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Stevens' Contractor Hires a Lawyer, Opts To Keep Quiet
An Alaska contractor, Augie Paone, painted most of the picture we have of how a major state oil services company oversaw the renovation of Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) house. After giving a few interviews last week, Paone has hired a lawyer and will no longer comment publicly.
I spoke with Paone’s wife on the phone yesterday who said the family would not release the lawyer’s name. The lawyer has advised them to stay quiet, she said.
It's too bad the Paones felt the need to lawyer up, though it’s probably not that surprising. In an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, Paone said he was “uncomfortable” with taking the renovation contract initially because he had not provided an estimate to Veco Corp., the company that handled the job for Stevens while the senator was in Washington:
"I didn't suspect anything, but I just wanted to make sure," he said. "When you work with a house of a legislator or a senator, you make sure you hold on to all the billings, just in case something happens."That was a good move. The job has piqued federal investigators' interest as part of a broad investigation into public corruption in Alaska. Six months ago the FBI asked Paone for records and invoices from the job. He also testified before a grand jury. Paone said he had done work for Veco Corp.’s offices and for a company executive before they offered him the work on Stevens’ home seven years ago. He charged normal rates, but saw the job as a favor – a favor he couldn’t decline to offer – rather than a typical contract:
"Bill Allen (Veco CEO) and some of the Veco boys, some of the Veco guys, were the ones that approached me and wanted to know if I could give them a hand," Paone said. "I did it more as a favor, you know. It's one of those things when somebody is the head, and packs that much power and asks you for a favor, it's kind of hard to say no."Allen pled guilty to bribing five state legislators last month in a classic cash-for-votes scheme. One of the charges stems from a meet-up between State Rep. Pete Kott in a hotel suite where Kott complained about having “to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie,” to ensure government-backing of a pipeline valuable to Veco. In response to the legislator’s complaints, Allen said: “I own your ass.” Sounds like Allen would take a “no thank you” well.
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Comments (8)
Anonymous wrote on June 4, 2007 10:42 AM:These Republicans sure do like their own constitutional rights.
gus smith wrote on June 4, 2007 11:02 AM:I'm all for catching the bad guys in high places. Senator Stevens deserves a lot of attention so I'm happy to see this exposure.
Steve5117 wrote on June 4, 2007 11:04 AM:It will be a rainy 59 deg in Girdwood today, maybe some TPM reader from up there will stay in today and send us some new information.
714Day wrote on June 4, 2007 2:40 PM:I still would love to know if this is Steven's primary residence...Girdwood (though quite the snappy area) is hardly in the thick of it. It's a jaunt into town on the icy winter road.
Ed*ard Teller wrote on June 4, 2007 5:47 PM:Does he have a place in Anchorage, too?
Alaska people surely know.
714Day,
His Girdwood home is Sen. Stevens' primary ALASKA residence. He used to own a home in Anchorage too. He has a place in Virginia, where he and his wife spend most of their time. All his kids from both marriages are grown or in college. His first wife, Anne, was killed in an aircraft crash at the Anchorage airport back around 1980.
Duke Boys wrote on June 4, 2007 9:18 PM:TPM needs to find 1990 to 1995 picture of CEO Bill Allen and Sen. Ted Stevens standing side by side. Businessmen of the year is the title. Its was on the cover of a local paper or magazine
Any help on the publication?
Duke Boys wrote on June 4, 2007 9:18 PM:TPM needs to find 1990 to 1995 picture of CEO Bill Allen and Sen. Ted Stevens standing side by side. Businessmen of the year is the title. Its was on the cover of a local paper or magazine
Any help on the publication?
just a guy in g-wood wrote on June 6, 2007 3:44 PM:i live in girdwood. my brother-in-law asked me about ted stevens. this is what i told him:
his son just got kicked out of the state senate for passing laws and collecting consulting fees from/for the same people. ben was being groomed to take over when ted kicks it( he needs to blow out 84 candles next time). most of ben's
transgressions involve commercial fishing. remember the magnuson-stevens act? the fishing industry here worships uncle ted.
but this episode involves oil. veco is the biggest in-state-owned company. ben stevens is thought to be the state senator that has been receiving consultant money since before he was elected. i think 7 elected officials are being actively investigated. they are suspected of taking money from bill allen, veco prez. he also published the "voice of the times." the vott was basically a half page in the editorial section of the anchorage daily news that was said to "balance" the paper. the times lost out to the adn back in the mid 90s and this was some part of the takeover. paid for by bill allen. lots of left bashing. five or six local writers and some syndicated columnists. now the 15 year relationship w/the times has ended cuz
bill allen may go to jail.
the guy that owns the double musky steakhouse (we should go there next time you
visit assuming he isn't the fall guy and it will still be open) ,bob persons, is a good friend of ted's. he oversaw the house raising project while ted and his incredible hulk tie were debating bunk science in d.c. all contractors submitted
their invoices to veco for review. upon review, contractors were issued checks from an account in the name of ted and catherine(his wife) w/ted's signature.
interesting thing about the checks is that they were all single or double digit check #'s. seems like an 83 yr old man would have written more than 99 checks in his life. so the account looks to be set up just for this project. oh yeah, and
veco has never, ever done residential work. they are an "oil service company"
i walk by the house at least a couple of times a wk while strolling w/ the pooch. i wouldn't call it opulent or anything like that. it might be the biggest house on that street, but i don't think it is. just looks like a normal house, maybe 2500 square or so. the house sits empty most of the time.
here's the craziest part. we were at a friend's house one street over from ted to view peru footage from phil's latest motorcycle trip and slides from our packraft adventure. two agents from the fbi stopped by to ask what, if any,
suspicious things our friends had noticed regarding the project. my friend
mariska invited them in to watch the movie and have a beer. they declined.