Alaska political corruption probe

Alaska political corruption probe refers to a widespread investigation from 2003 to the present by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service into political corruption of lawmakers in the Alaska State Legislature, as well as Congressman Don Young and former US Senator Ted Stevens. The investigation focused in particular on lawmakers' official actions in relation to the oil industry, fisheries, and private corrections industry. The remaining Republican Senator from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, has not been implicated in the probe, but returned a Kenai River Front property^{[dead link]} to close associate Bob Penny^{[dead link]}, a real estate developer and longtime donor of the Alaska Republican Delegation. It was sold to her at about a third of market value, was not declared in her congressional disclosure forms, and along with Stevens and Young she has affected earmarks that a federally funded road be built to it. As of August, 2011 Senator Lisa Murkowski's office continues to be surrounded in scandal, as it was announced that long time supporter and fisheries aide Arne Fuglvog has pled guilty to violations of the Lacey Act and falsifying catch records over a number of years. Murkowski maintains she has had no knowledge of the violations or the plead deal worked out with prosecutors, and retained Fuglvog on her staff until he announced his resignation. As of November 2008 the investigation has resulted in indictments against five current and former Alaska state legislators on corruption charges, as well as the indictment and conviction of the late US Senator Ted Stevens on seven felony counts of failure to disclose gifts (later vacated). In addition, there have been guilty pleas by two executives of the oilfield services company VECO Corporation to charges of bribery and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service. A number of Alaska businessmen, lobbyists and others have also been either indicted, convicted or otherwise implicated.

Figures of note

Name	Indicted	Pled Guilty/Convicted	Sentenced	Sentence	Started Serving	Current Location
Bill Allen	Yes	May 7, 2007	28 October 2009	Three years, $750,000 fine
Tom Anderson	Yes	July 9, 2007	October 15, 2007	60 months	December 3, 2007	Sheridan FCI
Bill Bobrick	Yes	May 16, 2007	November 27, 2007	5 months
Jim Clark	Yes	March 4, 2008	Court vacated indictment, all charges dropped
John Cowdery	Yes	December 19, 2008	March 10, 2009	6 months house arrest, $25,000 fine
Vic Kohring	Yes	November 1, 2007	May 8, 2008	3½ years		Agreed to plead guilty after previous conviction was overturned, sentenced to time already served and one year of supervised release
Pete Kott	Yes	September 25, 2007	December 7, 2007	72 months	January 17, 2008	Agreed to plead guilty after previous conviction was overturned, sentenced to time already served, three years supervised release, fine of $10,000
Beverly Masek	Yes	March 12, 2009	Scheduled May 28, 2009	six months+3 years probation	November 11, 2009
Donald Olson	No
Rick Smith	Yes	May 7, 2007	28 October 2009	21 months, $10,000 fine
Ben Stevens	No
Ted Stevens	Yes	October 27, 2008	Convictions voided, no retrial was held			Died August 9, 2010
Jerry Ward	No
Bill Weimar	Yes	August 11, 2008	Nov 12, 2008	6 months and $75,000 fine		Completed federal sentence and probation. Awaiting trial for alleged child sexual abuse, Sarasota, Florida
Bruce Weyhrauch	Yes			Federal charges dismissed, pled guilty to state charges, received probation
Don Young	No

Corrupt Bastards Club

The name "Corrupt Bastards Club" (alternatively "Corrupt Bastards Caucus") has been widely, if with limited accuracy, used to designate Alaska legislators implicated in the federal corruption (a.k.a., "Polar Pen") investigation. The nickname originated in the spring of 2006 as a barroom joke among Alaska legislators after a guest article by Lori Backes, executive director of All Alaska Alliance, that ran in Alaska's three largest newspapers named 11 lawmakers who had received large campaign contributions from executives of the oilfield services company VECO Corporation, which has a long history of making large campaign contributions to Alaska politicians. The article also named Senate President Ben Stevens as having received large consulting fees from VECO.^[1][2]

In her article, Backes detailed the amount of political campaign donations contributed between 1998 and 2004 by the top seven VECO executives to Alaska lawmakers who were in office at the time her article was written. The figures were based on reports to the Alaska Public Offices Commission

• Senator John Cowdery (R-Anchorage), Senate Rules Committee Chair: $24,550.
• Representative Pete Kott (R-Eagle River), former speaker of the House: $21,300.
• Representative Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage), House Rules Committee Chair: $18,000.
• Representative Vic Kohring (R-Wasilla), House Oil and Gas Committee Chair : $14,708.
• Governor Frank Murkowski: $6,500 (excluding donations to past U.S. Senate races)
• Representative (currently Senator) Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage), House Finance Committee Co-Chair: $12,300.
• Representative Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski), House Finance Committee Co-Chair: $12,000.
• Representative (currently Senator) Lesil McGuire (R-Anchorage), House Judiciary Committee Chair: $12,000.
• Senator Con Bunde (R-Anchorage), Senate Labor and Commerce Committee Chair: $11,500.
• Senator Lyda Green (R-Wasilla), Senate Finance Committee Co-Chair: $28,000.
• Representative Mike Hawker (R-Anchorage): $8,050.
• Representative Tom Anderson (R-Anchorage), House Labor and Commerce Chair: $8,000.

Additionally, Backes noted the consulting contract Senate President Ben Stevens (R-Anchorage) had with VECO Corporation and financial relationships other lawmakers had with other companies active in the oil and gas industry, including Conoco Phillips and ASCG Incorporated, the latter a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation which is heavily involved in oilfield business in Alaska.^[1]

According to Chenault, one of the lawmakers named in the article: "Somebody walked up [in the bar] and said, 'You corrupt bastards,' and that name stuck." Hats with the label "CBC," standing for "Corrupt Bastards Club" or "Corrupt Bastards Caucus," were later printed up, but according to Chenault "that was the extent of the CBC deal."^[2]

Backes article failed to note that members of the families of VECO executives, in particular Allen himself, were used to launder money as well^{[citation needed]}.

Raids on legislative offices

On August 31 and September 1, 2006 the FBI served some 20 search warrants in Anchorage, Juneau, Wasilla, Eagle River, Girdwood, and Willow, primarily on the offices of several legislators. Legislators whose offices were searched included Senator John Cowdery, Senate President (and son of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens) Ben Stevens), Representative Vic Kohring, Representative Bruce Weyhrauch, Senator Donald Olson, and Representative Pete Kott.^[3][4][5] The warrants permitted the search of computer files, personal diaries, Alaska Public Offices Commission reports, and any other items showing evidence of financial ties between legislators and the oilfield services company VECO Corporation,^[6] as well as clothing items with the phrase "Corrupt Bastards Club" or its related acronym printed on it.^[5] A search warrant for Sen. Donald Olson's Juneau office, made available by his office to the public, specifically authorized the seizure of documents relating to VECO Corporation executives Bill Allen (CEO), Richard Smith (vice president), Pete Leathard (president), and Roger Chan (chief financial officer). The warrant also authorized the seizure of clothing, including hats, bearing the logos or phrases "VECO," "Corrupt Bastards Caucus," "Corrupt Bastards Club," or "CBC" printed on them.^[7]

Marijuana and paraphernalia were discovered in Weyhrauch's office during the raid.

John Cowdery was indicted [1] for bribery and extortion under official right and bribery concerning programs that receive federal funding. The indictment includes information on ex-Governor Frank Murkowski's planned natural gas line that was mostly worked out in secret with the major oil companies with an interest in the project.^{[citation needed]}

Management of corruption investigation

It later emerged that the investigation of political corruption in Alaska was being managed not by the Alaska U.S. Attorney's office, but rather by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., with FBI agents working out of the FBI building in downtown Anchorage acting as lead investigators. The FBI raids on legislative offices on August 31 and September 1 involved dozens of extra FBI agents brought up from the Lower 48, but sent home after the initial round of searches and interviews. Other agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, were also involved.^[8]

The Public Integrity Section, created in 1976, is charged with investigation of election fraud, misconduct by federal judges, and corruption of elected officials in all levels of government — federal, state, and local.^[8][9] While U.S. Attorney offices also investigate and prosecute public corruption cases, because U.S. Attorneys are political appointees in local jurisdictions, they are sometimes recused from particular cases.^[8][10]

Brooke Miles, then-executive director of the Alaska Public Offices Commission, reported that the FBI began to collect public campaign reports and financial disclosure records on selected Alaska legislators perhaps a year prior to the raids, and returned at the start of 2006 to obtain such records for all legislators.^[8]

Investigation widens

Fisheries

The FBI conducted a second search on the legislative office of Sen. Ben Stevens on September 18, 2006, seizing among other items documents related to the proposed natural gas pipeline and the oil and gas tax law which had been discussed in the Alaska Legislature during the regular and two special legislative sessions in 2006, as well as items related his work on the Senate Ethics Committee and documents related to fisheries. Stevens disclosed the Anchorage Daily News that the FBI seized items during both searches of his office related to the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board (AFMB), created under legislation by Ben Steven's father, U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, to distribute federal grants to promote Alaska seafood.^[11] Ben Stevens had been chair of AFMB until early in 2006.^[12] He had received consulting fees from at least three organizations that had benefited from the grants^[11] — over $250,000 during the time he served on the board.^[12] Other documents related to fisheries were also seized in the September 18 FBI search.^[11] One of these was a copy of an affidavit by Victor Smith, a salmon fisherman from Friday Harbor who alleged that Stevens had been paid by a seiners association to lobby his father and that he failed to disclose that income as required by Alaska law.^[12]

Private corrections

In October 2006, Rep. Vic Kohring's attorney, Wayne Anthony Ross, provided the Anchorage Daily News with a copy of the search warrant that had been served on Kohring on August 31, as well as a list of items seized. The warrant showed that federal investigators were also interested in information related to developer Marc Marlow and correspondence between Kohring and the Alaska Department of Corrections. Ross told the Anchorage Daily News that his client had been questioned by the FBI about Cornell Companies' (now owned by GEO Group) effort in cooperation with VECO Corporation to build a private prison in Whittier, an effort which failed due to gubernatorial and bipartisan legislative opposition. The Daily News observed, "Those documents, though lacking detail or context, suggest that the probe is wide-ranging and not focused on any one company, issue or individual."^[13]

Tom Anderson arrested on federal bribery and extortion charges

Main article: Tom Anderson (politician)

The observation by the Anchorage Daily News and other news organizations that the probe had a wider focus than legislators' ties to VECO Corporation was confirmed on December 7, 2006, when Representative Tom Anderson - whose offices had not been targeted by the August and September FBI raids — was arrested on allegations of extortion, bribery, conspiracy, and money laundering involving his support of a private corrections company. Anderson was accused of accepting money from a private corrections company through a shell corporation set up by a lobbyist, identified in Anderson's charging documents as "Lobbyist A" and later identified as prominent Anchorage lobbyist Bill Bobrick, to disguise the source of payments. Unbeknownst to Anderson or Bobrick, their contact with the private corrections company was a confidential source of the FBI working undercover. According to federal prosecutors, the private corrections company — unidentified in the court documents but widely believed to be Cornell Companies — was not implicated in the plot, and had been unaware of the FBI investigation until Anderson's indictment and arrest. The confidential informant in the case was Frank Prewitt, a former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Corrections who later took jobs first with halfway house entrepreneur Bill Weimar, and subsequently with Cornell Companies, which bought out Weimar to establish its Alaska operations.^[14] Court documents filed on March 22, 2010 in a criminal appeal indicated that Prewitt had been paid $200,000 for his assistance in investigating and convicting his former associates.^[15] In 2010, Weimar who was on federal probation after serving six months in prison for illegal campaign contributions, allegedly forced sex on a six-year-old Sarasota girl. After being indicted on January 23, 2011 he fled to Havana, Cuba. From there he flew to Cancun, Mexico where he was arrested on his yacht and extradited back to Florida.^[16]

Subpoenas of fisheries businesses

Additional subpoenas were served on fishery executives involved with federal funding and the United Fishermen of Alaska who have had business associations with Ben Stevens.

Indictment, arrest of Kott, Kohring and Weyhrauch

On May 4, 2007, former Representatives Pete Kott (R-Eagle River) and Bruce Weyhrauch (R-Juneau) were arrested and charged with bribery, extortion wire and mail fraud. Then-Representative Vic Kohring (R-Wasilla) later turned himself in and was similarly charged. All three were arraigned in Juneau. Charges against the three involved allegations of soliciting and receiving money and favors from VECO chief executive officer Bill Allen and chief lobbyist and V.P. Rick Smith in return for their votes on an oil tax law favored by the VECO that was the subject of vigorous debate during the 2006 legislative session and two special sessions in 2006.^[17]

Kott and Kohring were both convicted, but their convictions were later vacated due to miscondict by the prosecuting attorneys. In 2011 both agreed to plead guilty. Prosecutors agreed to recommend both men be sentenced to time served and subject to conditions upon release.^[18]

Of the original 6 lawmakers who had their legislative offices searched, only State Senator Don Olson (D-Nome) was not implicated in the scandal.

VECO executives indicted, plead guilty

In the wake of the scandal VECO was broken up and most of its assets, including its former Alaska headquarters in Anchorage, were purchased by CH2M HILL

On May 7, 2007, VECO CEO Bill Allen and Vice President for Community & Government Affairs Rick Smith pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Anchorage to charges of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service.

In addition to the three politicians arraigned on May 4, the new court filings mention illegal payments made to a former state senator, named as "Senator B" in court documents, who received over $240,000 from VECO Corp. over several years, income which Senator B reported as "consulting fees." In the May 7 guilty pleas by Allen and Smith, they admit that the only work done by Senator B in exchange for the funds was advancing VECO's agenda in the state legislature. The only former state senator who matches the information contained in court documents about Senator B is former Senator Ben Stevens (R-Anchorage), son of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). To date, Ben Stevens has not been indicted.^[19] Another state senator discussed in the court documents, identified as "Senator A" in court documents, was identified by sources as John Cowdery.^[20]

On May 11, 2007 at a meeting of the VECO Corporation's board of directors and shareholders, Bill Allen resigned as the company's CEO and chairman of its board of directors, citing "the best interest of the corporation, all of our companies, and our many valued employees and customers." Allen's daughter Tammy Kerrigan replaced him as chairman of the board; a new CEO had not yet been chosen. At the same meeting, Rick Smith resigned from his position as vice president of community and government affairs. It is not clear from the VECO statement if Smith's position will be refilled.^[21]

Lobbyist Bill Bobrick charged, pled guilty in Tom Anderson bribery probe

On May 14, 2007, William (Bill) Bobrick, a prominent municipal lobbyist in Anchorage, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, bribery, and money laundering in the same scheme for which Rep. Tom Anderson was indicted the previous December. Bobrick was the creator of the shell corporation, Pacific Publishing, through which money was allegedly funneled to Anderson. Bobrick also received money through the scheme.^[22] Bobrick appeared in U.S. District Court in Anchorage on May 16, where he entered a guilty plea. Bobrick was sentenced after the trial of Tom Anderson, scheduled to begin June 25, where Bobrick testified for the prosecution. Under sentencing guidelines Bobrick faced a possible 2 to 2½ years imprisonment, but his sentence was reduced to six months in return for his cooperation with prosecutors.^[23]

In reaction to Bobrick's part in the corruption scandal, the Anchorage Assembly on May 22, 2007 unanimously approved a measure which prohibits individuals who have been convicted of a felony within the past 10 years of registering as a lobbyist with the Municipality of Anchorage.^[24]

US Senator Ted Stevens investigated, charged, convicted and verdict vacated

Mug shot of Ted Stevens, taken by the United States Marshals Service in July 2008.

Ted Stevens was also investigated by both the FBI and IRS. Authorities investigated an extensive remodeling project done at Stevens' home in the small town of Girdwood. Unusual aspects of this remodeling project that were investigated were that the project was supervised by VECO, and invoices for the work on the residence were first sent to VECO before being sent to the senator. Some of the issues investigated were the extent of work done on the home, exactly who paid the invoices from the construction contractors and their subcontractors, and the purpose and extent of VECO's involvement.

On the morning of July 30, 2007, agents from the FBI and the IRS raided the residence in Girdwood. Photographs and video of the inside and outside of the residence were taken. Wine bottles in the home were photographed as objects of interest. The raid continued well into the evening. [2]

On July 29, 2008, just a day short of the anniversary of the Girdwood raids, Stevens was charged with seven counts of false statements involving VECO, the oil services company in Alaska, and the renovations done on his home.

Stevens was found guilty on all charges on October 27, 2008. Eight days later Stevens narrowly lost re-election to Democratic Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. [3]

On April 1, 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder decided to drop all charges against Ted Stevens after a review of the case turned up evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, including failure to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to Stevens' attorneys. Since Stevens has not been sentenced, Holder's action effectively vacated Stevens' conviction. [4]

Stevens died en route to a remote hunting lodge, in a corporate executive airplane crash on August 9, 2010,^[25]

US dropped Jim Clark corruption conviction

In 2008, Clark admitted that he was aware that Veco Corp had paid $10,000 for a political poll to gauge the popularity of then-incumbent Governor Murkowski, and was charged with "honest services fraud". Before he was sentenced, the US Supreme Court ruled that the statute was drafted with unconstitutional vagueness and henceforth will only cover "fraudulent schemes to deprive another of honest services through bribes or kickbacks supplied by a third party who ha[s] not been deceived." [3] Since Clark was guilty of neither bribes or kickbacks, all charges were voided. [4]

Bill Weimar pleads guilty to making illegal campaign contributions

On August 11, 2008, the Anchorage Daily News reported that Bill Weimar, a former operator of halfway houses for inmates in Alaska was indicted and charged with two felony counts alleging campaign finance violations. Weimar funneled money to an unnamed consultant for an unnamed state legislative candidate in 2004. Weimar agreed to plead guilty to the charges, and in exchange prosecutors will ask for a reduced sentence, a nonbinding agreement that the judge is free to modify. [5] Weimar subsequently pleaded guilty in federal court in Anchorage. His sentencing occurred on November 12, 2008. Weimar was sentenced to 6 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a US $75,000 fine. [6]

Jerry Ward implicated in probe

On December 15, 2008, the Anchorage Daily News reported that former Alaska state senator Jerry Ward had been implicated in the probe. Ward allegedly convinced a witness in the trial against Senator Ted Stevens to lie about an immunity deal in court to ensure that he was included in it and would therefore not be prosecuted. According to federal prosecutors, Ward had been under investigation for some time over his relationship with Bill Weimar, who has been convicted of two felony counts in the matter and sentenced to prison. While he is presumed to be under continued investigation, Ward has not to date been charged. [7]

John Cowdery pleads guilty

On December 18, 2008 KTUU Anchorage Channel 2, an affiliate of NBC, reported that Cowdery had agreed to change his plea from not guilty to guilty in exchange for some of the charges against him being dropped. As part of his plea agreement, Cowdery did not have to testify against other defendants in the case. No sentencing parameters were agreed upon as a result of this agreement. Cowdery subsequently pleaded guilty in federal court on December 19, 2008. [8] Due in part to his age and alleged infirmity, he was only sentenced to 6 months of house arrest and fined US$25,000.

Beverly Masek pleads guilty

On March 13, 2009, the Anchorage Daily News reported that former Alaska state representative Beverly Masek had pleaded guilty to soliciting and accepting at least $4,000 in bribes from VECO Corp. Masek, who originally rose to fame by competing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race while still known by her maiden name of Beverly Jerue, was first elected to the House in 1994. Masek won an open seat in an election year where the remaining legislative contests in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley all saw Democratic incumbents lose to their Republican challengers, including Jalmar M. Kerttula, who lost his Senate seat to Lyda Green and was the all-time longest-serving member of the Alaska Legislature at 32 years. Masek represented a district consisting of the northern and western reaches of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the House from 1995 to 2005 before being defeated by Mark Neuman in the 2004 primary election. Masek was sentenced on September 23, 2009. [9] The six-month sentence was described as "lenient."

See also

• Public Integrity Section
• Alaska Legislature
• List of state and local political scandals in the United States

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Backes, Lori. (2006-03-03). "Follow money to governor's gas deal — Compass: Points of view from the community." Republished 2006-09-05. Anchorage Daily News." Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
2. ^ ^{a b} Volz, Matt. (2006-09-05). "From barroom joke to federal warrants." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
3. ^ Volz, Matt. (1006-08-31). "FBI agents search offices of at least six lawmakers." Associated Press. Anchorage Daily News Retrieved 2007-05-07.
4. ^ Mauer, Richard. (2006-09-05). "Federal agents raid legislative offices." Anchorage Daily News Retrieved 2007-05-07.
5. ^ ^{a b} Demer, Lisa. (2006-09-06). "FBI wanted to know about VECO, hat gifts — Legislators: Reps. Bill Stoltze, Mike Hawker were questioned, not suspected." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
6. ^ Associated Press. (2006-08-31). "Aides say agents looking for gifts, financial information." Associated Press. Anchorage Daily News Retrieved 2007-05-07.
7. ^ United States District Court, District of Alaska. (2006-08-29).Search warrant for the legislative office of State Senator Donald Olson, located in the State Capitol Building, Room 510, Juneau, Alaska. Case no. 3:06-mJ-00153-JDR.
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Mauer, Richard. (2006-09-11). "Probe of Veco, lawmakers led by Justice Dept." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
9. ^ U.S. Department of Justice. (n.d.) Public Integrity Section. U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
10. ^ Public Integrity Section. (2006) Report to Congress on the Activities and Operations of the Public Integrity Section for 2005. U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
11. ^ ^{a b c} Mauer, Richard and Lisa Demer. (2006-09-26). "FBI returns for more from Stevens' office — Connection: Some material relates to fisheries legislation his father handled in U.S. Senate." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
12. ^ ^{a b c} Berton, Hal. (2006-10-04). "Alaska probe turns from oil to fish." Seattle Times. Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
13. ^ Demer, Lisa. (2006-10-09). "FBI looks at more than Veco — Inquiry: Officials show interest in a developer and the Department of Corrections." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
14. ^ Mauer, Richard, Lisa Demer, and Tom Kizzia. (2006-12-09). "Anderson indicted on seven counts: Federal bribery case centers on link to prison firm lobbyist." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
15. ^ http://www.adn.com/2010/03/23/1196639/filing-fbi-paid-prewitt-200k-during.html
16. ^ Mauer, Richard (2011-02-15). "Weimar flight from Cuba to Mexico cost him his freedom" Anchorage Daily News Accessed 2/24/11
17. ^ Burke, Jill. (2007-05-04). "Kott, Weyhrauch and Kohring arrested for corruption." KTUU Channel 2 News, Anchorage. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
18. ^ Prosecutors Outline Kott, Kohring Plea Agreements Associated Press/Alaska Public Radio Network 10/19/11
19. ^ Demer, Lisa and Toomey, Sheila. (2007-05-07). "Unnamed lawmakers cited in federal charges against Veco identifiable." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
20. ^ Tracy, John. (2007-05-07). "VECO brass strike plea deal on charges of bribing lawmakers." KTUU Channel 2 News, Anchorage. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
21. ^ Demer, Lisa. (2007-05-11). "Allen out as VECO CEO." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
22. ^ Demer, Lisa. (2007-05-15). "Bobrick charged with conspiracy in bribery probe." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
23. ^ Demer, Lisa. (2007-05-17). "Top lobbyist admits scheme: Influence money funneled to Rep. Tom Anderson, Bobrick testifies." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
24. ^ Hopkins, Kyle. (2007-05-23). "Corruption case prompts ethics action in Assembly — Influence: Convicted felons can't register to be lobbyists on city business." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
25. ^ "Stevens killed in crash near Dillingham - KTUU.com". KTUU.com. 2010-08-04. http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=12952729. Retrieved 2010-08-10. 

External links

• Alaska Public Offices Commission Alaska Public Offices Commission home page.
• "Judge rules "Corrupt Bastards" be tried separately" Continuing coverage of Alaska's legislator scandal from AlaskaReport.com.
• "Alaska Political Corruption." Continuing coverage on the corruption scandal from the Anchorage Daily News.
• "FBI Probe on Capitol Hill." Continuing coverage on the corruption scandal from the Juneau Empire.
• "Veco." Continuing coverage about VECO Corporation from the Anchorage Daily News, with particular emphasis on VECO's connections to the corruption scandal.
• Lisa's Deal Sen. Murkowski's Kenai River land buy looks fishy Anchorage Daily News.
• Lisa Murkowski Alaska has a new top political funder: Bob Penney. He is quite close to Senators Stevens and Murkowski.
• Entire Alaska Delegation Contributed Earmarks To 3 Mile Road To cover matching costs required by some of the federal money, Murkowski's father, then-Gov. Frank Murkowksi ponied up another $325,000 in state funds TPM Muckraker.
• Bill Allen waiting for 'ax to fall' Anchorage Daily News story, published August 17, 2008, on the VECO sale.
• Judge shows leniency in Masek sentence for corruption ADN story, published September 24, 2009, on the sentencing of Masek.