Attorneys for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) fought back Monday after prosecutors filed a discovery motion that hinted at possible quid pro quos between Stevens and VECO executives.

"The government wishes to smuggle in suggestions of bribery and corruption that it has not charged and cannot prove," Stevens' attorneys wrote in their motion. Stevens is charged with making false statements for failing to mention over $250,000 in gifts on his Senate disclosure forms -- not with taking bribes.

From the AP:

Prosecutors also want to present somewhat unrelated evidence that they believe shows the Alaska senator got a sweetheart condominium deal, his daughter got a discounted car and his son got a job from VECO.

In court documents filed Monday, Stevens suggested the Justice Department was making accusations haphazardly, hoping to damage his reputation at trial. Those accusations have nothing to do with the crime he's charged with, attorneys said.

"They are an obvious attempt to smear the Senator's character," defense attorneys wrote, adding later that the Justice Department was "continuing its assault on the senator's family."

We learned over the weekend, via Newsweek, that there's a Dick Cheney connection to the Ted Stevens case. But are federal prosecutors looking the other way?

In a phone conversation recorded by the FBI and included in a court filing by prosecutors, Sen. Stevens (R-AK) told oil-services executive Bill Allen that he would try to get some "bigwigs" from Washington to weigh in on a bill pending in the Alaska legislature, that would have given the go-ahead to a pipeline Allen wanted. Two days later, Newsweek notes, Cheney sent a letter to Alaska lawmakers urging them to pass the bill. Stevens told Newsweek that Cheney's letter had been sent at his urging.

But we were curious about one thing. Why didn't prosecutors mention Cheney's letter in their filing? Although technically Stevens is being prosecuted for giving false statements on disclosure forms, demonstrating that Stevens took action on Allen's behalf is still at the heart of the case.

And in citing another example of Stevens using his influence on Allen's behalf, prosecutors did include chapter and verse on the results Stevens got. Consider this passage from the filing:

Stevens added: "I'm going to try and see if I can get . . . the Secretary of Energy and also the head of, of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [("FERC")] up there to explain why it's necessary that they act before we act."

On July 7, 2006, Senator Stevens traveled to Alaska and addressed the Alaska Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, urging it to cease infighting and pass the pipeline legislation before liquified natural gas monopolizes the marketplace. Three days later, on July 10, 2006, the FERC issued a report similar to the message delivered by Stevens.

But when it comes to Stevens calling on Cheney, the prosecutors -- who are from the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section, and the U.S. attorney's office in Alaska -- go strangely silent.

One former government prosecutor we spoke to said he could see little reason why the link to Cheney wouldn't have been mentioned. The most charitable explanation, the ex-prosecutor said, is that the government thought that bringing in Cheney would unnecessarily bog the case down. The least charitable is that they were "trying to protect Cheney."

Another former federal corruption prosecutor agreed, writing in an email to TPMMuckraker:

"If the government has the evidence that Stevens asked Cheney's office to intervene/write a letter, I can see no strategic or tactical reason not to have cited that evidence in their motion. They specifically argue for the admission at trial of evidence regarding Stevens' attempts to influence the executive branch on behalf of VECO. Citing the Cheney evidence could only bolster that argument and help educate the judge on the extraordinary lengths Stevens was going to help out VECO, which just happened to be providing him with undisclosed personal benefits at the time.

The source cautioned, however, that prosecutors may not have had evidence that Stevens was behind Cheney's letter, before Stevens confirmed it to Newsweek.

A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately return a call for comment.

The corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is already yielding some interesting fruit.

Newsweek reported Saturday that, in a 2006 conversation secretly recorded by the FBI, Stevens and Bill Allen -- the oil-services executive who allegedly provided Stevens with $250,000 in financial gifts -- discussed how to get a pipeline bill through the Alaska legislature.

Stevens told Allen: "I'm gonna try to see if I can get some bigwigs from back here and say, 'Look ... you gotta get this done'." Two days later, Vice President Cheney took the unusual step of contacting Alaska lawmakers directly, urging them in a letter to "promptly enact" the legislation. Stevens confirmed to Newsweek that he had indeed asked Cheney to write the letter.

Newsweek notes that the former executive director of Cheney's energy task force had gone on to work as a lobbyist for BP, which would have built the pipeline. The magazine doesn't name the task force director, but it appears to be Andrew Lundquist. And it's worth pointing out that Lundquist -- who had worked as the Bush-Cheney campaign's energy expert in 2000, earning the nickname "Lightbulb" from the president -- has also worked as a top aide to Stevens.

Newsweek also reports that DOJ prosecutors did not include Cheney's letter in their motion and did not respond when the magazine asked why.

Maybe John McCain can't remember how many houses he owns, but it sounds like indicted GOP Sen. Ted Stevens (AK) has a pretty short memory too.

Just yesterday, we highlighted five Alaskans who called into a talk radio program on Tuesday to question Stevens on his upcoming trial and the charges against him.

But at a Republican Senate primary debate last night, Vic Vickers, a primary opponent to Stevens, posed a similar question to Ted about why he accepted $250,000 in gifts from VECO executive Bill Allen. And Ted's response, was. . . well. . . confusing:

"As I've traveled around Alaska, you know, I haven't had that question asked to me by anyone but a newsperson. And now you join that rank. Uh, the Alaskans I've talked to said "Ted, we believe in ya'," "Ted, I'm gonna give ya' a prayer," "Ted, we'll see you through this," uh, "We know, we know (emphasis) that you're innocent 'cause you said you're innocent."

Apparently, for Stevens, constituents who question him are entirely forgettable.

Embattled Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) took to Alaskan radio Tuesday, and to no one's surprise but his own, he was confronted by callers with questions about his recent indictment for lying on financial disclosure forms about favors he received from a campaign contributor.

Stevens' responses to his constituents inquiries ranged from general shock, to confusion, to denial, and even to John Wayne-like challenges.

As more and more people called in to the show asking questions about his upcoming trial and indictment, Stevens' patience seemed to wane. At about forty minutes into the show, host Steve Heimel stepped in to break up a shouting match between Stevens and a caller.

"Excuse me, Steve," the caller said, "but the senator is a big boy and can take care of himself. He's been in the game a long time."

"You're damned right I can take care of myself," Stevens responded. "Any time you want to come, friend."

When asked by Heimel what would happen to his campaign if he was convicted at his trial in September, Stevens had a simple, head-in-the-sand, response:

I don't think about that. I have faith that that is not going to happen. As a matter of fact, approaching this whole issue is a matter of faith Steve. And I am convinced I am innocent, so I, I must maintain my position that I have faith I will not be reaching that position that you just indicated. If that happens, we'll have to make some decisions, but I don't expect it.

We've compiled a highlight reel for your enjoyment.

Partial transcript after the jump.

Read more »

Nighttime campaigning is looking more difficult for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) whose motion to move his upcoming trial to Alaska was denied by a federal judge this morning.

Stevens had previously requested a change of venue to Alaska so he could campaign at home during the run up to the November election. In a partial accommodation of his request, there will be no sessions on Friday to allow the six-term incumbent senator to travel to Alaska for weekend campaigning, McClatchy reports.

Earlier this week, attorneys on both sides of the case submitted questions for jury selection. According to court documents, inquiries include potential jurors' opinions on the oil industry, congressional corruption, earmarks in the state of Alaska, and whether or not they regularly read the D.C. newspaper, The Hill.

Former VECO CEO Bill Allen, the oil executive who orchestrated Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) home renovations and whose testimony led to the indictment and conviction of a number of state legislators, has had a relatively soft fall from grace. Since testifying, little has been seen of Allen, whose sentencing on his May 2007 guilty plea has been continuously delayed as he remains free on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

As those connected to him fall to federal indictments, Allen is enjoying the windfall from the sale of steeped-in-corruption-VECO, for $146 million. Thanks to a carefully negotiated plea deal, two-thirds of that profit went to Allen and his three children. Oh, and did we mention he has no passport or travel restrictions?

According to the Anchorage Daily News, just seven months after his plea deal, Allen and two of his children bought a small jet, with an estimated value of $2 million. The plane has been flying all over the west, notably landing at airports near New Mexico racetracks, where all of the Allen children own licensed racehorses. And though he still owns his half-million dollar Anchorage home, Allen is reportedly spending the majority of his time in New Mexico:

Dick Cappellucci, a New Mexico licensed horse trainer from El Paso, Tex., who used to work for Allen's son, Mark Allen, and once owned a race horse with Mark, said Bill Allen is living on his son's Double Eagle Ranch. The county lists the ranch as a 46-acre property.

Mark Allen himself "is building a fancy, fancy place over there," Cappellucci said.

. . . Recently, the Allens have been showing up big at horse sales, Cappellucci said. "They've spent a lot of money in the horse business."

"A lot of money in the horse business," might be an understatement. According to the ADN, Mark Allen spent $726,000 for eight horses shortly before the sale of VECO.

But all is not as rosy as it might seem for Allen and Co. and their soft money bed at the race track. According to Bob Bundy, Allen's defense lawyer, Allen is "just kind of marking time. . . waiting for the axe to fall. . . it's not a very happy situation."

Here's another interesting email federal prosecutors found when they were sifting through Sen. Ted Stevens' files.

Stevens (R-AK) was writing to a friend described here only as "Person A," who was slated to appear before a grand jury.

This is how the scenario is spelled out in court documents filed last night:

By mid-May 2007, Stevens learned that Person A had been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in D.C. On May 17, 2007, Stevens sent Person A two emails that discussed Person A's upcoming grand jury testimony. In the first email, Stevens told Person A that "I hope we can work something out to make sure you aren't led astray on this occasion."

In the second, Stevens was more explicit: "don't answer questions you don't KNOW the answers to."

It's not clear who "Person A" is but it's likely one of Stevens' close friends, possibly one who lives near Stevens' home in Girwood, AK. The only other reference to that person in the motion describes an incident just after the FBI mounted a series of raids and Stevens, emailing in the middle of the night, asks this same person whether federal agents had searched Stevens' own home in Girdwood.

On September 1, 2006, defendant Stevens sent two emails to Person A, asking if Stevens' house had been searched in connection with the Allen/VECO investigation. At 3:49 a.m. on September 1, 2006, Stevens wrote Person A: "press releases say the FBI served a warrant in Girdwood??? Did they hit our house? T."

At 5:33 p.m. later that day, Stevens again wrote: "Have you been by the Chalet? Teds"

Federal prosecutors have never tried to say Sen. Ted Stevens provided any illegal favors to VECO, the Alaska-based oil and gas company that helped renovate his home.

Rather, the senator's indictment charges only that he accepted gifts from the company and failed to disclose them in Senate financial reports.

But in new court filings last night, the feds laid out evidence from wiretaps and seized emails to show in detail some favors Stevens allegedly did for the company. Prosecutors made the disclosure in a motion seeking to introduce the information at Stevens' trial set for September.

One of those alleged favors concerns a proposed pipeline that VECO hoped the state and federal governments would approve. In a phone conversation tapped by federal agents in 2006, Stevens told Bill Allen, the head of VECO, that the senator would try to smooth out the politics -- specifically resistance on the state level -- involved in the permit approval process.

I've been working with [Stevens' son] and, uh, we're trying to see what we can do about this [State Senator's] hearing. Uh, I'm gonna try to see if I can get some bigwigs from back here to go up there and say, "Look, uh, you just gotta make up your mind, you gotta get this done. There's no politics in it, there's necessity in it for the Federal government." We'll see if I can get that done.

A few days after Stevens traveled to Alaska to push state lawmakers to approve the project, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a report also urging state officials to approve the pipeline.

Nevertheless, the pipeline project has not materialized.

Another alleged favor came in 1999, when Allen sought Stevens' help securing a grant from the National Science Foundation. Allen wrote a letter to Stevens and included some proposed wording Allen hoped could be inserted into some legislation, prosecutors said.

In early 2000, the foundation granted a VECO subsidiary a contract valued at $27 million, according to court papers.

In another case, VECO sought Stevens help with a deal the company was forging in Russia. In order for VECO to get a large energy-services contract with the Russian government, some Russian workers needed training on how to use American equipment, the motion said.

The company sought Stevens' assistance in getting federal funding for the worker training in both 1999 and 2004. Federal prosecutors found an email from 2004 from a VECO executive referring to money Stevens had secured:

Bill got Ted to fund this a few years ago. Bill went back to Ted Stevens over the weekend to ask about more money. Ted found $3 million that is available now. Stevens [s]taff person is going to call [an oil company executive] next week to make the money
available so that Exxon can get some good publicity.

Another incident prosecutors point to involves VECO's request for assistant with Pakistan. Pakistan owned money to VECO for a pipeline project and after Allen asked Stevens for help in the matter, Stevens wrote a letter to the president of the World Bank Group urging him to help resolve the financial dispute between VECO and Pakistan. The debt was paid soon afterward.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) flipped a Florida condo deal to turn $5,000 into about $100,000 back in 2001 when the housing boom was heating up, according to newly filed court documents.

Federal prosecutors are not charging the sitting senator with any additional crimes, but they are laying out the new allegations in an effort to show a pattern of lying on his Senate financial disclosure reports.

Prosecutors say the details of Stevens' deal amount to an interest-free loan that he should have publicly disclosed.

The Anchorage Daily News first reported the details on Stevens' deal this morning:

On Feb. 4, 2001, Stevens and his wife, Catherine, signed a contract on a pre-construction condominium just north of Miami priced at $360,000, prosecutors said.

While most buyers put down 10 percent, or $36,000, Stevens only put down $5,000. One of the developers fronted the senator $31,000 in an interest-free loan that he paid to an escrow company "for the benefit of 'Theodore and Catherine Stevens,' " according to the motion.

About six months later, the developer, referred to in court papers only as "Person C" contacted Stevens and told him the condo could be flipped "as I told you," according to the motion.

In August 2001, Stevens sold the contract on the condo for $515,000, later paid off the interest-free loan and retained a windfall of about $100,000, prosecutors say.

That's not illegal per se, but prosecutors say Stevens should have disclosed the deal, according to the prosecutors' motion.

Part VII of the 2001 United States Senate Financial Disclosure Form required Stevens to disclose any liability that he "owed to any creditor which exceeded $10,000 at any time during" calendar year 2001. Although Stevens knowingly carried debt on a $31,000, interest-free loan from his personal friend for more than 10 months during 2001, Stevens did not list such a liability on his 2001 Financial Disclosure Form.

There's a photo here of the condo in a high-rise in Bay Harbor Island along the so-called Gold Coast, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

From the AP:

Sen. Ted Stevens says his indictment on federal corruption charges violates the Constitution.

He says the FBI overstepped its bounds when it questioned members of his legislative staff as part of the investigation.

Stevens says that violated the Constitution's speech-and-debate clause, which prohibits the executive branch from using its law enforcement authority to interfere with legislative business. His lawyers filed court documents Thursday asking that the case be thrown out.

The Senate's longest-serving Republican, Stevens is scheduled to face trial next month on charges that he lied about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and services he received from an oil services contractor.

Late Update: We kind of thought Stevens would try out this argument. Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson (D-LA) tried that, too. And it worked.

It's hard to believe it's been a month since Alaska State Senator John Cowdery (R) was indicted on charges of bribery and corruption.

He proclaimed his innocence at the time, and now, after getting his arraignment postponed, he's finally made his plea official.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

An Anchorage state senator with ties to disgraced oil field services company Veco Corp. pleaded not guilty to federal counts of bribery and conspiracy. John Cowdery, 78, was arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court. His trial was set for Oct. 6.

He was arraigned on charges of conspiring to bribe a fellow state senator with $25,000 in Veco money.

If the name VECO sounds familiar, it should. It's the same oil field services company behind the recent indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK).

VECO's a gravy train that a number of Alaskan politicians rode straight to jail.

From The Hill:

A U.S district court judge said Thursday that Sen. Ted Stevens's (R-Alaska) criminal case could be wrapped up before the end of October while announcing an expedited schedule for jury selection.

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan indicated that 150 potential jurors could be contacted as early as this week and that jury selection would begin Sept. 23. That process could last two days, but the trial could begin as soon as Sept. 24.

"What we don't have is a lot of time between now and the commencement of the trial," Sullivan said, adding that the case would take "approximately four weeks."

Under that scenario, a jury might have enough time to offer a verdict before Election Day, when Stevens is seeking his seventh full Senate term. The longest-serving Republican senator has pleaded not guilty to charges of allegedly concealing more than $250,000 worth of gifts from an oil-services company.

Stevens missed Thursday's procedural hearing at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, campaigning instead in Alaska, where he faces six primary challengers on Aug. 26. If he wins, the 84-year-old Stevens would face 46-year-old Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich in the general election.

The judge is expected to rule on Stevens' motion to hold the trial in Alaska rather than Washington at an August 20 hearing.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is making good on his promise "to travel to any place in the state. . . to listen to Alaskans." On Saturday, Stevens visited the small town of Ketchikan, for their annual blueberry festival and gave an interesting quote to the Ketchikan Daily News (sub. req.):

"This is an indictment for failure to disclose gifts that are controversial in terms of whether they were or were not gifts. It's not bribery; it's not some corruption; it's not some extreme felony."

Interesting defense, senator. We wonder how that will go over with the judge.

To most, a federal indictment might not seem like a campaign rallying cause, but Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), arraigned last week on seven counts of false statements, might disagree.

At 9:30 AM AKDT today, Stevens held a rally at his campaign headquarters in Anchorage, Alaska. While his poll numbers have not flagged for the upcoming Alaska Republican primary, they have plummeted in general election polls. Stevens' likely Democratic opponent Mark Begich leads the incumbent Stevens (sub. req.) 56% to 35% according to a July 30-31 study.

Despite the dismal statistics, things were upbeat at the rally today, with Stevens' arriving behind a convoy of motorcyclists clad in leather, according to our sources. A local reporter, Dennis Zaki, was on hand to memorialize the event in pictures. More images (including bikers) coming shortly:

Sen. Stevens is surrounded by supporters in his first appearance in Anchorage since his indictment last week.

A sign posted along the highway in Wasilla, 50 miles outside of Anchorage.

More photos after the jump.

Read more »

Jurors in the upcoming trial of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) ought to brace for a field trip out to his renovated chalet in rural Girwood, Alaska.

Attorneys for the 84-year-old senator filed a motion in federal court today seeking to have his trial on seven counts of filing false statements moved from Washington, D.C. to Alaska.

Among the reasons cited is Stevens' hope that the jurors can get a first-hand look at the renovations that prosecutors say Stevens received free-of-charge from an Alaska-based oil services firm and failed to reveal on his Senate finance disclosure reports. From the motion:

To assist the jury in understanding these renovations, Senator Stevens intends to request that the Court permit a jury visit to his Girdwood residence - an option that obviously would not be convenient for a Washington, D.C. jury. Moreover, it makes little sense to hold this trial over 3,000 miles from the renovations (the value of which is clearly in dispute) that lie at the heart of this case.

Stevens also claims the trial, scheduled to begin on Sept. 24, should be held in Alaska so the six-term incumbent can campaign at home during the run up to the November election.

Senator Stevens must be able to campaign, albeit limitedly, during the trial. Were venue transferred to Alaska, Senator Stevens would have the opportunity to campaign in the evenings and on weekends during the trial. Were venue transferred to Alaska, Senator Stevens would have the opportunity to campaign in the evenings and on weekends during the trial.

Federal prosecutors are expected to oppose the change in venue, citing the fact the disclosure forms containing the alleged false statements were filed in the capital.

Oh, the things you can do as a lame-duck president.

Despite Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) indictment last week on seven counts of false statements, President Bush is keeping their scheduled meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska today.

The two are set to meet at 4 PM AKDT (Alaska Daily Time, which is four hours behind EDT) at Eielson Air Force Base, Stevens' scheduler confirmed to TPMmuckraker.

The event with the president, who is stopping over in Alaska on his way to Beijing for the Olympics, is the second major appearance of the day for Stevens.

Earlier today the Stevens campaign held a rally in Anchorage after arriving at his campaign office behind a convoy of motorcycles. We'll have video and pictures coming shortly.

BP appeared unfazed by allegations that it may have helped cover costs related to Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) home renovations, and declined to say whether they were investigating the matter, or discuss it in any way with TPMmuckraker.

"We have done a significant amount of business with VECO over the years. They were one of the largest oil contractors in the state, and we don't discuss our business with our contractors," a BP press representative said this morning.

As we previously reported, the Anchorage Daily News published a Sunday expose of two former VECO employees who oversaw construction on Stevens' home. One of those employees, David Anderson, claimed that a VECO client, BP Exploration, had "possibly" borne the costs of some of the Stevens' renovations.

But curiously, Anderson himself backpeddled on his statements in a second story, published late last night, by the ADN:

Last week, Anderson said some of the labor charges were passed on to an oil company that was paying Veco to build a North Slope module at the time in its shop, probably BP, though not necessarily with the knowledge of the oil company. He affirmed that Saturday.

But on Sunday, Anderson said he was mistaken and only knew for sure that Veco covered the costs, not that they were passed through to a Veco client. That accounting took place in a Veco office outside the scope of his job, he said Sunday.

Stevens was indicted last week on seven counts of false statements, stemming from his failure to disclose the $250,000 worth of renovations made to his home by the oil company VECO. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, and his trial is scheduled for September 24, where Anderson may testify.

Two VECO employees shed new light on who was behind the idea to renovate the home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), the Anchorage Daily News reported yesterday.

The two employees, David Anderson, the nephew of former VECO CEO Bill Allen, and Robert "Rocky" Williams, a trusted VECO worker, told the ADN that they met with Allen over drinks at the Alyeska Prince Hotel in the spring of 1999 or 2000. It was during this meeting that the three men first discussed plans to renovate the Stevens' home.

Stevens was indicted last week on seven counts of false statements, stemming from his failure to disclose the $250,000 worth of renovations made to his home by the oil company VECO.

Anderson, who had a falling out with Allen over the construction and once claimed that his uncle threatened his life, told the ADN that there were numerous projects that Stevens was not billed for -- and Anderson would know, since he handled the billing:

Among the electricians' tasks was to wire up a switch for a generator that would automatically turn on whenever the power went out, Anderson said. Allen told him to buy an oversized power plant to install in the back yard. It was so heavy that Anderson had to order in a Veco crane from the shop to lift it over the garage from the driveway and set it in place in the back.

It was another gift that Stevens got for free, Anderson said. "I know, because I ran the paperwork -- I did all the purchase orders."

The generator is not mentioned in the indictment.

Anderson and Williams worked closely with Stevens' wife, Catherine Stevens, who had a say over much of the renovations:

Williams said Catherine Stevens wanted to put her touch on the place, which she and Stevens had bought as a 12-year-old house in 1983.

"So she picked out the carpet, she picked out the tile," Williams said. "She made it her place and that was what Ted wanted . . ."

In addition to shedding light on the work done to the Stevens' home, the ADN also speculates about the likely identities of two of the three anonymous parties in the Stevens' indictment, stating that Person A is Bob Persons, a local business owner who diligently oversaw the renovations, and Company A is Christensen Builders, a local construction company owned by Augie Paone, already known to have done work on the Girdwood chalet.

Anderson initially told the ADN that the "at least some" of the costs for the renovation were passed on to VECO clients, like "BP Exploration." Late yesterday, ADN ran a second story, saying that Anderson backed away from those statements.

Around 5 PM Alaska time, Sen. Ted Stevens' office issued a second statement on his arraignment earlier in the day in federal court.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

I am pleased that the Judge has set a speedy trial date, which should allow ample time for a decision before the general election. I am looking forward to this trial as a way of finally showing the truth - that I am innocent.

We have a Bill of Rights and a trial by jury in our country to protect our citizens - so that every person has their day in court.

I am humbled by all the outpouring of support, expressions of friendship, and offers of prayers. This process has lasted for more than a year, causing great distress to my family and confusing the Alaskans who have put their trust in me for more than 40 years.

When all the facts come out at the trial, Alaskans will know that I continue to be a dedicated public servant and that I am working hard for them every day.