Alaska Politics Blog

This is the place to talk about Alaska politics -- state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier has probably never been more interesting than right now -- the governor as candidate for vice president, the broad and still-evolving corruption investigation, a big election, powerful members of Congress under scrutiny, and the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. Keep your comments civil and on point. Avoid personal attacks. Do not use profanity. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be banned.


Erika Bolstad

Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau in 2007, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He spent three years based in Juneau for the ADN before joining the Tacoma News-Tribune to write about Washington state politics. He went to Iraq twice for the News Tribune, and previously wrote about Alaska government and politics for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers politics and other stories for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously was a reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com

SECTION

Alaska political corruption

The FBI raided state legislatures offices in Aug. 2006, and the fallout since has been epic in Alaska's political world.

Bob Poe running for governor - 1/7/2009 1:50 pm

Before the storm - Palin e-mails from Aug. 27 - 1/7/2009 12:07 pm

Reid on punishment for Stevens - 1/7/2009 7:32 am

Polling on Palin vs. Murkowski - 1/6/2009 3:24 pm

Citgo 'suspends' free heating oil program - 1/5/2009 2:37 pm

Palin's comments on first grandchild - 12/31/2008 4:35 pm

Suicide council audit - 12/30/2008 9:11 pm

Son of Snowzilla - 12/30/2008 8:55 pm

'People' editor: No deal for baby photos. Yet. - 12/30/2008 1:12 pm

'Baby Name Bible' - 12/29/2008 8:14 pm

Anchorage Mayor: Begich out, Claman in Jan. 3 - 12/26/2008 12:40 pm

No trash power? (Plus: School board pay) - 12/26/2008 11:22 am

PETA's beef with Palin - 12/24/2008 12:02 pm

"The opportunities that were not seized." - 12/22/2008 1:48 pm

Palin's next big speech? - 12/22/2008 12:37 pm

Here we go - a look at potential 2010 election matchups (and Palin popularity) - 12/20/2008 1:42 pm

Hawker to Palin: Try again - 12/19/2008 5:11 pm

Video: Palin on salary, energy plan - 12/19/2008 9:58 am

Walt Monegan is planning to run for mayor - 12/18/2008 4:40 pm

Covering Juneau - 12/17/2008 5:07 pm

Palin says no to raise; energy plan delayed - 12/17/2008 2:19 pm

Meyer joins majority, gets LB&A (Updated with McGuire, Menard joining too) - 12/16/2008 5:45 pm

So what happened with DOJ and the Anderson letter?

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From Richard Mauer in Anchorage --

Remember on Friday when David Anderson’s letter to the judge in the Ted Stevens case became public and prosecutors said they were going to blow the whistle on Anderson today? If it happened, it didn't happen in public.

Nothing was filed in the regular docket in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., where Stevens was tried. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to say whether anything had been filed under seal.

Anderson, Bill Allen’s estranged nephew, was the last witness for the prosecution in Stevens’ trial. The letter to the judge, dated Nov. 15, mainly concerns whether the government granted him and 13 friends & relatives immunity in exchange for his cooperation. One of those friends is former State Sen. Jerry Ward, the father of his girlfriend.

Anderson signed an affidavit in March describing the alleged immunity deal, but the government didn't see the affidavit until August. FBI agents questioned him about it then, and he said it was drafted by Ward and he felt pressured to sign it. He told the agents no one received immunity. (Read Anderson's letter and affidavit, as part of filing by Stevens' lawyers here; Justice Dept. response from Friday here.

When Anderson testified in the Stevens case Oct. 9, he again said there was no formal immunity and that the affidavit was false.

But now, in the Nov. 15 letter, he said his testimony in the Stevens case about the immunity deal was “simply not true.”

Confused?

Stevens’ defense lawyers say the mess illustrates government misconduct.

In responding to that charge Friday, the government asserted Anderson’s letter was false and promised to at least clear part of it up today.

“The government has now obtained substantial additional evidence, including both documents and video surveillance, that prove the falsity of Mr. Anderson’s allegations and that further explicitly prove Mr. Anderson’s collusion with an interested party in the preparation and transmission of Mr. Anderson’s letter. We will describe and submit that additional information to the Court in a subsequent filing on Monday.”

In an e-mail message Monday from Washington, Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said, “there aren't any additional publicly filed court documents I can provide.”

Were there any non-public documents?

"If it was under seal, I couldn't say," Sweeney said.


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