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 »

Don Young

Construction Kicks Off in Arkansas, Thanks to Don Young Earmarking

lkmcgann | October 30, 2007, 11:48AM

Rep. Don Young (R-AK) didn't just look out for Alaska when he chaired the House transportation committee. He saw the big picture, keeping in mind the myriad of needs across the country, particularly in those districts that hosted fundraisers for Young's campaign fund. For example, after voters in Arkansas donated thousands to him and his PAC, he helped channel some $415 million in earmarks to the state, situated about 4,000 miles away from his district.

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports that this week the town of Pine Bluff kicked off construction of a highway interchange project. Pine Bluff residents donated $66,000 to Young's campaign fund just before their needed-earmark appeared in the pork-filled highway bill of 2005:

...the connector has seen more than its share of congressional attention over the years. It started with a $ 100 million earmark in 1998 as well as an additional $ 40 million six years later. In 2006, Congress set aside $ 72 million more for the project.

Many credit U. S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., and his predecessor, Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Ark., as well a grass-roots lobbying effort that included throwing fundraisers for a former influential chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.

When Young's tenure as transportation committee chair ended, he offered the Anchorage Daily News his thoughts:

"Now I can say this is for Alaska and not have to be worried about, you know, Arkansas," said Young with a grin.

Veco

Veco CEO: My Nephew Blackmailed Me Over Stevens Remodeling

lkmcgann | October 29, 2007, 6:52PM

Here's some strange news coming out of the Alaska trial of former state Rep. Vic Kohring. It turns out that when former Veco CEO Bill Allen testified last month in a separate corruption trial about being blackmailed by his own nephew, the strong-arming was related to Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) suspect home renovation.

Allen was defensive on the stand that day, the Anchorage Daily News reported, combating questioning from defense attorneys that he actually threatened to kill his nephew:

Allen said he didn’t make such a threat. “Not me, no. I told them (him?) I’d beat the shit out of him,” Allen said.

Later, he said: “I never did say that I would kill him. No. I wouldn’t have done that … because his mother is my sister.”

Today Allen clarified while under cross-examination that his nephew was blackmailing him over “Ted Stevens’ house.” Just what his nephew was threatening to do (go to the feds?) is unclear.

Allen also testified again today that Veco paid for some of the renovations that doubled Stevens' home, but he didn’t know how much Veco spent.