H
Harry Hope
Guest
From The Associated Press, 8/5/07:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-oil-and-politics,0,917972.story
Ex-Oil Magnate Sowed Political Influence
By JEANNETTE J. LEE | Associated Press Writer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -
The former head of the oil field services company VECO Corp. was once
a model of political clout.
From the halls of Congress to the Alaska capital city of Juneau, Bill
Allen spent more than two decades throwing lavish fundraisers for
favored candidates, sending them generous campaign contributions and
lobbying hard for the oil and gas industry.
But Allen's seemingly unshakable influence ended abruptly this year
when the founder and then-chairman of VECO pleaded guilty to bribing
state legislators.
Now, he appears to be the link between at least three investigations
of Alaska politicians by the Department of Justice, the FBI and the
Internal Revenue Service.
Two influential members of Alaska's congressional delegation, Sen. Ted
Stevens and Rep. Don Young, both Republicans, are under investigation
for their relationships with VECO.
And three former Republican state legislators have been indicted since
December for accepting bribes from Allen and other high-ranking VECO
officers.
Stevens' son, Ben, former president of the state senate, also is under
investigation for ties to VECO but has not been charged.
The multimillion-dollar company is the largest oil field services firm
on Alaska's lucrative North Slope, the nation's most productive oil
field, and until the federal probes surfaced last year it was one of
the state's biggest campaign donors.
Oil is the cornerstone of Alaska's economy and funds about 80 percent
of the state's annual budget.
Allen and other VECO officials were known for their campaign
fundraisers at the swank Petroleum Club in Anchorage.
And they have given hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign
donations to Stevens, Young and a host of state lawmakers.
"They were a very important source of money to some of the more
pro-oil company candidates," said state Rep. Les Gara, an Anchorage
Democrat.
"Without VECO's involvement in state politics, we'll have a much more
level playing field."
Court documents say Allen and Rick Smith, former company vice
president, met politicians in Juneau's Baranof Hotel to discuss the
exchange of bribes for votes on key oil and gas legislation.
Smith has also pleaded guilty to bribery charges.
Company executives, led by Allen, also lobbied on behalf of oil
producers on the North Slope, the largest of which are BP PLC, Exxon
Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips.
"We discovered that there really wasn't anybody -- not even the oil
companies -- defending themselves on the political front," VECO
President Pete Leathard told the Anchorage Daily News in 2005.
"So we took on the task."
Allen routinely urged employees to vote for candidates who would push
for oil and gas exploration.
In a company newsletter before the 2004 presidential election, he
wrote that Democrats were tied to "extreme environmental groups" that
wanted to "shut down Alaska and preserve it as a national park."
He expounded on his political views as publisher of Voice of the
Times, a conservative editorial column embedded in the editorial page
of the Anchorage Daily News.
The unusual arrangement was intended to maintain diverse viewpoints
after Allen's rival paper, The Anchorage Times, folded in 1992.
The Daily News did not renew the Times' contract after it expired in
May.
While Allen was exercising his political clout, VECO won most of the
large construction jobs on the North Slope in the mid-1980s, and was
the lead contractor on the multibillion-dollar cleanup of the 1989
Exxon Valdez oil spill.
VECO also has won tens of millions of dollars worth of federal
contracts.
The value of those contracts jumped after the elder Stevens, the
longest-serving Republican in Senate history, became chairman of the
Appropriations Committee in 1997.
Allen and Stevens are longtime friends and share ownership in a
racehorse.
Federal investigators are looking into Allen's involvement in
renovating Stevens' home in Girdwood in 2000.
Allen stepped down after his guilty plea in May, although his family
still owns a majority of the company and his daughter, Tammy Kerrigan,
is chairwoman.
________________________________________________
They're all alike. One big happy family.
Harry
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-oil-and-politics,0,917972.story
Ex-Oil Magnate Sowed Political Influence
By JEANNETTE J. LEE | Associated Press Writer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -
The former head of the oil field services company VECO Corp. was once
a model of political clout.
From the halls of Congress to the Alaska capital city of Juneau, Bill
Allen spent more than two decades throwing lavish fundraisers for
favored candidates, sending them generous campaign contributions and
lobbying hard for the oil and gas industry.
But Allen's seemingly unshakable influence ended abruptly this year
when the founder and then-chairman of VECO pleaded guilty to bribing
state legislators.
Now, he appears to be the link between at least three investigations
of Alaska politicians by the Department of Justice, the FBI and the
Internal Revenue Service.
Two influential members of Alaska's congressional delegation, Sen. Ted
Stevens and Rep. Don Young, both Republicans, are under investigation
for their relationships with VECO.
And three former Republican state legislators have been indicted since
December for accepting bribes from Allen and other high-ranking VECO
officers.
Stevens' son, Ben, former president of the state senate, also is under
investigation for ties to VECO but has not been charged.
The multimillion-dollar company is the largest oil field services firm
on Alaska's lucrative North Slope, the nation's most productive oil
field, and until the federal probes surfaced last year it was one of
the state's biggest campaign donors.
Oil is the cornerstone of Alaska's economy and funds about 80 percent
of the state's annual budget.
Allen and other VECO officials were known for their campaign
fundraisers at the swank Petroleum Club in Anchorage.
And they have given hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign
donations to Stevens, Young and a host of state lawmakers.
"They were a very important source of money to some of the more
pro-oil company candidates," said state Rep. Les Gara, an Anchorage
Democrat.
"Without VECO's involvement in state politics, we'll have a much more
level playing field."
Court documents say Allen and Rick Smith, former company vice
president, met politicians in Juneau's Baranof Hotel to discuss the
exchange of bribes for votes on key oil and gas legislation.
Smith has also pleaded guilty to bribery charges.
Company executives, led by Allen, also lobbied on behalf of oil
producers on the North Slope, the largest of which are BP PLC, Exxon
Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips.
"We discovered that there really wasn't anybody -- not even the oil
companies -- defending themselves on the political front," VECO
President Pete Leathard told the Anchorage Daily News in 2005.
"So we took on the task."
Allen routinely urged employees to vote for candidates who would push
for oil and gas exploration.
In a company newsletter before the 2004 presidential election, he
wrote that Democrats were tied to "extreme environmental groups" that
wanted to "shut down Alaska and preserve it as a national park."
He expounded on his political views as publisher of Voice of the
Times, a conservative editorial column embedded in the editorial page
of the Anchorage Daily News.
The unusual arrangement was intended to maintain diverse viewpoints
after Allen's rival paper, The Anchorage Times, folded in 1992.
The Daily News did not renew the Times' contract after it expired in
May.
While Allen was exercising his political clout, VECO won most of the
large construction jobs on the North Slope in the mid-1980s, and was
the lead contractor on the multibillion-dollar cleanup of the 1989
Exxon Valdez oil spill.
VECO also has won tens of millions of dollars worth of federal
contracts.
The value of those contracts jumped after the elder Stevens, the
longest-serving Republican in Senate history, became chairman of the
Appropriations Committee in 1997.
Allen and Stevens are longtime friends and share ownership in a
racehorse.
Federal investigators are looking into Allen's involvement in
renovating Stevens' home in Girdwood in 2000.
Allen stepped down after his guilty plea in May, although his family
still owns a majority of the company and his daughter, Tammy Kerrigan,
is chairwoman.
________________________________________________
They're all alike. One big happy family.
Harry
