unless you want me to quit the Legislature! and, you know, work for you. But no, you don't want that. You want votes in the
Legislature, I would assume," Anderson is quoted as saying.
"Of course, Prewitt responded. FBI ' SteVenS903
One project Corneti sought heip on was a pianned residentiei psychiatric treatment center in Anchorage. The center to treat troutzied
youths required a state certitioate oi need.
Anderson testied at a puhtio hearing in Anchorage on Nov. £7, 2004. at which state officials were considering competing applications
to build a center.
Anderson told the crowd that he didnt have a connection with either group.
"Set with Cornet}. t have met with administrators and see how they function and work, and certainty couid endorse them to that end,"
Anderson said, according to a transcript of the hearing.
Corneii never got its center.
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<i;ooss92Wor1d News 0 b Page 3 of 3 -
Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/Idemer or cal! 257-4390.
Caption:Anderson
Caption:
Photo 1: Anderson.1_062507.jpg
Copyright ! 2007, Anchorage Daily News ,
Author: LISA DEMER [email protected] Staff
Section: Main
Page: A 1
Copyright c! 2007, Anchorage Daily News
FBI Stevens904
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anK;,.. Access World News
Paper: Anchorage Daily News {AK}
title: Corruption triat uncovers FBi mote -
DON STOLWORTHY: Deputy prisons chief was "glad to help."
Date: July 1, 2007 -
A former deputy corrections commissioner whose name came up Friday in the Tom Anderson corruption triat was working as an
informant for the F8! in 2004 when he asked a prison company consuitant for money, an F8-t spokesman said Saturday.
Former Corneii Cos. consultant Frank Prewiti testified Friday that he worked with deputy commissioner Don Stoiworthy that year to
develop a compromise on competing biils to build a new prison. One measure could have led to a Corneil~run prison in Whittier. The
other, supported by the Murkowski administration, pushed a state-run prison in the Valley.
Prewiti, a state corrections commissioner in the 1990s, iestitied Stolworthy told him he was worried about losing his job because of
union op;-osition to a private prison. Prewitt said he assured Stolwnrthy that people would be there for him" ii that happened . Prewitt
into iurors that Steiworthy eventuaily began seeking money, as a sort of insurance poiicy, if he iost his job.
But he only did that because the F53 asked him to, FE-i spokesman Eric Gonzaiea said Saturday. Stolworthy was working for the F83 as
a "cooperating witness, he said.
We approached him out of the blue," Gonzalez said. "We asked for his help and he said he'd be glad to help us."
Stolworthy was squeaky ciean, Gonzalez said.
The fact that Stoiwcrthy was working undercover tor the FBi never came up during the triai on Friday.
Prewitt iestie-ci -that he was shocked that Stolworthy was asking for money and read him the ethics act.
The FBI won't discuss what evidence it may have collected on Prewitt through Stolworthy. But in his opening statement on Wednesday,
federal prosecutor Joe Bottini said that Prewitt may have tried to improperly influence a state corrections ofcial.
The matter came Up because Prewitt is the governnients star witness in the corruption case against Anderson, s former state
representative. Defense attorney Pant Stockter cross-examined Prewitt on Friday about possible iilegai activities in his background and
pressed him on whether he was inst testifying against Anderson to save himseii.
Efforts to reach Sic-lworthy on 8aturday were unsuocessiui. When the state issued a statement announcing his resignation in January
2005, it said he accepted a job for the U.S. Justice Department as warden oi a prison in iraq.
Anderson's trial resumes Monday as Stocl<ier's cross-examination of Prewitt continues.
Find Lisa Demer ontine at adn.comicontactfldemer or eati 25?-4390.
Caption:
At. GFSLLO I The Associated Press
Former state Rep. Tom Anderson, isii, and attorney Paul Stookier walk through the Federai court building in Anchorage iast week.
Caption:
Graphic 1 : Anderson_Trial__AKAGiQ5_070107.eps
FBI Stevens905
Copyright {0} 2007, Anchorage Deity News
Author: USA DEMER io[email protected] Stan
Section: Aiaska
Page: B1
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Paper: Anchorage Daily News AK!
Title: Bobrick tails of Web scam -
ANDERSON TRlAL: The legislator did nothing for community site but was paid anyway, jury hears.
Date: Juiy 4, 286?
On the stand for a second day in iederai court Tuesday, former toohyist Biii Bohrick toid jurors that his idea for a poiiiioai Web site
started as a reai business venture in 29% with themstate Rep. Tom Anderson.
it wasnt supposed to be a way "to bribe Tom Anderson or channel him funds. But it certainly ended up that way, Bobrick tesiied.
Ultimately, its only real purpose was to disguise payments to Anderson, he told jurors. Anderson never did any real work for the Web
site and received the money "for being a legislator," Bobrick said. The Web site never got off the ground.
Prosecutors rested their corruption case against Anderson on Tuesday afternoon after calling eight witnesses over four days. The triai
began June 25 with jury selection, which tasted 2112 days.
Prosecutors contend that Bohricks Wei: site business was used to funnei payments from a Cornell Cos. consuitant to Anderson so
that he woutd do the companys bidding on haiiway houses. a iuveniie treatment center and e private prison. Anderson faces seven
feiony counts.
Bobrici: has pieaded guiity to conspiracy and said he is cooperating with the government in the hope of getting a tighter sentence.
in all. Anderson received a total of $25,838, based on testimony about various checks.
That's much more money than was previously disclosed. The charges list $12,838 in payments to Anderson. The FBI actually provided
the money. Cornell was unaware of any scheme, the government has said.
Bobrick. a main witness for the prosecution. appeared drained but cairn during hours of testimony and then aggressive cross-
examination. .
Defense attorney Paul Stockler on Tuesday pushed Bobrick on whether he turned on Anderson to save hirnseii, the some approach he
used the day before with the other star witness, Frank Prewitt, a former corrections commissioner who then became a Corneii
consuitsnt.
"i lost my career of 20 years. l lost my standing in this community," Bobrick said. And he may go to prison even yet.
"My life is pretty much wrecked because of my stupid, reckless actions," Bobrick said. He said he made $200,000 a year as a lobbyist
before the Anchorage Assembly, but no more.
Bobrick began cooperating with the F8l soon after agents calied him in test September, he said. They were in front of his house and
came in to piay recordings of conversations. Prewitt had secretly made recordings as a "coniidentiat source" for the FBI.
t reaiized i had done something wrong and t needed to do the dg;htthing," Bohrick said as prosecutor Joe Bottini questioned him. He
said tater that he had made tremendous errors in §udgmeni." When he thought the Web site wouid be a tegitimate business wiui
Anderson, he was in deniai," he said.
Bobrick acknowiedged other troubies. He said he once asked his mother to mat-ze a campaign contrioution, then felt bad about in so he
reimbursed her.
He also said he wore a wire, but prosecutors didn't introduce any of those recordings. His agreement with the government requires him
to cooperate and "testify truthfuliy," he said.
Based on how he does, prosecutors may ask. U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick to give him less than the estimated sentence of
24 to 30 months for conspiracy. But the way his life is going, i tuily expect to be hit pretty hard, Bobrick said.
During the investigation, he said, the FBi wouid "check up on me to make sure i had not kitted myseit.
THE BOGUS WEB StTE
The idea with the Web site or eiectronic newsietter was to have stringers ail over Alaska writing about their communities, Bobrick toid
" FBI - Stevens-906
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iurors. Companies iike Comelt or the deveiopers oi the Pebtaie mine might buy subscriptions or pay to advertise on it. State and tederai
issues wouid he aired too. Anderson could give the view from Juneau.
Wasn't it a re-at project, with Anderson being paid for reai work? Stockler asked time and again.
"I wanted the Web site to be real," Bobrick said. "... l didn't wake up one day thinking, 'lm going to bribe Tom Anderson. "
ButAnderson never produced any work, Bobrick said: no stories, no advertising contracts, no invoices. nothing. .
Anderson had to have known he was being paid for his inuence as a iegisiator, not ior the Web site, Bohrick testiiied. "At the end oi::Z<§;:£hats ati he had," said Bobrick, who toid iurors he had urged Anderson to pass the oar exam so he c-Quid practice law and do
Bohrick said he did pay two people to get the protect going. A tegislative aide to Anderson was paid to research viiieges, towns and
boroughs as a first step to nding stringers.
And Ken Erickson, now the Web master for the House Republican majority, received $1,000 as a partial payment to design and build
the Web site.
Erickson testified Tuesday that his main contact on the project was Bobrick. But he admitted under questioning by Bottini that
Anderson requested a detailed invoice ailer the fact. in September 2005. he said, he submitted one hackdated to Dec. 27, 2004.
He said he designed the site so that peopie without technicai sioiis could easily submit their stories. But the oniy story that ever ended
up on the site was one written by state Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage, that Erickson said he put on the site just to show it worked-
tie checked heck two or three times a year, but no one had contributed.
i gured the protect was dead or moribund. Erickson said.
Out of 100 or so Web sites that has designed for people over the years, this is the rst one that zzied after money was invested.
though maybe half die during the taiking stage, Erickson said.
PUSHING CC!RNELL'S INTERESTS
Aiso on Tuesday, prosecutors asked witnesses about Comeifs push to open at residential psychiatric treatment center in Anchorage for
emotionaiiy troubled kids.
Eobrick, who was a iobbyiet for Cornell on the proiect, toid iarors that he asked Anderson to testify at a Nov. ti. 2604, puhiic hearing
about the proiect.
Anderson signed in on behalf of himseif and never acknowiedged his nancial reiationship with Comeit, David Pierce, with the state
Department oi Heaith and Sociai Services, told jurors.
Twice in his testimony that day in 2004, Anderson said he had no connection to the competing groups seeking to open a treatment
center. But he said he could endorse Cornell because he had met the administrators and knew how they worked.
The trial resumes Thursday. The defense gets its chance to call witnesses.
Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com.contaci;iiden1er or cail 257-4390.
Anderson trial at a glance _
THE DEFENDANT: Torn Anderson, 39, represented East Anchorage in the state House irom E003 untii this year. He did not run in
2006. I
THE CHARGES: Three counts of money laundering, two oi extortion and one each of bribery and conspiracy.
THE CONSPIRACY: Federal prosecutors say Anderson participated in a scheme in which he agreed to do the bidding of the private
prison rm Cornell Cos. in exchange for money.
THE CO-CONSPRATOR: Lobbyist Bill Bobrick pleaded guilty in May to a single count of conspiracy. He set up a company reportedly
to produce a poiiticai Web site for which Anderson wouid write. Prosecutors say it became a sham used to funnel payments to
Anderson.
THE Tiht. SO FAR; The triat began June 25 with jury selection. The prosecution rested its case Tuesday after setting eight witnesses
over four days. Main government witnesses: Bobrick and Frank Prewiit, Alaska corrections commissioner in the 1990s and than a
Cerneii consultant. Working undercover for the F81, Prewitt made ah-out a dozen audio and video recordings involving Bobrick,
Anderson or both. He testified that Anderson knew he was being paid to do what Comet} wanted.
g FBI - Stevens-907
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THE DEFENSE: Defense lawyer Paul Stockler spent hours cross-examining Bobrick and Prewitt. His defense appears to be that the
FBI entrapped Anderson, the government witnesses are just trying to save themselves, and the actions Anderson took for Cornell were
the kinds of things that legislators do. He portrays Anderson as an eager-to-please legislator who wasn't the one who kept talking about
money.
COMING UP: The trial resumes Thursday, with the defense case. Stockler indicated Anderson hasn't decided whether to testify.
Caption:Bobrick
Caption:
Photo 1: BilIMugDSC_0Ol4_070407.jpg
Copyright c! 2007, Anchorage Daily News
Author: LISA DEMER Idemer@aan. com Staff
Section: Main
Page: A 1
Copyright c! 2007, Anchorage Daily News
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Paper: Anchorage Daily News {AK}
Title: Anderson lawyer lays foundation for entrapment defense ~
FBI TARGET: Stockler says the ex-lawmaker sought consulting work, not bribes.
Date: July 3, 2007
As the trial of former state Rep. Torn Anderson wrapped up its sixth day Monday, the defense strategy began to reveal itself.
The defense is trying to plant the idea with jurors that Anderson was lured into a trap and that Anderson didrrt do anything special for
the private prison rm Cornell Cos.
Federal prosecutors allege Anderson was paid $12,838 to use his legislative oice for Comell's bidding.
The government has introduced more than a dozen audio and video recordings involving Anderson. including a number in which he is
heard or seen talking about his willingness to help Cornell,
But during cross examination by defense lawyer Paul Stockler, former Cornell consultant Frank Prewitt testied that Anderson wasnt
even on the list oi targets when he began to work with the F8} in the spring of 2-394 in a corruption investigation oi legislators.
Prewitt said he began secretly recording Anderson at the FBls direction alter hearing from a Cornell lobbyist in Juneau that the
legislator wanted to work for the company as ta consultant. Prewltt, state corrections commissioner in the 19905, is the governments
chief witness.
Stockist seemed incredulous that would get the FBis attention. "Just a guy who is looking for some consulting work? he said in
questioning Prewitt.
But the FBl was very interested in Alaska legislators and their questionable consultant contracts, Prewitttestiried.
Later, prosecutor Nick Marsh asked Prewitt about a conversation in which Anderson's consulting work for Anchorage-based oil eld
services contractor Veco Corp. came up. -
Bill Bohrioir, a lotahyist in Anchorage, met with Prewitt at the Southside Bistro in Anchorage on July 21, 2004, to talk about setting up a
political newsletter orweb business that would be used to funnel payments from Comelt to Anderson. Bolxricit has pleaded guilty in the
scheme. As it worlsed out, Cornell never learned of the plan, and the money for the payments came from the F81.
in a recording of the lunch, Bobrick tells Prewitt that Anderson was making $2,580 a month for Veco and theyjust pay him to do
nothing.
Stoclder initially won a motion to oar the jury from hearing that. But prosecutors successfully argued Monday that they needed to show
they had a reason to investigate Anderson. U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwlck agreed that the conversation could he used to show
wasrftiust "a lark by the government.
Did Andersoniever do anything for Cornell other than use his position as a state legislator? Marsh asked Prewitt. No, Prewitt answered-
Slockler pressed Prewiit on whether during their meetings, Anderson brougiit up getting paid. Usually, Prewitt acknowledged, he was
the one to mention it.
"l never heard Anderson say Where's my money? " Prewitt said. FBI _ SteVenS_909
HQW LEGlStA'iORS BEFAVE
At a Dec. 2i, 2094, meeting ai the Whales Tale at the Hotel Caoiain Cook, Prewitt slid an envelope with two checks - one tor $8,006,
one for $2,000 -- to Anderson.
He didn't even open it up and look at it? Stockler said.
the kind oi actions that Anderson took - including asking Prewitt to e~mail him talking points about haiiway houses that he than used in
a letter to a state officials ~- represents common behavior among legislators, Prewitt acknowledged.
The difference, he told jurors, is that Anderson was getting paid.
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White the goverixment-introduced its recordings, including a voice-rnaii message, videotaped meetings ans shone conversations, many
others werent played toriurors, Prewitt said under questioning by Stockler.
For example, on Aug. 5, 2004, Prewitt took Anderson, Bobrick and state Rep. Mike l-lawlrer. R-Anchorage and the head of two key
budget panels, on his sailboat for a trip out of Whittier. Prewitt acknowledged he recorded the outing.
Was the FBI following along in another boat? $tockler asked.
Dent know, Prevntt answered.
Wasrft the real reason for the saiiing trip to make Anderson feel like a friend? Stockier asked. Prewitt said it wasnt.
On the trio, when Hawker was asked it he was on the budget nanei for health, education and social services, he responded: "l own the
HESS subcommittee, Stockier said. Wasn't that kind of taik iust boastful? Stookler asked. True, Prewitt said.
While Hawkefs name has come up in the tnai as a supporter of private orisons and halfway houses, he wasn't getting paid to take
those positions, Prewitt said.<
As far as Prewitt's marching orders from the FE?-l, he said he was told not to do anything illegal but to explore certain areas, like
consulting contracts. When the F81 rst approached him, Prewitt himself was under investigation for possibly illegal acts stretching back
to 1994.
Was he ever toid he had to "hag a state legisiator? Marsh asked him.
ho, Prewitt answered.
A FRiEi92iD til NEED
Another witness, Marc Antrim, corrections commissioner in the Murkowski administration, testified that he was in contact with the FBi
as it was investigating Anderson.
Anderson, in the letter based on Prewitfs emailed talking points, asked Antrim for a meeting to talk about how halfway house beds
were needlessly going empty.
Antrim ioid iurors that in fact. tow-risk inmates were being out into haltrray houses. but that to ll more beds, riskier or more serious
offenders wouitt have to be placed in them. That aiready was happening and the number of inmates walking away from halfway houses
had gone through the root. Antrim said.
He said he explained that in an October 2804 meeting with Anderson.
Aiso on Monday, Eobrick began testifying forthe prosecution, He toid jurors that he and Anderson had been friends for years.
Sometime early in 2004 "Tom came to me and told me he needed money," Bobrick said. "He was my friend and i wanted to help him
oui."
Bobrick will be on the stand again today.
Find Lisa Denier online at adn.oorn1'contact=idemer or call 257-4390.
FOR MORE CO92fERr192GE of the Anderson irtai, visit
adn.comr'corru_c-iion
Anderson triat eta glance FBI _ StevenS_91O
THE DEFENDANT: Tom Anderson, 39, represented East Anchorage in the state House from 2003 until this year. He did not run in
2006. r
THE CHARGES: Three counts of money laundering, two of extortion and one each of bribery and conspiracy.
THE CGNSPRACY: Feclerai prosecutors say Anderson participated in a scheme in which he agreed to do the bidding of the private
prison firm Cornell Cos. in exchange for money.
THE CO~COi92iSPiRATOR: Lobbyist Bobrick nieaded guilty in May to a single count of conspiracy. He set up a company roportediy
to produce a political Web site for which Anderson would write. Prosecutors say it was a sham used to funnel payments to Anderson.
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THE TRIAL SO FAR: The prosecution has nished with three witnesses. The main witness was Frank Prewitt, Alaska corrections
commissioner in the 1990s and then a Cornell consultant. Working undercover for the FBI, he made about a dozen audio and video
recordings involving Bobrick, Anderson or both. He testied that Anderson knew he was being paid to do what Cornell wanted.
COMING UP: Bobrick started testifying tate Monday and continues today.
THE DEFENSE: Defense lawyer Paul Stockler hasn't yet put on his case, but he spent hours cross-examining Prewitt. His defense
appears to be that the FBI entrapped Anderson, and that the actions Anderson took for Cornell were the kinds of things that legislators
do. He portrays Anderson as an eager-to-please legislator who wasn't the one who kept taiking about money.
Photo 1: Bobrick01__070307.jpg
Copyright c! 2007, Anchorage Daily News
Author: LISA DEMER [email protected] Start
Section: Main
Page: A'l
Copyright c! 2007, Anchorage Daily News
FBI - Stevens-911
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lV'en/'.=s%anIin;..- Access Work? {news
Paper: Anchorage Daily News AK!
Title: Anderson case iikely to get to jury today -
DEFENSE: Lawyers say ex-tawmaker was duped by FBK; he doe-snt testify.
Date: Juiy 6, 208?
On June i3, 2805; an FBl agent ieit a message on then-state Rep. Tom Andersons ceii phone asking for his views on an upmming
iederai appointment because he had been such a friend or iaw enforcement in the past.
But when Anderson showed up at the FBl building in downtown Anchorage the next day, he discovered that was just a pioy. He was
the target of an undercover FBl investigation.
Huge blown-up pictures from a iive-hour-long Prince William Sound sailing trip on the boat of Cornell Cos. consultant Frank Prewitt
were on the wall. Agents played secretly made recordings oi his conversations with Prewitt and lobbyist Bill Bobrick.
The agents wanted to get Anderson to cooperate in its ongoing corruption investigation. And for a time he did, prosecutors said.
The defense in Andersone corruption triai wrapped up Thursday after five quick witnesses. The case is expected to go to the iury
today after dosing arguments. Anderson is charged with seven iederat ieionies, inotuding orihery, extortion and money laundering.
Defense tawyer Paul Stookler maintained that Anderson never took any legislative actions tor money. He tried to portray Anderson as
a man who had no inclination to do anything; shady but was iured in to doing questionable things by the FBl.
Anderson didn't take the stand. After court ended for the day on Thursday, Anderson said he trusted Siockles judgment in directing
his defense. With the case about to go to the jury, he said he felt anxious but didnit want to say much.
Eariier in the triai, Bohrlck testied that he created a business that was supposed to produce a Web site about Aiaska poiitios. But he
told jurors that it ultimately became a sham used to tunnel iiiegal payments from Prewitt to Anderson. Prosecutors assert that the
money was used to get the iegisiator to do Cornelia bidding on halfway houses, a iuvenila treatment center and a private prison.
Though Anderson was suooosed to have produced rnateriai for the Web site, witnesses have testified that he never did.
Sooriok has nieacied guiity and Prewitt worked undercover for the FBi, making; recordings as a cooperating witness.
Both sides sutiered setbacks on Thursday. Two witnesses for Anderson wererrt aitowed to testify that he had approached them about
the Web site.
And prosecutors iost their effort to bar an entrapment defense. Prosecutor Nick Marsh said they were never put on notice about it and
there's no evidence Anderson was lured in.
But U.S. District Judge John Sedwick said, "It takes very iittle evidence to entitle a defendant to an entrapment defense." Thejudge
said ii he didrrt allow it, and Anderson were convicted, he might appeai on grounds that he had "ineffective assistance of counsei.
Stoclder said he didni bring entrapment up eariier because he learned more about it during the triai, in particuiar how the F82 was
steering the conversations and interactions Prewitt and others were having with Anderson.
AGENT TESTiFiE$
One of the defense witnesses was the PB! case agent, Mary Beth Kepner, who has sat beside prosecutors throughout the triai. No FBi
agents testified for the government. .
With jurors out of the room, Stockler told Sedwlck that he expected Kepner to say that the FBI told Anderson in that June 2005
meeting lo stop working on the Web site. That wouid explain why Anderson hadn't written articles or done other demonstrable work in
exchange for the $25,838 witnesses said was paid to him.
But that's not what Kepner ioid jurors a few minutes tater.
When asked by Stooitier, iiepner testified that the FBl didnt teii Anderson to stop working on the site.
Why the ruse to get Anderson to meet with the F8! at that June meeting? prosecutor Marsti asked Keener.
The FBl wanted to gain Anderson's cooperation in its ongoing corruption investigation and ciidnt want to blow its "covert status."
FBI » Stevens~912
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Keener toid the jury.
Stockler aiso wanted to question Kepner about secret recordings that were not used by the prosecution. to show that they contained no
evidence that Anderson was corrupt.
But, with the jury out of the room, the judge said that would be like someone going into a 7~Eieven store hundreds of times and only
robbing it once - alt that matters at trial is whether the robbery happened.
The government isn't on triai, Sedwick told Stockler.
The defense lawyer disagreed. The worst thing Anderson did was ask for consuiting work, he said.
CUENTS SUPPORT ANDERSON
Stoolder called two of Anderson's former consuitirsg ciients on Thursday, asking them whether he voted their way in the Legislature
after they paid him for consulting work
No, said Bernadette Bradley, owner of The Bradley House restaurant and bar in South Anchorage and president of the hospitality trade
group Anchorage Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers Association, or Anchorage CHARR.
ln fact, she testified that Anderson -- the group's executive director before he took ottice and a sometimes consultant while in the
Legislature -- voted against the groups interests a number of times. For instance, he supported iegisiation towering the legai limit of
blood aloe-hot content for driving.
The answer was not as ciear cut regarding the Aiastta Teieohone Association, which paid Anderson $20,888 in 2303, meiniy with the
hope that hed end up better educated on teiephone issues, according to James Rowe, the organizations executive director. Anderson
and the association both ended up supoorting the same tziii raising fees charged for Bit sewices. The association was glad the
increase wasn't even higher, Rowe testled.
Also testitiying for Anderson: his togislative aide Josh Appiebee, who worked on the Web site, and state Rep. Bob Roses, who
replaced him in the Legislature.
in eariy 2005, Aoplebee was Anderson's chief of staff. He said he worked after hours to identity contacts in communities all around
Aiaska who might write stories for the site. By March, he needed direction from Anderson on how to proceed. That never happened, he
acknowtedged.
Find Lisa Demo." oniine at adn.com!conteci}tderner or cat! 25?-4398.
ANDERSON TPJAL: For more coverage, including pest stories, his indictment and court motions, and audio excerpts of the opening
statements, visit
aclmoomlcorruption
Caption:Anderson
Caption:
Photo it Anderson.1_07G607.jpg
Copyright to} 209?, Anchorage Deity News
Author: USA DEMER tdemar@eo'n.com Staff
Sect,-on: Main
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Paper: Anchorage Daily News {AK}
Title: Anderson iury ends first day; no verdict -
CORRUPTiON TRlAL: Jurors will return Monday to resume deliberations.
Date: July 7, 2007
A federal jury of eight women and four men spent Friday afternoon deliberating whether former state Rep. Tom Anderson took bribes,
then concealed the money from the public, other legislators, slate officials and even those closest to him.
They dicint reach a verdict and will be back in the iury room on Monday. The corruption case went in iurors around noon Friday, the
trials ninth day.
Anderson faces seven federal felonies including bribery, extortion and money laundering. He is accused of accepting payments to do
private prison rm Cornell Cole bidding.
if he is convicted, he taces prison time and steep lines.
As a group, the jurors look relatively young. They are mainly longtime Alaskans. One attended Dirnond High School with Andersorrs
wife, state Sen. Lesii McGuire. Several work with numbers: a payroll accountant, an insurance claims adjuster, a business manager.
There's also a custodian, at Wal-Mart department manager. a pipeline technician.
During the trial, lobbyist Bill Elobrick leslied forthe government that he set up a Web business that was supposed lo be about Alaska
politics but ultimately was used as a way to funnel money to Anderson. "
Nearly $24,066 went to Anderson through Bohrick from a Cornell consultant, who was working undercover for the -government. The
consultant, Frank Prewilt, iestietl that he gave Anderson another $2,000 directly. The Web site never got off the ground.
The F81 provided the money for the payments and Cornell didn't know about the scheme.
On Friday, lawyers on bolh sides gave impassioned closing arguments in a courtroom crowded with spectators including FBI agents,
other attorneys, and friends and family of Anderson.
McGuire sat; in the front row, as she has throughout the trial. Anderson's mother was there too. His father, a former director oi Alaska
State Troopers, diclrft attend, Anderson said his clad is busy building a home in Wesilla but wanted to come.
PROSECUTOR: ANDERSON SOLD NFLUENCE
Prosecutor Nick Marsh, who is with the public integrity section of the U.S. Justice Department out of Washington, D.C., told jurors
Anderson knew exactly what he was doing when he agreed to use his inuence as a legislator on behalf of Cornell.
"ifs for official acts. its money tor be
…[truncated]