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Young's Scandals: From Abramoff To Zachares
It's hard to keep track of all of Rep. Don Young's (R-AK) scandals. But we're here to help. Here's a snapshot of what we know about all the ways Young has managed to get into trouble.
Coconut Road
McClatchy reported last week that investigators have begun scrutinizing Young's now famous $10 million earmark for a Florida interchange. Whether the earmark was a quid pro quo for a big time contributor is only half the story. Young also appears to have changed the bill's language after it passed Congress in order to make sure that the money went where (or to who) he wished.
Dennis Troha
As we noted in our post on Young's remarkable fundraising record in the run-up to the 2005 transportation bill, Wisconsin businessman Dennis Troha is reportedly cooperating with investigators regarding his contributions to Young and other lawmakers. Troha allegedly gave his support in exchange for a measure that was inserted into the bill.
Veco
The FBI is also scrutinizing Young's dealings with Alaska oil services company Veco Corp. At issue is whether he accepted bribes in exchange for political favors over the course of his long friendship with former Veco CEO Bill Allen. In January, Young tried to make amends by returning $38,000 to Allen for the decade-worth of pig roast fundraisers the executive held in Young's honor each year in Anchorage. From 1996 to 2006, when Allen played host to the pork gala, Veco and its employees gave Young at least $157,000. Young was chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for six of those years.
It's unclear what Young might have arranged for Veco in exchange. But Veco has certainly done well as a federal contractor. The company's federal sector website touts having "successfully completed projects totaling over $25 billion," since 1992. Investigators are reportedly investigating Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) role in helping Veco get a $170 million contract. But which contracts might Young's help have proven instrumental? We'll keep you posted.
Jack Abramoff
Young also touches another investigation. The sole Alaska congressman kept close ties with Jack Abramoff and was known to hold fundraisers in Abrmoff's MCI skybox. Last year, Paul reported on a 1999 Abramoff-organized Congressional junket Young led to the Marshall Islands. At the time, Young was the chair of the House Resources Committee. The delegation, which included Reps. John Doolittle (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), visited the Kwajalein Atoll missile test site and attended a meeting of the parliament, during which a resolution was introduced to rename the test site after Ronald Reagan. Thanks to Paul's intrepid reporting, we hear Young allegedly addressed the assembly in Bermuda shorts. Young vehemently denies wearing the short pants which are still part of the Royal Navy uniform.
Mark Zachares, a native Alaskan and former senior aide on the House Transportation Committee -- during Young's tenure as chair -- pleaded guilty in July to hawking political favors in exchange for perks (like $60,000 in cash and a trip to Scotland) and a future job from Abramoff. Though Zachares carried out Abramoff's work under Young's noise, no concrete evidence has surfaced showing that Young was directly involved. But, Young's effort seven years ago to stop sweatshop reform in the Mariana Islands raises some suspicion. Zachares was a Mariana Islands official at the time and Abramoff was the islands' lobbyist and paid $11 million to make sure Congress didn't interfere with wages or immigration -- the two areas under Zachares' domain. Thanks to Young, the reforms were halted.
And Zachares wasn't the only aide of Young's to have a relationship with Abramoff. Young's staffer Duane Gibson left to go work for Abramoff.
Last quarter the Young campaign committee dropped $262,000 on legal fees. That might make it sound like Young is worried, but publicly he's kept his cool. When protesters taunted Young about the FBI's Veco investigation, the Anchorage Daily News captured his response:
Young smiled and did a little dance, shaking his hips and pumping his arms. "They'll never get the best of me," he said at one point to a supporter who was making his way through the line.
Comments (9)
aklady wrote on August 28, 2007 4:41 PM:Reminder:
heh wrote on August 28, 2007 4:53 PM:Although not a scandal, Don Young has been cleaning up his books, by returning some campaign funds... least we not forget this gesture of honesty...
solution: term limits !
these criminals forget that its the hard earned American wage earner dollar that is getting them those donations. If Young gave away 10 mil. for the Coconut Road and only got back 40 Gs, he looks like a cheap whore.
bjobotts wrote on August 28, 2007 5:10 PM:"Young smiled and did a little dance, shaking his hips and pumping his arms. "They'll never get the best of me," he said at one point to a supporter who was making his way through the line."
Meaning there is quite a bit to get the best of him on. Hopefully the voters will see his parading of corruption in "you can't catch me, I'm too slick" as reason to vote him out of office saying, "we don't have to 'catch' you to get rid of you" smart ass.
PalmerBuyer wrote on August 28, 2007 8:46 PM:I'm personally going to vote for ABY - anybody but Young.
He and his friend Stevens should quit being PROUD of being crooks and resign for the sake of honest Alaskans.
I'm ashamed of him. And I'm ashamed he represents my State.
His 'token' graft returns are a drop in the bucket. All they serve to do is be an 'in your face' reminder.
RaindeerDawg wrote on August 28, 2007 9:43 PM:Democrats of AK should not vote for ABY. We need to make an informed and intelligent choice for who we choose to run against Don "name yer price" Young. Diane Benson is a 40 percenter. She won't and can not beat him. She is awesome, and bless her heart for running against him in the last election, but she doesn't have the skills that Alaskans need to have in that office. I voted for her last election because I was one of those ABY people. Now we have choices!!! I am on the Jake Metcalfe bandwagon. His background and experience blow Diane out of the water. If we want to win, we need to put up someone who is capable of stomping Young into the dirty ground on which he stands. Until someone more qualified than Jake comes along, that is where my vote is going.
Stephen Taufen wrote on August 29, 2007 3:01 AM:Don't forget to add in ADAK ISLAND & FISHERIES!, Lara...
The IRS/FBI team should be mightily concerned about why Don Young got $2 million handed back to The Aleut Corp. (TAC)/Aleut Enterprise Corp. (AEC) (Alaska Native Corporation) after the IRS fined them $3 million. Given Ben and Ted and Ted's brother-in-law's lobbyist firm (Birch Horton Bittner & Cherot) involvement at Adak, along with Republican poli-artist Art Hackney, this must be suspect. Hackney and Ben were both on AEC's board in the late 1990's together. Why?
In 2002, I personally saw Don's fax come across the Aleut Corp president's local desk at Adak, when Don was advising that it was not a good idea right then -- in the Land Transfer Bill (spirited through the Senate by then Sen. Frank Murkowski!) -- to hand them back the full $3m. And it was a few years later that Don apparently snuck it in by earmark. It showed up as a credit on TAC's financial statements.
That should also mean a House Ethics investigation. It is dispicable, as it gives a Congressman "Pardon the IRS" powers, and makes them the arbiter instead of US Tax Courts, for their cronies. Tell me this is "legal" in the USA, (no, please don't = it can't be)!
There are two federal investigations ongoing right now at Adak, according to a magistrate; plus one state investigation, plus one by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (re electrical utility). And Adak was the site of the largest NOAA Fisheries fine in history = $3.44 million (caused by yours truly and my partner L. Davison, when we filed a Writ of Mandamus with John Ashcroft and the US District Court of Seattle etc. in Jan. 2002). We also suspect Ted of personally suppressing DOCommerce/EDA grant data from public disclosure when we were after a FOIA there... the whole EDA group was scared wet, so you know someone very powerful was behind that.
Adak is where Ted's 2004 Consolidated Appropriations fishery Rider gave the Aleut Corp. well over $10 million annually in pollock, as Ben Stevens himself (Ted's son - as if every American doesn't know that by now!) held a "secret option" for 25% of the seafoods operation there for a mere $500,000. Of course, Ben's financial disclosures as former state senator revealed six figure "consulting fees" by Adak Fisheries/Seafoods paid to him. On and on it goes... as one lobbyist told me in 2003, "It is all about Adak!" No kidding...
Codeword: Enrichment - as in it's all in the Family, when it comes to the Alaska fisheries "Mafiya/Yakutzi" cronies of Ted's.
From the FISH REPULIC OF ALASKA, speaking for the Groundswell Fisheries Movement ~ Stephen
aklocal wrote on August 29, 2007 1:08 PM:Stephen,
"And it was a few years later that Don apparently snuck it in by earmark. It showed up as a credit on TAC's financial statements."
Thats pretty interesting. I would like to know more about this earmark. Can you flesh this out or give us some links? Thanks.
ps Who is "Ted's brother-in-law" at Birch, Horton, et al?
Pamela wrote on August 29, 2007 5:27 PM:"gesture of honesty"? You have got to be kidding me. I seriously doubt that DY has an honest bone in his body. Looks more like a gesture of I don't want to get caught holding the bag for all of this.
And yes, I am embarassed that he represents my interests in DC. And like many others, will be voting ABY.
borealfox wrote on August 30, 2007 2:47 AM:Don Young honest? Is that some kind of a joke that someone's is trying to tell? If so I don't get it ............... but I sure hope that Good Ol' Don gets it good when he goes to prison, P-R-I-S-O-N, prison. And I hope that "Big Bubba" is his room mate, and I hope he doesn't juse the soap either as Good Ol' Don doesn't deserve to be cleaned out when he has it done to him.
He's never done anything except embarrass us since he left Fort Yukon.
BTW, anyone ever seen his "home" in Fort Yukon? Now there's a joke, the old trailer has had to fallen completely apart by now.