« previous | MUCK HOME | next »
Veco Exec Won Over Pol With Talk Of Barbados Warden Gig
It's the American dream to retire to a job as a prison warden near topless beaches in Barbados. Well, at least, that was former state Rep. Pete Kott's (R-AK) dream, and Veco CEO Bill Allen was going to do his best to make it happen -- in exchange for a lucrative oil pipeline, of course.
In opening statements in Kott's public corruption trial, the prosecution played the jury phone conversations recorded by the FBI where Kott jokes (at least once while audibly tipsy) about his hopes for the prison position, but is serious about a future with Veco after leaving his post.
The tapes also reveal how Allen -- also known for overseeing the doubling of Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) Girdwood home -- sees his relationships with politicians:
In one lengthy call between Allen and [former Veco vice president Rick Smith] on Feb. 20, 2006, Allen goes on a tirade about Veco's new young lobbyist, Kris Knauss. Allen was angry that Knauss was using Allen's own well-cultivated influence with Kott as if it were his own, turning it to his advantage with Gov. Frank Murkowski's chief of staff, Jim Clark."Well f---. I put more money into Pete Kott than he's ever even thought about," Allen sputtered at one point.
Some investments are better than others.
Comments (7)
BluestateRedhead wrote on September 11, 2007 5:50 PM:security code, snake. perfect.
JEP wrote on September 11, 2007 6:13 PM:Allen shouldn't complain.
Those "deposits" came back as a taxpayer-funded earmarks of magnanimous proportions.
Compare THIS to Siegelman, and it might make you shudder. So if a Democratic Governor can be sent to prison for 7 years for getting a public debt paid off, what do you s'pos this republican Congressman ought to get for taking bribes from VECO?
Siegelman's in Federal Prison, convicted by federal prosecutors in federal court, so I would guess the same laws must apply, last time I looked, Alaska had joined the Union.
714Day wrote on September 11, 2007 10:20 PM:Now, now, JEP. Alaskans and Alaskan pols are only sort of in the union. They're above the radar of the lower 48.
PalmerBuyer wrote on September 12, 2007 12:33 AM:(I never used to think how this rendered Hawaii stateless. Because it was the favorite vacation destination of so many sourdoughs, maybe they just thought of it as a summer home - even though one went when it was 70 below during the winter.)
Yup, the standard joke used to be that 'if they held an election in Alaska in February they'd have to have a separate polling place in Hawaii' for all the Alaska folks.
I'm waiting until the REST of the indictments. I don't want them to rush them; I want deserved charges to STICK.
Ed*ard Teller wrote on September 12, 2007 2:43 AM:I know at least five Alaskans who have never been anywhere but here, Hawaii and Puerto Vallarta. They're apolitical, but aware, and claim they haven't missed a thing.
Looks like Veco, uh, CH2M Hill or whatever, missed the Barbdos privatized prison bandwagon. Or did they?
sweet_girl wrote on September 12, 2007 9:46 AM:One part of the story that TPM is missing are the connections with CIRI, one of the wealthiest Native corporations in Alaska. In a fraud trial that is now ungoing, a number of unsavory links between Ted Stevens and CIRI have been uncovered. Looks like the FBI is interested too. Here's the latest story on this trial from the Anchorage Daily News:
psyopswatcher wrote on September 12, 2007 1:58 PM:http://www.adn.com/money/industries/native_corporations/story/9296159p-9210894c.html
Yes sweet_girl, that would also explain some sour grapes over the exposure of the 'bridge-to-nowhere' and oodles of fed highway money lost to contracts that would never be.
Infighting over why business is so bad.