Alaska

The Ted Stevens' Road to Ruin

Kate Klonick | July 29, 2008, 6:13PM

We've had a lot of coverage today at TPMmuckraker on the freshly indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R), but we've actually been following Uncle Ted and his son, Ben, here at TPMm for more than a year.

So for the benefit of our readers we thought we'd wrap it up into one neat little package so you can see how an 84 year-old U.S. Senator can go from free gas grills to federal indictment.

Ladies and gentleman, we present: The Ted Stevens' Road to Ruin, the ultimate in Ted Stevens' timelines.

Alaska

Ben and Ted's Excellent Investigations

Kate Klonick | July 14, 2008, 12:41PM

There are only two elected officials left standing in the musical chairs among those publicly tied to the state's massive political corruption scandal: current U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R) and his son, former State Sen. Ben Stevens (R).

The indictment of Alaska State Sen. John Cowdery (R) last Thursday, means all of the state legislators whose offices were raided in August of 2006 (except Stevens) -- Cowdery, Vic Kohring (R), Bruce Weyhrauch (R), Pete Kott (R) and Don Olson (D) -- are now either cooperating with federal investigations, convicted or indicted. The FBI warrant allowing the search named former VECO executives Bill Allen and Rick Smith.

Allen and Smith were indicted and pleaded guilty. Their testimony at the trials of Kott, Kohring and Weyhrauch helped convict the three indicted state representatives. While Kott and Weyhrauch's convictions are pending appeal, Kohring recently began his 3.5 year prison sentence. Cowdery's recent indictment on two counts of bribery and conspiracy named an anonymous "Senator A" who was later revealed by Cowdery's lawyer as Olson. Olson followed with a statement that he has been cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office for over a year, and is unlikely to be indicted.

That leaves just the Stevens boys without a fall out. Both are under federal investigation for their ties to VECO, but the investigation of Uncle Ted also stretches to his suspicious pet projects.

As one juror at Kohring's trial observed after his conviction, "they didn't get the sharks. They got the minnow." Cowdery appears to be the last of the "minnows," but does that mean federal prosecutors will be going after bigger game in the near future?

And don't forget the other big fish: Seemingly more tenuous, but still present is the ongoing federal investigation into U.S. Rep. Don Young (R), for his own ties to VECO.

Don Olson

Olson Has Been Cooperating with FBI For a Year

Kate Klonick | July 11, 2008, 11:42AM

The mysterious Alaskan "State Senator A" -- a.k.a. Sen. Don Olson (D) -- has been cooperating with federal prosecutors for "about a year" on their investigation of the massive public corruption scandal involving half a dozen state senators -- including former State Sen. Ben Stevens-- bribery by local oil and gas company VECO.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, Olson testified to a federal grand jury last month and has been "interviewed maybe a half dozen times about the events" covered in the recent indictment of State Sen. John Cowdery (R). Cowdery is charged with two counts of bribery and conspiracy.

Though Olson was cited in the Cowdery indictment as being the target of a bribe, it is unlikely that he's about to be charged with anything:

Olson has no assurance that he won't be prosecuted, but [Olson's attorney Paul] Stockler said it appears highly unlikely that he will be.

"I don't believe Donny Olson did anything wrong," Stockler said. Olson never received the $25,000.

Don Olson

State Sen. Don Olson Is Mystery "Senator A"

Kate Klonick | July 10, 2008, 5:56PM

From the Anchorage Daily News:

The indictment identifies the senator Cowdery was trying to influence only as "state Senator A," but [Cowdery's attorney Kevin] Fitzgerald said that person is Donny Olson, D-Nome, who at the time was running for lieutenant governor.

The document describes a series of phone calls as well as a June 25, 2006, breakfast meeting. Olson, Cowdery and Veco chief executive Bill Allen met at the Sunshine Grill in Anchorage, Olson's lawyer, Paul Stockler of Anchorage, said this morning.

[Late Update]: Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has called for Cowdery to resign from the Alaska Senate.

Alaska

Another State Legislator Indicted in Alaska Corruption Probe

Kate Klonick | July 10, 2008, 1:36PM

Alaska State Sen. John Cowdery (R) was indicted today on two counts of conspiracy and bribery. Cowdery is the latest Alaskan politician to fall in the wide-reaching public corruption scandal.

Former VECO Corp. CEO Rick Smith testified in September of last year that he had bribed Cowdery, and four other State Senators, including Stevens, for favorable legislation on an Alaska gas pipeline.

Cowdery was a former co-worker and friend of former State Senator Ben Stevens, who has been the subject of an ongoing investigation by the FBI.

Cowdery's indictment can be found here.

Ted Stevens

Stevens Federal Corruption Probe Includes Seafood Industry Earmarks

lkmcgann | October 30, 2007, 5:29PM

Move over Veco, the seafood industry needs some room in the federal corruption investigation of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK).

Until now, only Stevens' son Ben Stevens, a former state Senate President, had been publicly ensnared in the fishing probe targeting earmarks that went to companies simultaneously paying the younger Stevens consulting fees. But this evening, the AP reports the seafood probe includes Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate.

Investigators want to know if Stevens deliberately ushered $180 million in earmarks and wrote legislation that would lead to consulting fees and stock options for his son.

Read more »

Veco

2nd Veco Exec Testifies to Paying Ben Stevens $250K in "Fees"

lkmcgann | October 26, 2007, 11:41AM

Bad news for Ben Stevens. Another Veco executive testified in federal court to paying the one-time state Senate President, and son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), $250,000 in bogus consulting fees.

Former Veco vice president Rick Smith's testimony came during the trial of state Rep. Vic Kohring (R-AK), accused of accepting bribes from Veco and unsuccessfully trying to get the company to pay off his $17,000 credit card debt. Veco's Bill Allen previously testified about the bogus consulting fees paid to Stevens, in yet another, earlier Alaska corruption trial.

Kohring's lawyers have long argued that their client was unfairly netted in an investigation shooting for the two Stevenses. One even told investigators they "dun got the wrong man." While the younger Stevens was paid nearly a quarter of a million dollars in monthly retainer fess for his lobbying services while in office, Kohring has been charged with accepting $2,600 in cash.

The FBI raided Ben Stevens' legislative office last year, but he has not been charged with a crime.

Veco

Accused Pol: "You Dun Got The Wrong Man."

lkmcgann | October 25, 2007, 12:57PM

Maybe the corruption trial of former state legislator Rep. Vic Kohring (R-AK) is really a call for healthcare reform. Kohring learned the age-old HMO lesson (never, ever go out of network) the hard way and ended up begging Veco executives for cash when faced with collection agency calls.

Kohring says a spinal surgery in 2002 at the Mayo Clinic, which wasn't on his health plan's preferred provider list, set him back thousands of dollars. One credit card still had a $17,000 balance in March 2006. With collection agencies harassing him and his house, worth about $100,000, not selling, he approached Veco executives Bill Allen and Rick Smith with an idea. He would lobby other state lawmakers to support a piece of pipeline legislation in exchange for some cash. He never received the $17,000.

Kohring's lawyer has argued prosecutor's nabbed his small fish client when they should have been pursuing the big fish: Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and former state Senate President Ben Stevens. The lawyer, Wayne Anthony Ross, wrote in a letter to federal prosecutors: "You dun got the wrong man." Father and son Stevens, who are both under investigation for their connection to Veco, have not been officially accused of wrongdoing (yet), but Kohring is charged with accepting $2,600 in cash and lining up a Veco summer internship for his nephew worth $3,000.

Read more »

Ben Stevens

Ben Stevens on Talk Radio: You Got Me All Wrong

lkmcgann | October 1, 2007, 12:39PM

Former Alaska Senate president and son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), Ben Stevens, hasn't said much publicly since his legislative office was raided last year by federal agents. But this weekend an Anchorage talk radio show host said something about Uncle Ted that angered Stevens enough to call in. (I guess dialing up talk radio shows when you're facing legal and ethical troubles is just what you do in Alaska...)

On air, Stevens volunteered that he is under investigation by the FBI, the IRS and the the National Marine Fisheries Service, but maintained his innocence and called this whole investigation a "feeding frenzy" and a "blood bath." The show's host, Dan Fagan asked him about the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board, where Stevens and his father's former top legislative aide, Trevor McCabe, served together while simultaneously accepting consulting fees from the very companies they awarded federal grants. The grants themselves, of course, came from Ben's dad.

"I didn't receive anything [while on the board]," Stevens told Fagan. "I've got a 30-year relationship with the fishing business. I've been working for many companies and many entities and some of that overlapped, but it didn't have anything to do with what happened on that board."

Read more »

Ben Stevens

But Where Can We Get One?!

lkmcgann | September 19, 2007, 5:19PM

The Anchorage Daily News has what we've all been waiting for, new information on the imfamous "Corrupt Bastard Club" hats the FBI seized last year when they raided the offices of half a dozen Alaska politicians, including Ben Stevens'.

According to testimony from former Rep. Pete Kott's girlfriend, she was paid $900 to embroider "Veco" on 100 hats, with the "CBC" logo on the back of about a dozen.

The prosecution had a box of different color CBC hats in the courtroom. A red one was entered into evidence.

Ben Stevens

Alaska Gov Wants Ben Stevens Out Of Republican Leadership

lkmcgann | September 19, 2007, 5:12PM

Alaska's Republican Gov. Sarah Palin wants Ben Stevens to give up his seat as the national committeeman for the Alaska Republican Party now that former Veco CEO Bill Allen testified to bribing Stevens while he was state Senate president.

Palin probably won't get her way since there is no mechanism to remove him, though, (ouch), Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich said:

"[Stevens] will serve through the March 20008 convention. We look forward to electing a new committee man at that time," Ruedrich said.

Ben Stevens

Allen Admits To Bribing Ben Stevens

lkmcgann | September 14, 2007, 10:44AM

The mystery is solved! (Again) On the witness stand yesterday Bill Allen identified the "Senator B" in his guilty plea as former State Senator Ben Stevens (R-AK), son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK).

Allen pleaded guilty to paying Stevens "consulting fees" in exchange for votes -- and made it clear that he's a briber with a big heart.

As to Stevens, he started consulting for Veco in 1995, six years before he was appointed to the Senate, Allen said. "He was real good at details. He was like Pete [Kott]. He would work," Allen said.

By the time Stevens was in the Senate, he had four kids, Allen noted. "How am I supposed to say 'now that you're a senator, Ben, I can't give you more money,' " Allen testified. "I couldn't do that."

Politicians have mouths to feed too, after all.

Veco

Happy Anniversary, Monumental Alaska FBI Raid

lkmcgann | August 31, 2007, 3:19PM

Get the party horns out! Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the FBI's raid on the offices of six Alaska state legislators (including Ben Stevens'), Veco and other undisclosed locations. Sadly, none of the "Corrupt Bastard Club" paraphernalia has surfaced on Ebay.

KTUU reports that the raid marked a public turning-point. Gov. Sarah Palin (R), for instance, ousted Gov. Frank Murkowski last year in the primary and went on to win the general election on a campaign touting ethics reform.

"It was a manifestation of the need for the ethics reform that so many Alaskans were craving and were calling for anyway," Palin said.

Ted Stevens

Alaska Scandal, More Than Meets The Eye

lkmcgann | August 28, 2007, 11:54AM

It looks like there is still more to come in the Alaska political corruption scandal, according to the Juneau Empire, which quoted a federal prosecutor saying there are "multiple, ongoing nonpublic investigations" looking at the ties between Alaska lawmakers and the oil industry.

The paper also notes that a federal judge officially named Ben Stevens, former Alaska Senate President and son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), as a subject in the investigation. Stevens had been identified as "Senator B" in charging documents; the Anchorage Daily News pieced together the younger Stevens' involvement in May.

Ben Stevens

Ben Stevens' Boss At Sea Is Big Time Fed Contractor

lkmcgann | August 16, 2007, 3:55PM

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.

Veco

FBI Scrutinizes Unlikely Veco Contracts

lkmcgann | August 16, 2007, 8:55AM

The FBI wants to know why oil services company Veco Corp. won federal contracts worth $170 million to provide the National Science Foundation with polar and arctic research support, despite having no experience in the field, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

Veco won the federal awards right around the time CEO Bill Allen oversaw the remodeling of Stevens' Girdwood home, another field in which Veco had no prior experience.

Stevens, who has long supported NSF arctic research, would have had authority over NSF funding as a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, though no evidence has surfaced holding Stevens responsible for directly securing the contracts for Veco.

Read more »

Ben Stevens

Ben Stevens: Oil Driller, Not Fisherman

lkmcgann | August 8, 2007, 10:47AM

Earlier this week we flagged news that Ben Stevens -- son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), former president of the Alaska Senate, and currently under investigation -- returned to work on a "vessel" to raise money for his mounting legal fees. It looked like he was back to his old career on a crab fishing boat in the Bering Sea.

Not so. The Anchorage Daily News reports today that in fact he took a job as a crewman "aboard a work boat supporting Dutch oil giant Shell's planned Arctic Ocean exploratory drilling campaign." It's not clear when he'll be coming back to land and his troubles.

Ben Stevens

Ben Stevens' Legal Seas

lkmcgann | August 6, 2007, 12:52PM

Sometimes it's worth reading all the way to the very end of a long feature. A story recapping the Alaska political corruption scandal in this weekend's Seattle Times certainly was.

Wrapping up where all the key players stand, the story ends noting that former state Senate President Ben Stevens, son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), has returned to his old line of work as a fisherman to cover mounting legal bills:

Ben Stevens is back in private life and faces legal expenses. To make money, he has returned to the sea to work. As of last week, he was on a vessel.

Looks like Stevens' consulting fees -- $775,000 from various seafood companies and $240,000 from Veco -- are drying up.

Ted Stevens

Company Tied To Stevens Fishery Scandal Got $3.5 Million Earmark

lkmcgann | August 1, 2007, 12:54PM

One of the companies involved in the widening federal probe into Alaska political corruption is positioned to benefit handsomely from a $3.5 million earmark tucked into a 2008 Senate spending bill by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), CQ reports.

The company, Trident Seafoods Corp., was one of several that received federal money via a local board headed by Stevens' son, Ben Stevens. While the younger Stevens dolled out federal grants supplied by his father, he received "consulting fees" from an association formed by the same companies winning the grants. Trident CEO Charles Bundrant contributed $6,700 to the elder Stevens' campaign and affiliated PACs since 2004. He also gave the National Republican Senatorial Committee $35,000 between 2005 and 2007.

The earmark CQ notes is for an airstrip that would service seafood giant Trident, and the 100 Alaskans who live in Akutan.

Trident and Stevens are no strangers. For years, company founder and Chief Executive Charles Bundrant has been a generous contributor to the Alaska Republican’s campaigns. And in December, according to the Seattle Times, a federal grand jury investigating political corruption in Alaska ordered Trident and other seafood companies to produce documents detailing financial ties to the senator’s son, former Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board Chairman Ben Stevens.