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Ben Stevens' Boss At Sea Is Big Time Fed Contractor
Who would have guessed the company that recently swept Ben Stevens off to sea amidst his -- and his father's -- compounding legal woes also happens to be a major federal contractor? Roll Call did.
The younger Stevens took a job aboard a Bering Marine Corp. vessel in hopes of raising some cash to cover his mounting legal expenses. Apparently the consulting fees he earned over the years-- $775,000 from various seafood companies and $240,000 from Veco -- are running out.
Bering Marine is a subsidiary of transportation company Lynden.
Lynden CEO Jim Jansen has had long-standing ties to Ben Stevens. According to Opensecrets.org, Lynden paid Stevens $10,000 to work as a federal lobbyist in 1997.Additionally, Jansen and Ben Stevens both served on the board of directors of the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board, a nonprofit organization created by Ted Stevens to funnel millions in federal dollars to the state’s fishing industry. The FBI and IRS are investigating both Stevens and the members of the AFMB’s board of directors as part of the widening federal probe.
Over the past several years, Lynden companies have secured scores of federal contracts, according to federal records compiled by FedSpending.org. Since 2000, the various companies connected to Lynden and the Jansen family have received at least $312 million in federal funding, much of it coming through contracts with the Department of Defense.
Still no word on when Stevens will be back on land.
Josh
Zachary
Just guessing, here, but I'll bet old Ben is the highest-paid deckhand on that ship. By a lot.
August 16, 2007 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hopefully he stays out long enough that the warrants are already written so we can get a glorious dockside arrest for all to see.
August 16, 2007 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
It really shouldn't be too hard to retrieve his MMD (Merchant Mariner's Document) and STCW information from the Coast Guard database. See if he really has any documents that permit him to sail.
August 16, 2007 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Put him and the whole Alaska Congressional delegation on an ice flow and let them float out to sea. They are ALL criminals anyway.
August 16, 2007 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
What the heck is is with these Stevens guys and cartoon ties?
August 16, 2007 6:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well I can see there's no Sopranos fans here...ever heard of a no-show job? Stevens is in a cozy 4 star hotel somewhere keeping a low profile. Come on people, I expect a little more cynicism after the last few years.
August 16, 2007 6:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
When you live in a leather chair, the shock of cement will be poinant.
August 16, 2007 7:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
According to the Anchorage Daily News,
(http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/9203466p-9119924c.html)
Ben Stevens had been hired as a crewman aboard a work boat supporting Shell's planned Arctic Ocean exploratory drilling campaign.
Today's Anchorage Daily News reported
(http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/story/9224330p-9140311c.html)
that "Shell's ambitious plan to drill exploratory oil wells in the remote Beaufort Sea might be doomed -- at least for this year -- after a federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered further delay for the project.
It's a costly setback for the Dutch oil giant, which has a fleet of drilling ships and support vessels poised and waiting in Alaska and Canadian ports."
It looks like Ben might be coming back ashore, after all.
August 16, 2007 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shell tried to buy off Federal agency Minerals Management Service so they got sued. Federal MMS office now paying rent to Ted Stevens partners at JL Properties. Where did they pay rent before moving to JL Properties?
VECO office building. But of course!
August 16, 2007 9:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually Ben Stevens spent a lot of years on the Bering Sea as the captain of a crab fishing boat before he followed his famous dad into politics. I used to work out on the Bering Sea in the early 90s and I remember him. I'm sure he has the relevant merchant marine masters licenses. You don't captain crab boats without them these days. Running a crab boat on the Bering Sea in winter is serious seafaring.
Not saying he isn't as corrupt as they come. Clearly there's plenty of dirt and the Anchorage Daily News has been digging up Ben Stevens Dirt for a couple years now. But I just wanted to point out that despite the upstream comments, he probably is actually qualified to do this work
August 16, 2007 10:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
The really sad thing about the roaring single digits of this century is that our leaders are not just clueless and lazy. There is an element of deceit. They are doing so much damage in so many areas that will haunt us for decades or even more.
We know about the disaster in Iraq and our relations with the rest of the world. We now know about Bush's intentions the whole time of establishing a permanent base there and taking their oil.
We know about the health scandals, including how our former Surgeon General said this Administration squelched science in favor of obsequious comments about Bush. More deceit.
We know about global warming. The latest on that is just another example of an attempt to deceive: http://climateprogress.org/2007/08/16/must-read-from-hansen-stop-the-madness-about-the-tiny-revision-in-nasas-temperature-data/
And boy do we know about the Murdoch and his billion dollar Fox media empire which enables all this deceit. Why just today it was reported they were caught doctoring up Wikipedia.
And let's not forget about outing Plame as political payback, the illegal spying, the torture and all the rest.
These crooked, deceitful Fox-Republicans officials and politicians are the slime of the Earth. Democrats need to put them exactly where they belong. No more free passes. These Republicans will do whatever they can get away with. If the Democrats don't show them there is a real price to pay for this kind of activity, it will happen again within the next few decades and the Nixon Bush cycle will continue. Rove is young yet.
August 16, 2007 10:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
More actual info, to fill in the blanks:
1. Ben Stevens actually is licensed to skipper vessels up to 200 tons, as far as I know. That would be consistent with the size of the fishing and crabbing vessels he has skippered in the past.
2. Lynden contracts with DOD to move freight to Alaska. After all, they are one of the largest highway freight haulers up here, and they also own a barge line (Alaska Marine Lines). They have frequently been the low bidder on USPS mail hauling contracts, as well as household moving contracts for military personnel between Puget Sound and Alaska.
I'm not saying that there isn't something fishy going on, just that Ben really is qualified for the job (unlike his career in politics), and that much of Lynden's Fed business is competitively bid.
Code word, as in the bell tolls for Ben Stevens.
August 17, 2007 1:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
It sounds like there are a couple of other people that have shipped here. Usually when one signs on a ship they sign on for 3 or 4 months. If he does have his skippers license he could be shipping as a mate. I find it hard to believe they would be able to find a masters berth for him that quickly. But even as mate, he would be making good money.
August 17, 2007 10:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
You don't suppose any crates of freight containing things that might be incriminating accidentally fell off the side of that ship while at sea, do you?
SC: bell. "Send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."
August 18, 2007 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bet he doesn't come back.
August 18, 2007 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Listing relatives, et al. on payrolls is one way of covering illegal employees (immigrants). They--the relatives sitting back at the motel pool--even get credit with social security, workman's comp, etc.
Good summertime job for the college kids too, kicked back at the pool. They even have the audacity to put it on their resumes, when it was really 'Ernesto' doing the work.
If they're on any kind of fed contracts, labor compliance agents can look at the payroll records and interview the crew. It's usually a whistleblower (the white boy, goofer) who see's what's going on. The rest of them keep their mouth's shut cause they like the money.
If it's purely private industry, then discrimination complaints can be filed with the DOL (state first). USDA or Commerce may be able to get the records. Or Workman's Comp if any claims are being made.
August 18, 2007 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink