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Alaska Political Corruption Probe
The Alaska political corruption probe refers to a 2003 to 2010 widespread investigation by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service into political corruption of nine then-current or former Alaskan state lawmakers, as well as Republican US Representative Don Young and then-US Senator, Republican Ted Stevens. Sometimes referred to as "The Corrupt Bastards Club" or the "Operation Polar Pen", the investigation focused on the oil industry, fisheries and for-profit prison industries. By the spring of 2006, the FBI set up in a Baranof hotel suite just three blocks away from the capitol building in Juneau. From their position in the hotel suite, they gathered evidence, such as a videotape of VECO's CEO Bill Allen arranging paper money for legislators, and made other observations. By August 2008, the investigation resulted in indictments against six sitting or former Alaska Republican state legis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Integrity Section
The Public Integrity Section (PIN) is a section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice charged with combating political corruption at all levels of government through the prosecution of corrupt federal, state, and local elected and appointed public officials. Role The Public Integrity Section holds exclusive jurisdiction over prosecution of alleged criminal misconduct by federal judges, monitors the investigation and prosecution of election and conflict of interest crimes. It consolidates into one unit the U.S. Department of Justice's oversight responsibilities for prosecuting criminal abuses of the public trust by elected and appointed government officials. In addition to prosecuting cases, PIN also advises and assists prosecutors and agents in the field in handling public corruption cases. PIN has about 30 prosecutors who "travel the country to help local United States attorney’s offices develop complex and often politically contentious corruption cases". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Weyhrauch
Bruce Weyhrauch is an attorney in Juneau, Alaska, United States. He is also a former representative in the Alaska State House representing Juneau's District 4. Weyhrauch has practiced at his own law office in Juneau for nearly three decades. His regulatory and government affairs-focused practice handles a wide variety of matters, including labor relations and natural resources. Education and career After receiving his BS in natural resource planning and engineering from Humboldt State University, Weyhrauch matriculated at the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, where he served as the editor-in-chief of ''Environmental Law''. His publications during this period include "Operation Exodus: The United States Government’s Program to Intercept Illegal Export of High Technology" (''Computer Law Journal'', 1986). Maintaining an active presence in his community, he has served as an officer or director on the Board of Directors of the Foundation For End of Life Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vic Kohring
Victor H. Kohring (August 2, 1958 – September 6, 2022) was an American politician who was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives. A Republican, he was elected to seven consecutive two-year terms beginning in 1994. Kohring represented Wasilla in District 26 and then District 14, after redistricting due to the 2000 United States census. He resigned on July 19, 2007, during a widespread Alaska political corruption probe. Corruption Kohring was indicted on federal bribery and extortion charges on May 4, 2007. He, along with former state legislators, Republicans Pete Kott and Bruce Weyhrauch, were accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from VECO Corporation, an oil field services company. Their capital and district offices had been among 20 searched by FBI agents on August 31, 2006. Kohring resigned his seat on June 20, 2007. On November 1, 2007, a federal jury found Kohring guilty in three out of four criminal charges and acquitted on the fourth, a charge of extortion. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Rokeberg
H. Norman "Norm" Rokeberg (born January 4, 1943) was an American politician and businessman. Born in Seattle, Washington, Rokeberg graduated from Anchorage High School in Anchorage, Alaska in 1961. He then served in the United States Army from 1964 to 1966. In 1971, Rokeberg received his bachelor's degree in political science from Willamette University. Rokeberg was in the real estate business in Anchorage, Alaska. From 1995 to 2007, Rokeberg served in the Alaska House of Representatives and was a Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains .... Notes External links Norman Rokebergat ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' profile 1943 births Living people Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Seattle Military personnel from Seattle Willamette ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagle River, Alaska
Eagle River is a community within the Municipality of Anchorage situated on the Eagle River, for which it is named, between Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains. Its ZIP code is 99577. Settled by homesteaders, Eagle River has been annexed to the Municipality of Anchorage since the 1970s—a relationship that is, at times, complicated. On the one hand, Eagle River functions as an Anchorage suburb, with a number of Eagle River residents working in, shopping or participating in community life in the Anchorage bowl. Much of the community is also made up of residents from nearby Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. On the other hand, the community is itself a significant business hub between Wasilla and Anchorage, offering shopping, restaurants, recreation and employment. Secession efforts have from time to time gained traction by residents who would like Eagle River legally regarded as a separate community. Eagle River also has a close relationshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pete Kott
Peter Kott (born 1949) is a former Republican state representative for District 17 serving Eagle River, Alaska, in the Alaska Legislature for seven terms, from 1993 until 2007. He was Speaker of the House during his sixth term in 2003–2004. On May 4, 2007, Kott was one of three former or current legislators (the others being Bruce Weyhrauch (R-Juneau) and Vic Kohring (R-Wasilla)) arrested and charged with bribery, extortion, and other corruption-related charges involving allegations of soliciting and receiving money and favors from VECO Corporation executives in return for their votes on an oil tax law favored by the VECO.Burke, Jill. (2007-05-04)"Kott, Weyhrauch and Kohring arrested for corruption." KTUU Channel 2 News, Anchorage. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. Kott pleaded not guilty to all charges.Mauer, Richard, Lisa Demer, Sabra Ayres and Kyle Hopkins. (2007-05-05) ''Anchorage Daily News''. Retrieved on 2007-05-24. On September 25, 2007, a federal jury found Kott guilty on three ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alaska House Of Representatives
The Alaska State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per 2010 Census figures. Members serve two-year terms without term limits. With 40 representatives, the Alaska House is the smallest state legislative lower chamber in the United States. The House convenes at the State Capitol in Juneau. Powers and process Members of the Alaska House of Representatives are responsible for a portion of the process of making and amending state law. The first step of the legislative process is filing a bill by giving it to the chief clerk of the Alaska House of Representatives.Legislative Process Alaska Legislature (accessed April 27, 2013) The chief ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 398,328 in 2020, accounting for more than half the state's population. At of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, which has . Anchorage is in Southcentral Alaska, at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south. In September 1975, the City of Anchorage merged with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough, creating the Municipality of Anchorage. The municipal city limits span , encompassing the urban core, a joint military base, several outlying communities, and almost all of Chugach State Park. Because of this, less than 10% of the Municipalit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential expansion of chattel slavery into the western territories. Since Ronald Reagan's presidency in the 1980s, conservatism has been the dominant ideology of the GOP. It has been the main political rival of the Democratic Party since the mid-1850s. The Republican Party's intellectual predecessor is considered to be Northern members of the Whig Party, with Republican presidents Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison all being Whigs before switching to the party, from which they were elected. The collapse of the Whigs, which had previously been one of the two major parties in the country, strengthened the party's electoral success. Upon its founding, it supported c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cowdery
John Joe Cowdery (February 11, 1930 – July 13, 2013) was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate, representing the O District from 2001 through 2008. He was previously a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1982 through 1984, and from 1997 through 2000. Corruption In 2008 Cowdery was indicted on charges of conspiracy and bribery for his actions in attempting to bribe another senator, Donny Olsen, to support a proposal, favored by executives in Alaska's oil industry, concerning oil leases and petroleum production taxes. Olson was the only Democratic legislator known to have been offered an illegal bribe, and the only officeholder who turned it down. In 2009 Cowdery was sentenced to six months in home confinement and fined $25,000.Mauer, Richar''Cowdery gets 6 months home confinement'' Anchorage Daily News, 10 March 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2013 In January 2008, in poor health and under investigation, he indicated that he would decline to file for reelection. Per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alaska Senate
The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards. With just twenty members, the Alaska Senate is the smallest state legislative chamber in the United States. Its members serve four-year terms and each represent an equal number of districts with populations of approximately 35,512 people, per 2010 Census figures. They are not subject to term limits. Powers and legislative process The Alaska Senate shares the responsibility for making laws in the state of Alaska. Bills are developed by staff from bill requests and information from the bill's sponsor. Bills undergo three or four readings during the legislative process. After the first reading, they are assigned to committee. Committees can amend measures or hold legislat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Stevens
Benjamin Aavan Stevens (March 18, 1959 – October 13, 2022) was an American politician and political advisor who served as the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Alaska, Mike Dunleavy. He previously served as the President of the Alaska State Senate as a member of the Republican Party. Stevens was the son of the late United States Senator Ted Stevens, who represented Alaska from 1968 to 2009. Education Stevens earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the Arizona State University and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University. Career After college, he was a commercial fisherman and owner of a consulting firm. Stevens was president of the May 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games, held in Anchorage. In August 2001, Stevens was appointed by Democratic Governor Tony Knowles to the Alaska State Senate after being nominated by the Republican Party of Alaska. He was the Majority Leader for the 2003–2004 term, and the President for the 2005–20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
