Fisheries Netted In Federal Alaska ProbeSen. 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 three fisheries 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 fined Stevens $5,630 for failing to disclose $480,000 in payments he received from various companies. The complaint (pdf) against Stevens was filed by former Alaska state representative Ray Metcalfe who has followed Stevens’ relationship with the fisheries for years. Metcalfe estimates that Stevens has been paid at least $904,000 in fees by fisheries between 2000 and 2005.
Stevens’ arrangement with the seafood industry is strikingly similar to his setup with the oil services company, Veco. Former chief executive of Veco pled 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 fishery work for the grand jury to investigate.