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The Alaska political corruption probe refers to a 2004 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 Bastard's Club' or the 'Polar Pen Investigation', the investigation focused on the oil industry, fisheries and for-profit prison industries. By 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 legislators on corruption charges. In August 2008 US Senator Ted Stevens was indicted and, by October, he was convicted in Washington, D.C. on seven felony counts of failure to disclose gifts. The convictions, eight days before the November 2008 election, resulted in his narrow loss to Democrat Mark Begich after 40 years in the U.S. Senate. His convictions were later set aside because of prosecutorial misconduct and the United States Department of Justice ended further prosecution. In addition to the conviction of US Senator Stevens, two executives of the VECO Corporation, an oilfield services contractor, pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service. Alaska businessmen/lobbyists Bill Weimar (former for-profit halfway house owner) and Bill Bobrick, as well as Jim Clark, the former governor's chief of staff, also were indicted and convicted. Clark's guilty plea and sentence were later vacated before he was ordered to report to custody. That was followed by ex-Alaska State Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch prevailing at the Supreme Court on a challenge to the Honest services fraud statute. His case was decided on June 24, 2010, in association with the Skilling v. United States and Conrad Black case decisions. Weyhrauch's federal case was remanded to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal and later dismissed. ==History== The probe began in 2004 or earlier. By 2006 the name "Corrupt Bastards Club" (alternatively "Corrupt Bastards Caucus") began being used to designate Alaska legislators implicated in the federal corruption (a.k.a., "Polar Pen") investigation. The nickname originated in the spring of 2006 as a barroom joke among Alaska legislators after a guest article by Lori Backes, executive director of All Alaska Alliance, that ran in Alaska's three largest newspapers named 11 lawmakers who had received large campaign contributions from executives of the oilfield services company VECO Corporation, which had a long history of making large campaign contributions to Alaska politicians. The article also named Senate President Ben Stevens as having received large consulting fees from VECO.〔Backes, Lori. (March 3, 2006). ("Follow money to governor's gas deal — Compass: Points of view from the community." ) Republished September 5, 2006. ''Anchorage Daily News." Retrieved on 2007-05-09.〕〔Volz, Matt. (September 5, 2006). ("From barroom joke to federal warrants." ) ''Anchorage Daily News''. Retrieved on May 9, 2007.〕 In her article, Backes detailed the amount of political campaign donations contributed between 1998 and 2004 by the top seven VECO executives to Alaska lawmakers who were in office at the time her article was written. The figures were based on reports to the (Alaska Public Offices Commission ) * Senator John Cowdery (R-Anchorage), Senate Rules Committee Chair: $24,550. * Representative Pete Kott (R-Eagle River), former speaker of the House: $21,300. * Representative Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage), House Rules Committee Chair: $18,000. * Representative Vic Kohring (R-Wasilla), House Oil and Gas Committee Chair: $14,708. * Governor Frank Murkowski: $6,500 (excluding donations to past U.S. Senate races) * Representative (currently Senator) Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage), House Finance Committee Co-Chair: $12,300. * Representative Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski), House Finance Committee Co-Chair: $12,000. * Representative (currently Senator) Lesil McGuire (R-Anchorage), House Judiciary Committee Chair: $12,000. * Senator Con Bunde (R-Anchorage), Senate Labor and Commerce Committee Chair: $11,500. * Senator Lyda Green (R-Wasilla), Senate Finance Committee Co-Chair: $28,000. * Representative Mike Hawker (R-Anchorage): $8,050. * Representative Tom Anderson (R-Anchorage), House Labor and Commerce Chair: $8,000. Additionally, Backes noted the consulting contract Senate President Ben Stevens (R-Anchorage) had with VECO Corporation and financial relationships other lawmakers had with other companies active in the oil and gas industry, including Conoco Phillips and ASCG Incorporated, the latter a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation which is heavily involved in oilfield business in Alaska.〔 According to Chenault, one of the lawmakers named in the article: "Somebody walked up (the bar ) and said, 'You corrupt bastards,' and that name stuck." Hats with the label "CBC," standing for "Corrupt Bastards Club" or "Corrupt Bastards Caucus," were later printed up, but according to Chenault "that was the extent of the CBC deal."〔 The FBI had set up in a Baranof hotel suite just three blocks away from the capitol building in Juneau. There they videotaped VECO's CEO Bill Allen, peeling off bills for legislators to stuff in their pockets. According to the Juneau Empire, Metcalfe said he had spoken with FBI agents about the case, but didn't know how the feds first got interested in Alaska."I think the jury is still out on what started this," said Metcalfe. Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho, the longest serving attorney general in the state's history over two administrations, said it looks like those state agencies responsible for ensuring ethical government failed to do their jobs, but it is too soon to tell for sure.() 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alaska political corruption probe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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