The party may be over, but the investigation is just beginning. The House Ethics Committee confirms that it is investigating... View Article
Continue readingIn Broad Daylight: The Banks Bought Congress
Budgeting political risk helped Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and financial services companies avoid the kind of scrutiny they needed from... View Article
Continue readingStevens Lashes Out in Radio Interview
TPM Muckraker captured some great audio of Sen. Ted Stevens lashing out at constituents asking questions about his current legal... View Article
Continue readingThe Last Line of Defense
Sen. Ted Stevens has served as senator from Alaska for most of his life and nearly all of the state’s... View Article
Continue readingLegal Background on Stevens Case
Michael Stern at Point of Order, one of the better blogs for legal issues in Congress, covers the legal background... View Article
Continue readingOne More Thing on Stevens
Sen. Ted Stevens released a statement in which he declares his innocence and vows to fight the charges. He also... View Article
Continue readingStevens and Disclosure
So, the indictment is in and the charges against Sen. Ted Stevens include seven counts of making false statements on... View Article
Continue readingDon Young Doesn’t Know
Rep. Don Young has been on the hot seat ever since he sponsored the infamous Bridge to Nowhere earmark. Since then he has come under investigation for more things than any other sitting member of Congress. Young faces an FBI investigation into his participation in fishing and golfing events with VECO oil executives; he is receiving scruting for the hiring of his former aide Mark Zachares, who has pled guilty, by Jack Abramoff; and fellow Republicans are seeking an investigation into his inclusion of an earmark for Coconut Road in Florida - which happens to be a long ways from Alaska. In the face of all these difficulties Young sat down with reporters to discuss his reelection campaign, but reporters wanted to talk about something else. If you want to see what an arrogant stone wall looks like, you should follow the link and watch this interview. It's a doozy.
Don Young's KTVA Interview Video.
Continue readingOil, Politics, & Bribes
Last Friday, PBS' NOW with David Brancaccio covered the VECO Alaska oil corruption scandal. If you're new to the scandal that has enveloped these non-continental politicians and is creeping up on Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young this video is the place to start. Below is a 6 minute clip from the full video. Watch the full video here.
Continue readingStevens “Blackmail” in VECO Case
Former VECO CEO Bill Allen was on the stand today in the trial of Alaska state Rep. Vic Kohring and testified that his own cousin attempted to blackmail him over VECO's work on Sen. Ted Stevens' Girdwood, Alaska home. The Alaska Daily News is covering the trial:
Kohring Lawyer John Henry Browne asked Veco founder Bill Allen about something that came up at the corruption trial last month of former state Rep. Pete Kott. It was regarding Allen’s nephew, Dave Anderson.
Anderson was blackmailing you and you threatened to kill him? Browne asked.
“I was not going to kill him, no,” Allen responded
But that’s the information the government had, wasn’t it? Browne asked.
Allen went back to a point he made a number of times during cross examination.
That’s just part of the story, Allen said. “You have to do the whole thing.”
Anyway, what was Anderson blackmailing him about? Browne asked.
“Ted Stevens’ house,” Allen anwered.
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