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A day that will live in political infamy

by Bill McAllister
Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the FBI raids of six legislative offices, VECO Corp. and other undisclosed locations.

The FBI closed doors after agents entered legislative offices on Aug. 31, 2006.

But in the year since, doors have opened.

And a hockey mom walked through one of them to the governorship, defeating the incumbent and a former governor, after making ethics the center of her campaign.

Now, Sarah Palin says the FBI raids accelerated a process that was already underway.

"It was a manifestation of the need for the ethics reform that so many Alaskans were craving and were calling for anyway," Palin said.

An omnibus ethics bill did pass the Legislature this year, and, as fate would have it, Gov. Palin ended up signing it within an hour of the guilty verdict in the case of former Rep. Tom Anderson, convicted of bribery and other felonies for promoting private prison interests.

So, while the public corruption probe has been traumatic for some Alaskans, others say it's actually a good thing.

"I think what's happened over the last year has been very healing for the state of Alaska," Anchorage Senator Hollis French said. "To actually expose the corruption that we saw in Juneau to the public and bring to light the fact that there were things happening there that needed to be exposed."

Three other former lawmakers are facing trial on charges that they sold their votes for cash or promises of future employment in exchange for supporting the oil industry's position on taxes and a natural gas pipeline.

One of them is Vic Kohring, who was still in office when arrested in Juneau on May 4.

And even the conclusion of those trials apparently will not be the end.

Former State Senate President Ben Stevens, although he maintains his innocence, is named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in government documents.

Ray Metcalfe is a longtime critic of Ben Stevens.

"I think that Ben Stevens is probably going to spend most of the rest of his adult life in a jail cell," Metcalfe said.

Stevens' father, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, had his Girdwood home raided by the FBI this summer, and news reports also have linked Congressman Don Young to the public corruption probe, raising questions about the future of two men who have served Alaska for more than three decades.

"I've been involved in other investigations in my 39 years, maybe you don't know that, but I have been involved in them, and we weathered the storms," Sen. Stevens said in response to the current investigation.

But the forecast is for more turbulence, and Alaskans have no way of knowing when it will finally blow over.

A comprehensive, in-depth report on the impact of the FBI raids and the federal corruption probe will air tomorrow at 6 p.m. on the Channel Two Newshour.

Contact Bill McAllister at bmcallister@ktuu.com