You Can't Tell The Players Without a Program - Baseball Cards for Politicians

I lamented recently that we have better stats for baseball players than politicians. Well, the Anchorage Daily News published the beginnings of a program in today's edition. We can make our very own baseball cards for Alaskan politicians. I feel a little sheepish using so much from the ADN, but I've changed it a little. There are no names on the pictures. You have to guess which picture goes with which description. And I've added a picture they didn't have. You'll have to go to the ADN link to get the answers of who's who.

Tried and convicted, awaiting sentencing

- Former Anchorage state Rep. Tom Anderson. In December, he became the first person charged. On July 9, a federal jury convicted him of all counts of bribery, conspiracy and other charges connected with taking payoffs from Bill Bobrick, a lobbyist for a private prison company. Anderson worked as a consultant for Veco, the oilfield services and engineering company at the center of the broader investigation, although none of the charges against him concerned Veco. It was revealed during his trial that federal agents were investigating corruption in the Alaska Legislature as far back as early 2004. He’s awaiting sentencing.

Pleaded guilty

- Longtime Veco CEO Bill Allen pleaded guilty in May to charges of bribery, extortion and conspiracy for his dealings with four legislators: former Reps. Pete Kott, Bruce Weyhrauch and Vic Kohring, and former Senate President Ben Stevens (described in the plea as “State Senator B.”) The first three were charged; Stevens has not been. In addition, Allen admitted to paying a “bonus” in company funds to executives to illegally make campaign contributions in 2005 and 2006 to state and federal candidates. For more than two decades, Allen was a major political fundraiser for Alaska politicians. Resigned from Veco after his guilty plea.

- Veco Vice President Rick Smith, who ran the company’s government affairs operations and worked for part of the year out of a suite in Juneau’s Baranof Hotel that was being secretly monitored by the FBI. In May he pleaded guilty to the same charges as Allen. He admitted, with Allen, to making payoffs to elected officials and campaigns totaling more than $400,000. Resigned after plea.

- Lobbyist Bill Bobrick. A longtime lobbyist at the city level and one-time head of the Alaska Democratic Party, he pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy for bribing Anderson while working for a private prison company, Cornell Cos., and setting up a sham company to funnel him the money. He testified extensively against Anderson.

Charged and awaiting trial

- Former Alaska House Speaker Pete Kott of Eagle River. Indicted in May on bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges. Accused of taking payoffs and a promise of a job from Veco for helping steer an oil-production tax favored by the industry through the legislature in 2006. Aside from cash, he’s accused of being paid a “fraudulently inflated” fee by Veco for flooring work. Pleaded not guilty, trial scheduled for September.

- Former state Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau. Charged in the same indictment as Kott, accused of switching his vote on the oil tax after receiving instructions from Kott and Bill Allen. An attorney, he’s accused of soliciting legal business from Veco in exchange for his vote. Pleaded not guilty, trial scheduled for September.

- Former Rep. Vic Kohring of Wasilla. Chairman of the Special Committee on Oil and Gas, indicted in May on bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges. Accused of taking cash and a loan from Veco executives and the promise of a job for a relative in exchange for supporting the company’s position on the oil tax. Was a member of the Legislature when indicted in May, and later resigned under pressure from constituents and Republican House leaders. Pleaded not guilty, trial scheduled for October.

Others connected with the investigations

- U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. Has represented Alaska since 1968, making him the most senior Senate Republican in history. Stevens has come under political attack recently from fiscal conservatives and others for his use of earmarks to direct programs and money to Alaska. Some of the earmarks benefited his son Ben and a former aide, Trevor McCabe. Veco’s Allen oversaw a construction project in 2000 that doubled the size of Stevens’ home in Girdwood, and investigators have been trying to learn if at least some of that work was an improper gift.

- Former state Sen. Ben Stevens. In his plea agreement, Allen admitted making improper payments of $243,250 to “State Senator B” — an unmistakable reference to Ben Stevens, the former state Senate president. Ben Stevens had has office searched in the August 2006 raid and was later visited again by FBI agents seeking information about his fishery interests and benefits he may have received from legislation written by his father. He was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars as a consultant for various commercial fishing companies and groups, and chaired a federally funded panel that awarded grants to some of those entities.

- U.S. Rep. Don Young. Alaska’s sole U.S. Representative since 1973, Young has been widely reported to be under investigation over his own ties to Veco and use of earmarks, although details of what is being examined are unclear. Since 1989, he received more than $212,000 in campaign donations from Allen, Smith and other Veco executives, making the company by far his top contributor. One of Young’s aides has pleaded guilty in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and Young himself has ties to the lobbyist. Young has come under political attack for adding earmarks to transportation legislation that would benefit a Wisconsin trucking company and a Florida real estate mogul, both of whom contributed to his political campaign. Young recently reported spending $262,000 in campaign funds on unspecified legal fees during the first six months of 2007.

- Trevor McCabe. Seward native and former legislative director to Ted Stevens, he became partner in a consulting business with Ben Stevens, and lobbied Congress on behalf of a Southeast salmon group that obtained federal funds from Ted Stevens. An attorney and lobbyist, McCabe has represented other seafood interests as well. With two partners, McCabe sold property to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward at a price substantially above its appraisal after Ted Stevens provided the money in an earmark.

- Frank Prewitt. Former state corrections commissioner who became a consultant to Cornell Cos., a private prison company that wanted to build a large prison in Alaska (at one time teaming with Veco). Prewitt was being investigated by the FBI in 2004 when he agreed to work for the government to root out corrupt legislators and lobbyists. He passed out money and recorded conversations, providing the foundation for the Anderson case.

- Sens. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage, and Donald Olson, D-Nome, also had their offices searched in August 2006, but have not been charged.