H
Harry Hope
Guest
He and his staff declined to specify whether the investigators were
seeking records on personal finances, legislative actions or both.
Stevens is the ranking Republican on the Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee.
He said his lawyers warned him that any public statements could be
construed as an attempt to obstruct the inquiry.
From The Washington Post, 6/7/07:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/06/AR2007060602851.html?nav=hcmodule
Sen. Stevens Told to Keep Records for Graft Probe
By Paul Kane
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, June 7, 2007; Page A01
Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate,
disclosed in an interview that the FBI asked him to preserve records
as part of a widening investigation into Alaskan political corruption
that has touched his son and ensnared one of his closest political
confidants and financial backers.
Stevens, who is famous for bringing home federal earmarks for Alaska
when he was Appropriations Committee chairman, was not previously
known to be linked to the Justice Department's probe, which has
uncovered evidence that more than $400,000 worth of bribes were given
to state lawmakers in exchange for favorable energy legislation.
Investigators have used secret recording equipment, seized documents
and cooperating witnesses to secure the indictments of four current
and former state lawmakers, including the former state House speaker,
shaking the core of Alaska's Republican Party.
Two executives of a prominent energy company have pleaded guilty to
bribery and extortion charges and are cooperating with the inquiry,
which is being run by the Justice Department's Public Integrity
Section and includes two federal prosecutors and FBI agents based in
Anchorage.
"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 but confirmed
that he had hired lawyers and that his son, former state Senate
president Ben Stevens, "is also under investigation."
The FBI issued subpoenas last year to contractors who had performed
work on Ted Stevens's Anchorage residence, seeking information about
the alleged involvement of energy company executive Bill J. Allen, a
key figure in the state bribery probe, in overseeing the renovations.
There has been no indication that Stevens is a target of the
investigation, and federal law enforcement officials this week
declined to comment about the probe.
Stevens has long been close to Allen, who formerly directed Veco
Corp., the energy company at the heart of the corruption probe.
Since 2000, Allen has contributed more than $50,000 to political and
campaign committees controlled by Stevens.
In 2005 and 2006 alone, Allen and other Veco executives gave
Stevens-affiliated election committees $37,000, Federal Election
Commission records show.
A Stevens aide said the senator recently decided to donate
contributions from Allen and another Veco executive from 2004 to 2006
to charity.
Several years ago, Allen joined with Stevens and a handful of other
corporate executives to purchase thoroughbred horses, according to
Stevens's financial disclosures to the Senate.
In early May, Allen and another Veco executive pleaded guilty to
bribing state legislators primarily to secure the passage of tax
legislation creating a natural gas pipeline that could have yielded
Veco billions of dollars in revenue, court records show.
As part of the plea, Allen admitted that his bribes included $243,250
in no-show consulting work from 2002 to 2006 to "state senator B" to
win the lawmaker's support for the pipeline project and other
legislative matters.
State financial reports filed by Ben Stevens list the same dollar
amount in receipts from Veco;
for several of those years, his father was Appropriations Committee
chairman.
Ben Stevens's legislative offices were raided by the FBI in August,
but he has not been charged with a crime.
"We believe that the facts will show that Mr. Stevens didn't engage in
any illegal activity," said John Wolfe, the lawyer for Ben Stevens.
A string of subpoenas issued by a federal grand jury last year
indicate that the FBI is seeking information on the financing of the
renovation of Ted Stevens's Anchorage home at a cost exceeding
$100,000, according to several of those who received the subpoenas.
In the renovation, the contractors lifted the home -- located next to
an exclusive ski resort -- on stilts and built a new floor beneath the
existing one.
Two contractors confirmed in phone interviews a report in the
Anchorage Daily News that their work on Stevens's home was overseen by
Allen, other Veco executives and a neighbor of the Stevenses.
Augie Paone, owner of Christensen Builders Inc. of Anchorage, told the
newspaper last week that he heard from the FBI in May 2006 and
testified before a federal grand jury about the home remodeling
project in December.
In a phone interview this week, Paone said, "My lawyers told me it
would not be wise to talk while the investigation is ongoing. We'll
just see what happens in the next couple of weeks."
Another contractor on the home-renovation project, Toney Hannah, said
invoices his company issued for their work were paid by Stevens and
his wife, Catherine.
"I raised the house; they subpoenaed the file I had on it," Hannah,
who specializes in raising homes for remodeling, said in a phone
interview.
"I was just a subcontractor. I did my part; I raised the house. I was
paid by the Stevenses, and that was it."
Allen and Veco executives have also been backers of Rep. Don Young
(R-Alaska), a past chairman of the Resources Committee and the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
In the 2006 election cycle, Young took in more than $30,000 from Veco
executives, and his chief of staff is a former lobbyist whose clients
included Veco.
According to his plea agreement, Allen first "corruptly authorized"
the hiring of "state senator B" in 1995 to perform consulting work six
years before his election.
Investigators recorded meetings between Allen and Veco executives and
lawmakers inside a Juneau hotel room a block from the state capitol,
where they regularly met the bribed lawmakers, often handing them wads
of hundreds of dollars.
In early May 2006, after helping defeat an amendment Veco opposed for
the gasoline legislation, former state House speaker Peter Kott met
with Allen in Suite 604 as part of his effort to secure a Veco job in
Barbados.
"I had to get 'er done. So I had to come back and face this man right
here," Kott told Allen, according to court records.
"I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie."
Stevens said that he has not spoken to Justice Department officials,
that he was complying with the request to preserve documents and that
he anticipated turning them over at some point.
He and his staff declined to specify whether the investigators were
seeking records on personal finances, legislative actions or both.
Stevens is the ranking Republican on the Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee.
He said his lawyers warned him that any public statements could be
construed as an attempt to obstruct the inquiry.
_________________________________________________
The Republican "Culture of Corruption" is alive and well.
Harry
seeking records on personal finances, legislative actions or both.
Stevens is the ranking Republican on the Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee.
He said his lawyers warned him that any public statements could be
construed as an attempt to obstruct the inquiry.
From The Washington Post, 6/7/07:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/06/AR2007060602851.html?nav=hcmodule
Sen. Stevens Told to Keep Records for Graft Probe
By Paul Kane
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, June 7, 2007; Page A01
Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate,
disclosed in an interview that the FBI asked him to preserve records
as part of a widening investigation into Alaskan political corruption
that has touched his son and ensnared one of his closest political
confidants and financial backers.
Stevens, who is famous for bringing home federal earmarks for Alaska
when he was Appropriations Committee chairman, was not previously
known to be linked to the Justice Department's probe, which has
uncovered evidence that more than $400,000 worth of bribes were given
to state lawmakers in exchange for favorable energy legislation.
Investigators have used secret recording equipment, seized documents
and cooperating witnesses to secure the indictments of four current
and former state lawmakers, including the former state House speaker,
shaking the core of Alaska's Republican Party.
Two executives of a prominent energy company have pleaded guilty to
bribery and extortion charges and are cooperating with the inquiry,
which is being run by the Justice Department's Public Integrity
Section and includes two federal prosecutors and FBI agents based in
Anchorage.
"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 but confirmed
that he had hired lawyers and that his son, former state Senate
president Ben Stevens, "is also under investigation."
The FBI issued subpoenas last year to contractors who had performed
work on Ted Stevens's Anchorage residence, seeking information about
the alleged involvement of energy company executive Bill J. Allen, a
key figure in the state bribery probe, in overseeing the renovations.
There has been no indication that Stevens is a target of the
investigation, and federal law enforcement officials this week
declined to comment about the probe.
Stevens has long been close to Allen, who formerly directed Veco
Corp., the energy company at the heart of the corruption probe.
Since 2000, Allen has contributed more than $50,000 to political and
campaign committees controlled by Stevens.
In 2005 and 2006 alone, Allen and other Veco executives gave
Stevens-affiliated election committees $37,000, Federal Election
Commission records show.
A Stevens aide said the senator recently decided to donate
contributions from Allen and another Veco executive from 2004 to 2006
to charity.
Several years ago, Allen joined with Stevens and a handful of other
corporate executives to purchase thoroughbred horses, according to
Stevens's financial disclosures to the Senate.
In early May, Allen and another Veco executive pleaded guilty to
bribing state legislators primarily to secure the passage of tax
legislation creating a natural gas pipeline that could have yielded
Veco billions of dollars in revenue, court records show.
As part of the plea, Allen admitted that his bribes included $243,250
in no-show consulting work from 2002 to 2006 to "state senator B" to
win the lawmaker's support for the pipeline project and other
legislative matters.
State financial reports filed by Ben Stevens list the same dollar
amount in receipts from Veco;
for several of those years, his father was Appropriations Committee
chairman.
Ben Stevens's legislative offices were raided by the FBI in August,
but he has not been charged with a crime.
"We believe that the facts will show that Mr. Stevens didn't engage in
any illegal activity," said John Wolfe, the lawyer for Ben Stevens.
A string of subpoenas issued by a federal grand jury last year
indicate that the FBI is seeking information on the financing of the
renovation of Ted Stevens's Anchorage home at a cost exceeding
$100,000, according to several of those who received the subpoenas.
In the renovation, the contractors lifted the home -- located next to
an exclusive ski resort -- on stilts and built a new floor beneath the
existing one.
Two contractors confirmed in phone interviews a report in the
Anchorage Daily News that their work on Stevens's home was overseen by
Allen, other Veco executives and a neighbor of the Stevenses.
Augie Paone, owner of Christensen Builders Inc. of Anchorage, told the
newspaper last week that he heard from the FBI in May 2006 and
testified before a federal grand jury about the home remodeling
project in December.
In a phone interview this week, Paone said, "My lawyers told me it
would not be wise to talk while the investigation is ongoing. We'll
just see what happens in the next couple of weeks."
Another contractor on the home-renovation project, Toney Hannah, said
invoices his company issued for their work were paid by Stevens and
his wife, Catherine.
"I raised the house; they subpoenaed the file I had on it," Hannah,
who specializes in raising homes for remodeling, said in a phone
interview.
"I was just a subcontractor. I did my part; I raised the house. I was
paid by the Stevenses, and that was it."
Allen and Veco executives have also been backers of Rep. Don Young
(R-Alaska), a past chairman of the Resources Committee and the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
In the 2006 election cycle, Young took in more than $30,000 from Veco
executives, and his chief of staff is a former lobbyist whose clients
included Veco.
According to his plea agreement, Allen first "corruptly authorized"
the hiring of "state senator B" in 1995 to perform consulting work six
years before his election.
Investigators recorded meetings between Allen and Veco executives and
lawmakers inside a Juneau hotel room a block from the state capitol,
where they regularly met the bribed lawmakers, often handing them wads
of hundreds of dollars.
In early May 2006, after helping defeat an amendment Veco opposed for
the gasoline legislation, former state House speaker Peter Kott met
with Allen in Suite 604 as part of his effort to secure a Veco job in
Barbados.
"I had to get 'er done. So I had to come back and face this man right
here," Kott told Allen, according to court records.
"I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie."
Stevens said that he has not spoken to Justice Department officials,
that he was complying with the request to preserve documents and that
he anticipated turning them over at some point.
He and his staff declined to specify whether the investigators were
seeking records on personal finances, legislative actions or both.
Stevens is the ranking Republican on the Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee.
He said his lawyers warned him that any public statements could be
construed as an attempt to obstruct the inquiry.
_________________________________________________
The Republican "Culture of Corruption" is alive and well.
Harry
