EXHIBITA
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THE
'NALL
STREET
JOIJRNA1.
\Iv'SJ
.o.::x)\
JULY25,2007
Alaska'sYoung,StevensFaceInquiry
u.s.
ProsecutorsLookatTies
Of
Republican
Lawmakers
ToEngineeringFirmVECO
By
JOHN
R.
WILKE
WASHINGTON
--
AseniorHouseRepublicanhascome
under
criminalinvestigationin
the
JusticeDepartment'swideninginquiryintoallegedinfluence-peddling
and
self-dealinginCongress.Rep.DonYoungofAlaska,theformer
chairman
of
the
HouseTransportationCommittee,nowisthesubjectofacontinuingcriminalinquiryinvolvingpossiblepoliticalfavorsforacompanyinAlaska,peopleclosetothecasesaid.Sen.TedStevensofAlaska,thepowerful
formerchairman
oftheAppropriationsCommittee
and
thelongest-servingSenateRepublican,isalsonow
under
criminalinvestigation,thesepeoplesaid.Federalinvestigators
are
examiningwhetherRep.YoungorSen.Stevensacceptedbribes,illegalgratuitiesor
unreported
giftsfromVECOCorp.,Alaska'slargestoil-fieldengineeringfirm,peopleclosetothecasesaid.
It
isn'tknown
what
VECOallegedly
may
havereceivedinreturn.Thecompany
hasbeenawarded
aseriesoffederalcontractssince
2000,
includingcontractstoprovidelogistics
support
forarcticresearch,amongotherprojects.Thetwolawmakers
are
amongthehighest-ranking
members
ofeither
party
tocome
under
scrutinyin
the
waveofpublic-corruptionprobes
that
has
sweptWashingtoninthe
past
three
years.Inthe
past
year,twocongressmenhave
been
senttoprison,a
third
has
been
indictedforbribery,
and
atleastahalf-dozenothers
areunder
investigationin
separate
cases.Foradecade,
former
VECOChiefExecutiveBillAllen
has
heldfund-raisersforMr.YounginAnchorageeveryAugust,knownas"ThePigRoast,"participantssaid.PublicrecordsshowcontributionstoMr.Youngofatleast
$157,000
fromVECOemployees
and
itspolitical-actioncommitteebetween
1996
and
2006,
thelastyear
the
eventwasheld.
DonYoung
lof3
Mr.Young
amended
hiscampaign-financefilingsin
January
toreflect
$38,000
inpaymentstoMr.Allen,whoisnowcooperatingwithfederalinvestigatorsinthecase.Therefunds,whichhaven'tpreviously
been
reported,werelabeled"fund-raisingcosts"indocumentsfiledwiththeFederalElectionCommission.1/24/20II2:10PM
Alaska'sYoung,StevensFaceInquiry-WSJ.comhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB118531999682776863.html#printMode
Ted
Stevens
Mr.Young
hashired
acriminal-defense
team
and
hassaid
his
campaign
committee
haspaid
$262,000
inlegalfeesinthe
past
three
months.A
spokesman
forMr.Youngdeclinedto
comment
onanypossibleinvestigation
and
wouldn'tsaywhyhislegalfeeshave
risen
sharply.Mr.Young
has
alsofacedquestions
about
campaigndonationsreceivedfromconvictedlobbyist
Jack
Abramoff.
The
congressmanwasn'tpreviously
reported
tobe
under
criminalinvestigation.
The
burly,
bearded
congressman
has
been
Alaska'ssole
House
member
for18terms.Heis
perhapsbest
knownas
the
architectof
the
"bridgetonowhere,"aprojectinamassive
2005
transportation
bill
that
he
named
afterhiswife,Lu,
and
"stuffedlikeaturkey,"ashe
put
itwhen
the
$286
billionbillwasdone.
The
proposedbridgetoa
sparselypopulated
island
offKetchikan,Alaska,
came
tosymbolizeout-of-controlcongressionalspendingtofund
pet
projectsby
lawmakers
in
both
parties.
It
hasbeen
widely
reported
that
VECOisat
the
center
ofafederalinvestigationof
corruption
in
the
Alaskastatelegislature.But
the
inquiryintoMr.Young,aswellasdetails
ofthe
allegations
against
Mr.Stevens,haven'tpreviously
been
known.VECOwas
acquired
in
June
byCH2MHill,acloselyheldColoradoengineeringfirm,
after
Mr.Allen,VECO's
former
CEO,
agreed
inMayto
plead
guiltyto
charges
ofbribery,conspiracy
and
extortion.Mr.Stevenshaspublicly
said
that
hewas
asked
to
retain
documents
related
to
the
federalinvestigationofhisson,BenStevens,
and
other
members
of
thestate
legislature,
and
relatedtoVECO'srolein
the
remodelingofafamily
home
inAlaskain
2000.
Sen.Stevensrecently
hired
acriminal-defenselawyer.He
hassaid
heisn'ta
target
of
the
Alaska
probe
and
hasn't
violated
any
law.VECOexecutives,includingMr.Allen,have
been
big
supporters
ofMr.Stevensaswell.AndwhileVECOhaswona
string
offederal
contracts
in
recent
years,it
isn't
knownwhichcontracts
arethe
focusof
the
investigation.
Oil's
Spoils
Employees
ofVECO
(orp.,an
Alaska
oil-
services
company,
have
Df'NI
among
thetop
donors
to
Rep.Don
Young
and
Son.
Ted
Stf'vens,
both
Ala:-,ka
Republicans.
Campaign
contributions
since
1939:
Mr.Stevenswasdirectlyinvolvedinfundingcontractswith
the
NationalScienceFoundation,forexample,which
went
to
support
arcticresearch,But
there
isnoevidencehe
sought
toinfluence
the
awardof
contracts
toVECO,officialsat
the
NSFsaid.Congressional
recordsshow
that
Mr.Stevensonseveraloccasions
added
extra
fundingto
the
budgetfor
arcticresearch
abovewhattheagencysought.
51,500
T&T
Sen.
Ted
Stevens
Boeinq
$104,600
VECO
...
85,000
61,80{)
Lockheed
,,,:.'
ss;
«o.uuu
Milrtin
76.514
........
1$212,380
Rep.DonYoung
Carnival
Corp,
':;);';">;;;101,700
American
3:,';;;;:
99,300
MaritimeOfficers
Seafarers
Intornatiollill
Union
Sen.Stevens'sspokesman,
Aaron
Saunders,declinedto
comment
on
the
broader
public-corruptioninvestigation.
The
senator,ina
statement,
said:"Thisinvestigation
shouldproceed
toitsconclusionwithout
any
appearancethat
Ihave
attempted
toinfluenceitsoutcome."He
added
that
the
process
shouldproceed
"so
that
all
the
facts
can
beestablished."Thegovernment'swide-ranginginvestigationof
corruption
inAlaska
hasalready
snared
threecurrent
orformer
state
legislators,whowere
arrested
earlierthis
year,aswellasMr.Allen
and
a
second
VECOexecutive.BenStevens,Mr.Stevens'sson,
hasn't
beencharged
inthecase.Hisofficewas
raided
by
agents
of
the
Federal
BureauofInvestigationlastfall.
The
investigationisbeingledbythe
JusticeDepartment's
public-integritysection,whichis
presenting
evidenceto
grand
juries
in
Washington
and
Anchorage.
20f3
1/24/20112:10PM
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
FOIA Request (Exhibits): CREW: Regarding Rep. Don Young: 1/24/11 - DOJ, EOUSA, FBI Exhibits
On January 24, 2011, CREW continued to seek information about why the Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped numerous investigations into activities of members of Congress in last few months, filing Freedom of Information Act requests with…
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