"Alaska's Corrupt Bastards Club" a new documentary by our friend Dennis Zaki.

From the site:  

The true story of the ongoing corruption that runs rampant in Alaska. 

Alaska-based oil companies bribe politicians, engage in racketeering all in a conspiracy to rob Alaska of its oil wealth, much of it done right out in the open. They were so brazen that a girlfriend of one of the criminals had hats made with CBC on them. 

I'll also delve into a murder plot, underaged sex, extortion, and con artists masquerading as lawmakers doing the bidding of their oil company bosses.

Dennis has done extensive research and has gotten his hands on information and film footage that has never yet seen the light of day.

I guarantee you that this movie will shock even those of you who think they have seen it all when it comes to corruption in the great state of Alaska.

Dennis is also looking for donors to help finance the film (I have already pledged my $150), so if you have any money to spare this is a worthy cause. 

You know what they say, "You ain't seen nothing yet."

Alaska rated number five among MOST corrupt states. So proud. Update!

Courtesy of Business Insider:

To get a true sense of the most corrupt state, we need to know how many convictions there have been on a population basis. So we went back to Justice Department data cited by Madigan, to see which states saw the greatest number of convictions per 100,000.

I happen to know that Alaska is VERY corrupt, so for Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Kentucky to beat us is REALLY saying something. Especially considering the fact that we actually had a group of politicians who referred to themselves as the Corrupt Bastards Club.

Did anybody else notice that the top eight out of ten are ALL states with Republican Governors? 

I'm sure that's simply a coincidence. Right?

Update: Oops I stand corrected, apparently Kentucky has a Democrat in the Governor's mansion. My bad. 

Where could a convicted felon hope to run and be elected to office in Alaska? Why Wasilla of course.

Courtesy of ADN: 

Disgraced Alaska legislator Vic Kohring thinks Wasilla voters should give him another chance and elect him to their city council. 

Kohring filed Friday afternoon for a three-year term for Wasilla City Council Seat F, according to the City Clerk's office. That seat is currently held by Brandon Wall, who has filed for re-election. Friday was the last day to file for the Oct. 1 election. 

In an announcement emailed to news media, Kohring addressed his felony conviction on federal corruption charges by saying "it's in the past and time to move on." But he also apologized for his "carelessness" and taking what he described as "small gifts" from "friends." 

Kohring was one of six legislators charged and convicted in the corruption scandal that surfaced with FBI raids on his office and others in 2006. A jury convicted him in November 2007 of extortion, bribery and conspiracy and a federal judge sentenced him to 31/2 years in prison. He appealed and got a new trial when the Justice Department admitted withholding information from Kohring's defense -- similar misconduct that led to dismissal of charges against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens after a jury found him guilty of disclosure violations. 

Instead of going through a new trial on three felonies, Kohring pleaded guilty Oct. 21, 2011, to a single federal felony for accepting bribes and was sentenced to the time he had served in federal prison: one year, plus 18 months probation. He admitted taking $1,000 cash at a Juneau restaurant from Veco chairman Bill Allen, who was trying to lower oil production taxes in the 2006 Legislature, and to asking Allen to pay a $17,000 credit card debt. 

Oh yeah, I think that Wasilla might welcome him with open arms.

After all he is certainly NOT the worst criminal that they will have had serve on the Wasilla City Counsel, now is he?

Newly released documents reveal depth of Alaska Congressman Don Young's corruption.

Courtesy of the Huffington Post:

 -- Documents released by the FBI show that a source told investigators that an Alaska congressman and his late wife spent campaign money on hunting trips and flights and wrote checks to themselves over years of allegedly profligate spending on his contributors' dime. 

The allegations were not enough to convince the FBI that they could convict Rep. Don Young and the matter was dropped in 2010. 

The documents were released Friday, more than three months after a federal judge rejected the Justice Department's refusal to turn over records of its criminal investigation. 

The source, whose identify was redacted in the documents, appeared to have intimate knowledge of Young's D.C. office and was familiar with Young and his wife's conduct during fundraising trips. 

Congress asked the Justice Department in 2008 to investigate Young's role in securing a $10 million earmark to widen a Florida highway. 

The project would have benefited a developer who helped raise money for Young. The congressman was re-elected to a 20th term in 2010. 

Young's press secretary, Luke Miller, said Saturday that the matter should be considered closed. 

"First and foremost, Congressman Young is not under investigation and any assertion that he is, is utterly false," Miller said. "The reckless accusations made yesterday are part of a larger effort to smear the Congressman. 

"Congressman Young has cooperated with the investigative process every step of the way and nothing was found. Simply put – it's time to move on."

The idea that "Congressman Young has cooperated with the investigative process every step of the way" is laugh out loud funny, but the sad fact is that, due to Don Young's seemingly invulnerability to criminal prosecution, many Alaska political activists HAVE moved on.

You would be hard pressed to find ANYBODY in Alaska who would not admit that they think Don Young is corrupt. And that goes for supporters as well.

However you would also be hard pressed to find anybody who thinks Don Young will either be defeated in an election or convicted for his numerous crimes. Ain't gonna happen.

In 2008 I was actually among those who firmly believed that we were at the cusp of an incredible overhaul of Alaska's corrupt election system, and that, with all of the energy and participation inspired by BOTH Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, Alaskans were finally ready to "throw the bums out."

I watched the election returns that night at election headquarters downtown and was beyond excited to see Young trailing Ethan Berkowitz by a substantial margin early on. Suddenly right before our eyes the newer numbers started coming in from polling places that rely heavily on the Diebold electronic voting machines and by a large margin they started to favor Young. By the end of the night Young was ahead of Ethan by only a few percentage points. However later there suddenly appeared this huge unexpected number of absentee ballots, and by the end Young retained his seat.

It was the clearest case of voter fraud that I had ever witnessed. However when push came to shove, Ethan Berkowitz conceded, and today Don Young remains our "Congressman for life."

It was a very hard lesson to learn, in that it makes NO difference who the voters want, because until the GOP (And their oil company masters) release their death grip on Alaska politics the people's choice will never attain office in this state. Literally the ONLY reason that Mark Begich was able to defeat Ted Stevens is because he had become an embarrassment to the powers that be in Alaska and they allowed him to be removed.

And as for the FBI?  Well my sources tell me that have NO plans to go after Don Young, pretty much ever. ESPECIALLY after the debacle of the Ted Stevens corruption trial.

When members of the Alaska Republicans referred to themselves as "The Corrupt Bastards Club," it was not some tongue in cheek reference to how their political enemies viewed them. It was an arrogant display of how positive they were that they were too powerful and well connected to ever be punished for their crimes.

And in the end, at least in the case of Congressman Don Young and Ted's son Ben Stevens, that arrogance proved to be well deserved.

Don Young slips through the fingers of justice once again.

Courtesy of ADN:

The House Ethics Committee has cleared Alaska Rep. Don Young on charges he took too much money for his legal expense fund from a donor with interests in offshore Arctic oil drilling. But now the panel is changing the rules because of the case. 

At issue was $60,000 in checks given to Young during a January 2011 fundraiser in Texas. Alaska's lone congressman was handed an envelope by Gary Chouest, host of the fundraiser and president of Edison Chouest Offshore, a Louisiana company whose Alaska interests include an icebreaking ship it's building for Shell's planned drilling program in the Chukchi Sea. 

Edison Chouest is among the top campaign contributors to all three members of Alaska's congressional delegation. 

The Chouest donations to Young's legal fund were divided into a dozen checks of $5,000 apiece. Five thousand dollars is the maximum amount an individual or organization can give in a year to a congressman's legal fund. 

Each of the checks came from a different company but all the companies are owned by the Chouest family. That raised the question of whether it was an attempt to sidestep the $5,000 limit in providing Young with a total of $60,000 in Chouest money. 

The U.S. House Committee on Ethics, which launched an investigation after media coverage of the contributions, reported Tuesday that Young was acting within the rules in which "multiple entities owned by the same individual or individuals were permitted to make contributions up to $5,000 per entity if they were separate legal entities." 

But the ethics panel said that doesn't mean it should be allowed and worried it "challenges the principles of the contribution limits."  

"The Committee votes to dismiss the allegations, but is amending its (rules) to prohibit similar contributions in the future," said the report submitted on Tuesday by Rep. Joe Bonner, R-Alabama, the committee chairman. 

I am beyond the ability to be surprised concerning Young's ability to escape being held accountable for his actions.  Four years ago I would have told you with great confidence that he was going to be investigated, convicted, and sent to jail.  I will now tell you with similar confidence that he will not only NOT go to jail, but that he will undoubtedly remain our sole House member until he damn well decides to retire.

And this is even though he is a selfish asshole who has missed 16 percent of the votes during this last session, and whose corruption is an open secret among Alaskans here at home.

I long for the day when Alaska is free of this political opportunist, and we have the chance to get somebody with real integrity, and who places the needs of the Alaskan people ahead of his own, in that very important office instead.

Alaska deserves better.

Travesty of justice.

Courtesy of ADN:

Ben Stevens has been told he's off the hook in the rapidly fading Alaska political corruption investigation, according to people with knowledge of the case. 

Family friends of Stevens, the former Alaska Senate president and son of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, say he's recently received a letter from federal prosecutors that he won't face charges. A government source who spoke only on background confirmed that the letter was sent and that the long-running investigation has concluded without an indictment. 

At the door of their family home in South Anchorage on Wednesday, Stevens' wife, Elizabeth, reviewed a draft of this story and said Stevens would have no comment. 

Stevens, 52, was one of six state legislators whose offices were raided by the FBI on Aug. 31, 2006. Four were eventually charged and convicted. 

In 2007, Stevens was identified as the recipient of bribes in the charges to which two officials of Veco Corp., Bill Allen and Rick Smith, pleaded guilty. 

While Stevens served in the Legislature, he disclosed that Veco, an oil field services company long active in Alaska politics, paid him $243,250 between 2002 and 2006 for "consulting." But he never would say what work he did for the money, even after a citizen complained to the Alaska Public Offices Commission that the fees were thinly disguised bribes. 

On the witness stand in the 2007 trial of former House Speaker Pete Kott, Smith, a Veco vice president, was asked which state senators he had bribed. 

"That would be Ben Stevens and John Cowdery," Smith testified. (Cowdery pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2008.) 

Federal authorities also investigated Stevens over the hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees paid to him by fishing interests that benefited from legislation promoted by his father in Congress. 

This is devastating news for Alaskans, like myself, who have been working to see the corruption in this state cleaned up.

Ben Stevens was considered by most of us to be a slam dunk for the FBI. He had his fingers in everything, and was considered one of the most egregious of the "Corrupt Bastards Club."

With the dropping of Stevens investigation, and Pete Kott and Vic Kohring starting to wriggle out of the grasping fingers of justice, it appears that there will be NO real deterrent to prevent the Republican party from continuing in the future to take kickbacks from oil companies, ensure sweetheart deals for their donors, and keep right on screwing over the people of Alaska.

As some of you may remember the investigation against Rep. Don Young was dropped last year, but as surprising as that was, having Ben Stevens walk away from this whole thing smelling like a rose is almost unthinkable.

Of all of the corrupt bastards the FBI was after, Stevens seemed like the easiest case to make. Hell, essentially EVERYBODY had sold him out!

Personally I find this very unsettling.  And for those of you who were still holding out hope that the long rumored federal investigation against Sarah Palin might bubble to the surface in the near future, I would suggest that you not hold your breath on that one either.

This state is filled with awe inspiring beauty, but there is a great ugliness running through our politic system, and apparently for the time being it is here to stay.

Watchdog group files suit to gain access to Alaska Rep. Don Young's FBI investigation files.

From ADN:

With its Freedom of Information Act requests rebuffed, a Washington, D.C.-watchdog group filed suit against the Justice Department on Wednesday, seeking the files of at least two FBI corruption investigations of Alaska Rep. Don Young.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said the Justice Department is improperly withholding the files now that the investigations are closed and Young won't be prosecuted.
The Justice Department says its criminal investigation files are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act because subjects who are not charged are protected by privacy laws.

Young, a Republican, was the subject of a longstanding FBI investigation into his relationships with the defunct oil-field service company Veco and two of its top executives, Bill Allen and Rick Smith, both convicted of bribery. The FBI also looked into his notorious Coconut Road interchange earmark, sought by a Florida developer who provided Young with campaign contributions.

In August 2010, Young announced that the Justice Department informed his attorneys that he would not be charged and that the investigations were over. Young has not agreed to any interviews on the investigations, which could be reopened if new evidence surfaced.

You know I am usually a big fan of privacy, but I have to admit I would LOVE to get a look inside these files. I have little doubt that Young is just about as dirty as they come and I think we all should have the chance to see just how dirty that is.

However as curious as I am, I would gladly bypass the opportunity to see these files if that meant the information in them would be used to provide context for newly discovered evidence in a spanking new investigation, one that would actually see "Coconut Don" behind bars.  I may be selfish, but I am not THAT selfish.

Shannyn Moore shines a much needed spotlight on the corruption of Alaska's recent political past.

Look I know you are busy today. Since you are a visitor to this blog you probably have to sacrifice an animal on an altar, or dance naked in the moonlight, or perform some other pagan religious right to celebrate ALL Saints day.

But once you are finished I would like to suggest that you get yourself a cup of some steaming beverage, curl up in a cozy afghan, and spend a few minutes reading through the amazing opus that Shannyn produced on Friday.

If you are at all fascinated with Alaskan politics it is a MUST read. No, it does not have much to do with Sarah Palin. But it does contain quite a lot of amazing detail about the often overlooked yet still very pernicious potpourri of predatory political pricks that populate our state government. (Sorry the "P" button was stuck on my keyboard)

Just click the title and enter the world of oil soaked politicians that is the Alaska state government. But don't you fear! Shanyn is waiting there to hold your hand and guide you through to the end. I promise you will return safely.

Ex-VECO kingpin Bill Allen gets three years in prison and a $750,000 fine.

A district court judge sentenced the key witness in the federal government's wide-sweeping investigation of Alaska political corruption to three years in prison and a $750,000 fine on Wednesday.

Former VECO Corp. CEO Bill Allen, 72, pleaded guilty in 2007 to bribery, conspiracy and extortion. Allen and VECO Vice President Rick Smith bribed numerous state lawmakers, and then helped federal prosecutors with wire taps, video-taped conversations, and testimony to convict most of the legislators caught up in the scandal.

Later in the day Smith received a 21-month prison sentence and $10,000 fine."Democracy doesn't work if it's corrupt," Judge John Sedwick said before giving Allen his sentence. "We enjoy the benefits of a true democracy, and from time to time that democracy is threatened, as it was here."

If only the Alaska politicians had any idea just how damaging their relationship with Bill Allen would turn out to be, they would probably have run screaming in the other direction the minute they saw him approaching.

Associating with him sent Pete Kott, and Vic Kohring to prison, and got Senator Ted Stevens indicted.

In the not too distant future he will probably be instrumental in putting both Congressman Don Young and Teddy's little acorn, Ben Stevens, in jail as well.

Dennis Zaki filmed Allen and his family doing the "walk of shame" as they left the federal courthouse together. They were NOT in a good mood.

Cuddly Alaska Congressman Don Young refuses to answer reporters questions about court filings that connect him to corruption investigation.

(Photo courtesy of Dennis Zaki)

Rep. Don Young on Thursday would not talk about new court filings that for the first time directly tie him to the Alaska corruption investigation through gifts and illegal campaign contributions by Bill Allen and his oil-field service company Veco Corp.

"Don't bother me, don't bother me," Young said, with a wave of his hand, when asked by a reporter about the court filings as he entered the Alaska Federation of Natives convention.

The documents were filed late Wednesday as part of the preparations for the sentencing next week of former Veco chief Bill Allen, who is at the heart of the investigation into corruption in Alaska politics.

It included a 2007 "confession of additional criminal activity," made public for the first time in filings Wednesday, in which Allen alleged 13 years worth of gift-giving by him and fellow Veco executive Rick Smith to "United States Representative A," described as Alaska's representative in the House. Only Don Young fits that description.

Finally! I have been hearing for months that the Feds were about to lower the boom on Corrupt Bastard Don Young, and now it is finally happening.

I was one of the people completely surprised that "Uncle" Ted Stevens was indicted before Don Young. I was absolutely positive that the Feds had much more dirt on Don than they did on Teddy. So I will be paying close attention to see how this investigation plays out.

I actually saw Don yesterday at the AFN convention in the Dena'ina Center. He looked in good spirits after his wife won a posthumous award for her advocacy.

Ted Stevens "Get out of Jail Free" card may not extend to other Republican criminals in Alaska.

The Justice Department has apparently decided to not dismiss charges against convicted legislators Pete Kott and Vic Kohring as it did for U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens earlier this year, and may fight efforts by the men to get new trials.

Stevens was found guilty by a jury of failing to disclose tens of thousands of dollars of gifts from an oil-field contractor and others. But the Justice Department dismissed his charges in April when the trial judge in Washington, D.C., accused prosecutors of misconduct.

Such a ruling has not been made in the cases of Kott and Kohring, convicted in Anchorage in 2007 of taking bribes from the same oil-field contractor, former Veco chief executive Bill Allen, who by then was helping the FBI. In June, with their cases before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Justice Department asked Sedwick to release Kott and Kohring from prison pending a determination of whether the government's failure to fully disclose information about Allen and others had tainted the trials.

Just when Alaskans had finally become convinced that justice had come to the last frontier, Ted Stevens conviction was thrown out.

If Kott and Kohring follow suit, many of us are worried that corruption cases will not be pursued as vigorously as in the past. I mean how satisfying is it to build a case that gets a corrupt politician convicted only to see him walking down the street, a free man, only months later?

And personally that really irritates the snot out of me because one of the biggest crooks in Alaska remains free to this day.

Who am I speaking of? Well Ted's son, Ben Stevens of course. A man who VECO purchased for a measly $243,250. Of course he was paid a little more by Bering Sea Crab Effort Reduction Fund and Adak Fisheries. The only reason I can imagine that the prosecutors have not already had Ben arrested and started his corruption trial is that they fear his case will get thrown out just like his father's. After all they seized evidence against Ben three whole years ago.

So in the name of Alaska justice I certainly hope that both Kott and Kohring end up behind bars very soon so that the Feds be will fired up to go after the rest of the corrupt bastards in this state. And of course who better to start with than Little Lord Fauntleroy himself, Ben Stevens?

Will corruption investigations in Alaska continue to move forward? Or has Uncle Ted's "victory" scared justice into hiding?

Does the mess that befell the prosecution of Sen. Ted Stevens create such a cloud over the long-running Alaska corruption investigation that it's all but over?

That's a question heard with some frequency since April, when the Stevens case was thrown out and the FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors who were part of the broader Alaska corruption inquiry were themselves put under investigation.

The Justice Department continues to say the investigation is moving forward, though as recently as last week a spokeswoman would provide no details. Aside from assigning new prosecutors to its only Alaska case awaiting trial, the department has not demonstrated much activity in public. Before the Stevens case was dismissed, its record in the corruption prosecutions was a perfect 11-for-11.

Most legal experts who discussed the situation said that the team involved in the Alaska cases since the investigation became public in 2006 has been so tainted that they will be unable to play a significant role in any other case arising from the investigation.

But neither that restriction, nor the embarrassment and demoralization from such a public failure, is reason to stop now, said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a conservative-leaning watchdog group.

"I can see they're a little singed around the edges, but at the same time, they all take the oath to pursue the evidence of crime wherever it leads, and they do have a duty to the public to the degree that there's people out there that are selling their office in one way or another -- they owe it to the public to follow up," Boehm said.

Vic Koehring, Pete Kott, John Cowdery, Beverly Masek, Tom Anderson, the list of corrupt Alaskan politicians convicted thus far is sobering to say the least, but Alaskans know full well that not all of the villains have been brought to justice yet.

The very fact that the FBI had to come in and do the job that our own state investigators were too timid, or corrupt, to do themselves brings shame to our state, but allowing this housecleaning to end before ALL of the corruption has been expunged is inexcusable.

Ted Stevens was NOT found innocent. The fact that his conviction was thrown out had nothing to do with anything except the incompetence of the prosecutors who brought his case to trial. Ted Stevens has many reasons to face justice, but with him out of the Senate he is yesterday's news.

Today's news is his son Ben Stevens and of course Don Young.

Once these two have been convicted I will feel that justice has finally been served in Alaska.

Ben Stevens was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in "consulting fees", which we all know was a bribe from VECO to get certain laws passed and others suppressed.

And as for Don Young? Well I don't know of any single Alaskan who is not convinced that Rep. Young is guilty of a variety of criminal activities and his million dollar legal bill can attest to that fact as well, even though we are not yet certain what he paid all of that money to fight.

So here is what I suggest. Perhaps the FBI believes that Alaskans have lost the will to see any more of their lawmakers brought to justice. Maybe they feel that after what happened with Ted Stevens that we have lost confidence in them. Well in my opinion nothing could be further from the truth. I have great confidence in the FBI and blame the Stevens screw up on the Bush Justice Department.

So I am going to e-mail the FBI and ask them to please continue ferreting out corruption in Alaska. I want them to keep pursuing justice in our name, and to bring Ben Stevens and Don Young to trial just as soon as they possibly can. And hey, if you find some corrupt Democrats during your investigation, then bust their ass as well. I am certainly not partisan when it comes to ridding my state of criminal activities.

If you would like to e-mail the Alaska Federal Bureau of Investigation as well here is their e-mail address: anchoragefbi@ak.net.

And even though this is not a post about Sarah Palin, I have to admit I have also talked to an agent about investigating some of the strange happenings around her as well. If any of you are so inclined the FBI might also benefit from hearing your concerns on THAT matter also. I am just saying.

Dennis Zaki films disgraced state Senator John Cowdery as he enters the courtroom for sentencing and has threats made to his junk.

Corrupt Republican John Cowdery gets sentenced in Alaska from Dennis Zaki on Vimeo.

So this John Cowdery guy was one of the notorious bastards of the "Corrupt Bastards Club". He was investigated by the FBI and indicted in July of 2008 on corruption and bribery charges.

He is yet another example of the bloated ethically-challenged Republicans that have for too long greedily filled their pockets and their bellies by selling their vote to the highest bidder and leaving the Alaskan citizens who voted for them to shoulder the burden of their avarice.

In my opinion the sentence that Cowdery received was much too soft and does nothing to provide justice for the thousands of Alaskans who put their trust in this man and his political party.

However though I might heartily disagree with the sentence I cannot disagree with the words spoken by Judge Ralph Beistline at his sentencing.

"Certainly the people have the right to expect that public officials will be honest and be aboveboard in their conduct," U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline said in scolding Cowdery during the 22-minute sentencing hearing. "There should be an obligation to expect integrity -- that word, integrity -- in all our public officials."

I am glad that Dennis chased this arrogant "Blofeld" wannabe out of the courthouse. I just wish the judge had confined him to house arrest in a less comfortable home. Say one of the unheated houses in Emmonak for instance. Now THAT might have been justice!