Court documents tie Young to Alaska corruption
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The state's only representative in the House is identified as "United States Representative A" in the documents filed in connection with the sentencing next week of Bill Allen, a key figure in the corruption probes of state lawmakers and former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens.
The filing late Wednesday alleges Young, a 19-term Republican, illegally received gifts totaling up to nearly $200,000 over 13 years from VECO Corp., Allen's now-defunct oil field services company.
Young's attorney did not return a call seeking comment Friday, and spokeswoman Meredith Kenny said the congressman's office could not comment.
According to the document, Allen and former VECO vice president Rick Smith authorized corporate funds to pay up to $15,000 a year for expenses associated with Young's annual pig roast fundraiser between 1993 and 2006.
Allen also alleges in his 2007 "confession of additional criminal activity" that Smith used Allen's credit card to buy a set of golf clubs valued at $1,000 that were given to Young.
Young, 76, has been under investigation by federal authorities for more than two years, but the filing is the first related public document from the government. Young has denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly declined to speak on the matter, citing advice of his lawyers. His campaign has spent more than $1 million on his legal expenses.
After the federal investigation surfaced, Young amended his campaign finance reports to show he reimbursed Allen about $38,000 for fundraiser expenses.
Allen, 72, and Smith, 64, are scheduled to be sentenced for their 2007 guilty pleas to bribery, conspiracy and tax charges. A federal judge on Thursday denied Allen's request to postpone sentencing until February.
Allen was the lead witness in the botched corruption trial of Stevens, who was found guilty last fall of failing to disclose gifts from Allen. He and Smith also testified during the federal corruption trials of former state House speaker Pete Kott, R-Eagle River, and former Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla.
Charges against the 85-year-old Stevens were thrown out in April after the Justice Department admitted that prior to trial it failed to turn over evidence favorable to the defense. The same issue resulted in the release of Kott and Kohring from prison while a judge decides whether to drop charges or order new trials.
There is no House ethics committee investigation of Young, but it's unclear whether a preliminary inquiry is under way.
An investigation, which is publicly announced, is conducted by an investigative subcommittee that interviews witnesses, issues subpoenas, and obtains records. A preliminary inquiry, run by the chairman and ranking member, is a review to determine whether an investigation should be started.
In past cases, the House ethics committee conducted full investigations of lawmakers when allegations were raised about the accuracy of their financial disclosure reporting. A current investigation of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is looking at his disclosure reports.
The committee on numerous occasions investigated violations of the strict congressional gift limits.
Young has served in the House for most of statehood. He was the Republican candidate in the 1972 general election against incumbent Democrat Nick Begich. Three weeks before the election, Begich's plane disappeared on a flight from Anchorage to Juneau, but he was re-elected anyway.
Begich was declared dead in December 1972, and Young won a close special election in March 1973.
Begich was the father of current U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, a freshman Democrat who barely defeated Stevens after a jury convicted the Republican incumbent.
I was wondering whether that investigation fell of the radar or not.
Next thing I bet you'll tell me is that the pope is Catholic.
They also don’t even indicate what the document is or the probability of its accuracy. Anything could be a “document”. Was it submitted by Allen’s camp, it an attempt to shave off some time. A bunch of stuff could contribute to pointing to someone’s innocence or guilt.
So someone, gave something to indicate guilt. Slow news day?
Bye Bye Don Young!
I know...
ha ha oh please, what a great response, i mean really, when is a good time when your elected every 2 years? and then that sarcastic comment about not filing in january. i swear these guys crack me up.
freedarfur- if rangel is guilty of committing crimes, he should be taken out! libs don't protect each other like that. remember many libs and progs want publicly financed elections. i hate corrupt government. get everything on the net!
Prosecutor being held for misconduct? It's very rare and very unlikely.
No, but if the Federal Prosecutor who tries to pursue this case gives over the evidence that "could lead one to believe" in Don Young's 'innocence' (or at least in his being 'not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt'), perhaps this is a "Good Time".
I'd still like to see the disreputable scum who refused to release th information in Ted Steven's case prosecuted for 'Prosecutorial Misconduct' (and anything else that they could come up with)...
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Elections are every two years, Doug. I don't imagine there's ever a good time for an investigation as far as reps are concerned...
Don't misunderstand me; I think Don Young has plenty to answer for but I find it curious that all of this "Evidence" comes to light just a year before the 2010 Election Year is due to begin?
Let's see, $200,000 sounds just like what Ted Stevens was accused of. In the end it was a $2,500 chair in his garage. An average of $15,385 each year; does this include jet rides?
I deeply regret that our congressman will be held to a different standard than other congressmen and we will lose our representation over relatively trivial matters.
Who will replace him? How can they be taint-free? I expect we will have a bunch of losers running for his office and alaska's suffering will increase.