Missing: Nuke Secrets

Not only has the Bush administration been posting nuclear weapons secrets onThe Internets, but they've apparently misplaced information on how to deactivate locks on nuclear weapons.

Remind me again who is weak on national security?

Last week we read about a security breach in which classified documents where found on a computer in a raid on a meth-dealers house(not the male-escort meth-dealer).

The recent security breach at Los Alamos National Laboratory was very serious, with sensitive materials being taken out of the facility -- possibly including information on how to deactivate locks on nuclear weapons, officials tell CBS News.

And I repeat, who is weak on national security? Not only does:

*the White House have X-rays capable of detecting liquid explosive, and airports do not,

*Security Screeners faily to find 20 of 22 weapons in a security test @ airports

*The GOP posts nuclear diagrams on the internet

*the GOP try and sell our ports to Dubai

*The GOP fail to catch the Anthrax killer

(to name a few)

But we acciently, kinda sorta, let top secret information on nuclear weapon locks, walk out of Los Alamos and into the hands of a meth dealer?

Multiple sources now tell CBS News that the material includes sensitive weapons-design data.

A federal official who has been briefed on the issue said at least three USB thumb-drives were involved. Those small storage drives contained 408 separate classified documents ranging in importance from Secret National Security Information (pertaining to intelligence) to Secret Restricted Data (pertaining to nuclear weapons).

All of the information came from the classified document video media vault inside the Lab. Federal officials also found 228 pages -- printed front and back -- of classified documents in the drug trailer during their investigation.

But thats ok because...

"the majority of the material was classified at the lowest levels and was twenty to thirty years old."

And our orignal nuclear weapons are over 50 years old, lets just put those up on Ebay and make some cash to pay off Mark Foley's rehab bills. Ohh wait, taxpayer money pays for that. Moving on...

But one federal official recently briefed on the issue says "It's devastating." If a nuclear weapon were stolen, the information "would tell the terrorists everything they need to do to get a weapon to fire."

Sources say she also had something called Sigma-15 clearance allowing her to access to documents explaining how to deactivate locks on a nuclear weapon.

The woman believed to have taken the information -- Jessica Quintana, 22, who owned the trailer -- worked in three classified vault rooms across Los Alamos:

*Safeguards and Security (relating to strategic nuclear material control and accountability)

*X-Division (top secret)

*Physics P-Division.

She also had top secret "Q-clearance" with access to all the U.S. underground nuclear test data. Quintana has not been arrested or charged. Her attorney says she took the material home to work and then forgot about it.

For example, if a terrorist steals an American nuclear weapon, he could not detonate it due to the special access controls. This woman is authorized to read the reports that tell how to get around those safety controls.

So tell me again... who's weakon national security?

TOP SECRET: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

TOP SECRET: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

You are going to see that phrase quite a few times in this diary. Why? Well heres a quote from this website.

The Virginia National Guard Web-trolling team "uses several scanning tools to monitor [these] sites for OPSEC violations," the Army notes. "The tools search for such key words as 'for official use only' or 'top secret,' and records the number of times they are used on a site. Analysts review the results to determine which, if any, need further investigation."

So you see, everytime I say TOP SECRET, I quite possibly make a list somewhere. Not that I'm military, but it doesnt really matter:

A Virginia-based operation called the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell is monitoring soldiers' blogs and other Web sites for anything that may compromise security.

The oversight mission is made up of active-duty soldiers and contractors, as well as Guard and Reserve members from Maryland, Texas and Washington state. It began in 2002 and was expanded in August 2005 to include sites in the public domain, including blogs.

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

More Here:

The Army will not disclose the methods or tools being used to find and monitor the sites. Nor will it reveal the size of the operation or the contractors involved. The Defense Department has a similar program, the Joint Web Risk Assessment Cell, but the Army program is apparently the only operation that monitors nonmilitary sites.

Non-military sites. DKOS, MYDD, Myspace, etcetc. Your friend or relative has 10 minutes at a computer and wants to post a quick note to his friends at home on his personal blog, well a Message from the higher ups details:

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, NO INFORMATION MAY BE PLACED ON WEBSITES THAT ARE READILY ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC UNLESS IT HAS BEEN REVIEWED FOR SECURITY CONCERNS AND APPROVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MEMORANDUM WEB SITE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, DECEMBER 7, 1998."

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Now they say that this is all in the name of safety.

Unofficial blogs often show pictures with sensitive information in the background, including classified documents, entrances to camps or weapons. One Soldier showed his ammo belt, on which the tracer pattern was easily identifiable

Nevermind the whole Google Earth thing. Or a quick search on any search engine for 'machinegun' will result in a number of government, corporate and academic sites that show the layout of tracers in US machinegun ammunition.

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

No, thats a lame excuse and everyone knows it. As time goes on and they try and boot embedded reporters or restrict them to 'green zones' they really want to censor the truth.

Recently, shortly after his commanders discovered My War on the Web, Spc. Buzzell found himself banned from patrols and confined to base. His commanders say Spc. Buzzell may have breached operational security with his writings. "My War" went idle as he pondered the consequences of pursuing his craft while slogging through five nights of radio guard duty, a listless detail for an infantryman. More recently, the pages again went blank, as he chafed under a prepublication vetting regime imposed by his command.

Such prepublication censorship is rare in the modern military: Soldiers' missives haven't been routinely expurgated since World War II and the days of "Loose Lips Sink Ships." The Pentagon doesn't prescreen soldiers' communications, whether print or electronic, assigning the job of policing soldier-journalists to commanders in the field. There are restrictions against divulging references to specific troop locations, patrol schedules or anything that might help the enemy predict how U.S. troops might react to an attack. But commanders in Iraq rely on the honor system and soldiers' common sense to enforce restrictions. Infractions are in the eye of the beholder, difficult to define but easy to recognize in practice...

The blog entry at the root of Spc. Buzzell's difficulties was an Aug. 4 piece called "Men in Black." Opening with a bland, four-paragraph squib about a Mosul firefight that he snatched from CNN's Web site, Spc. Buzzell spins a riveting account of a nasty, hours-long firefight with scores of black-clad snipers. It begins with an enemy mortar attack and a testosterone-driven scramble to arms. "People were hooting and hollering, yelling their war cries and doing the Indian yell thing as they drove off and locked and loaded their weapons," he writes. He describes a harrowing ambush. "Bullets were pinging off our armor all over our vehicle, and you could hear multiple RPG's [rocket-propelled grenades] being fired and flying through the air and impacting all around us," he writes. "I've never felt fear like this. I was like, this is it, I'm going to die."

Spc. Buzzell's account caught the attention of the News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., the newspaper that covers Spc. Buzzell's home base of Fort Lewis. Noting that the attack got scant coverage by bigger media, the local paper drew heavily from Spc. Buzzell's anonymous account. The Pentagon's internal clip service picked up the News Tribune story and it landed in the hands of commanders in Iraq.

Within hours, Lt. Col. Buck James, the battalion commander, ordered Spc. Buzzell to his office. Spc. Buzzell quickly shaved and grabbed fresh fatigues to see the colonel he had never met. As he later recounted on his blog, he arrived to find Col. James leafing through a massive printout of his Web writings, which someone had marked up with a yellow pen. The colonel, whom Spc. Buzzell described as a cross between George Patton and Vince Lombardi, opened with a question: " 'Youre [sic] a big Hunter S Thompson Fan, arnt [sic] you?'"

Spc. Buzzell says he was called to account for two details: the observation that his unit ran low on water during the hours-long standoff and a description of the steps he took to get more ammunition as the firefight waxed on. Both were excised from his online archives.

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Many soldiers note:

It appears to be very subjective as to what is and isn't allowed, so to keep from violating some Army reg, policy, or wish of the commander

Write that you painted a school and hugged an Iraqi and things will be grand. Write that your unit came under attack and your career may be over.

To keep from violating some Army reg, policy, or wish of the commander, milblog has been shutdown by Author on October 17, 2006.

or

Folks, this is a short lived Blog, because:

I've already been talked to once about my content and had to "edit" it. Today we had a briefing on Blogs "do's and don't" for the Army.

or

As of today, May 5th, 2006, I am officially shutting down my blog... There are certin [sic] commands out there that do NOT want me to blog... they have been trying very hard to find out who I am and shut me down... I really don't want to end my military career over a blog - it has gotten THAT bad!

Blogs arent the only thing. Just the other day the NYTIMESran a story about Iraqi insurgents using YouTube to spread fear. Youtube = bad. Republican campaign ads that promote Bin Laden's message = Good.

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

TOP SECRET: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

TOP SECRET: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

You are going to see that phrase quite a few times in this diary. Why? Well heres a quote from this website.

The Virginia National Guard Web-trolling team "uses several scanning tools to monitor [these] sites for OPSEC violations," the Army notes. "The tools search for such key words as 'for official use only' or 'top secret,' and records the number of times they are used on a site. Analysts review the results to determine which, if any, need further investigation."

So you see, everytime I say TOP SECRET, I quite possibly make a list somewhere. Not that I'm military, but it doesnt really matter:

A Virginia-based operation called the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell is monitoring soldiers' blogs and other Web sites for anything that may compromise security.

The oversight mission is made up of active-duty soldiers and contractors, as well as Guard and Reserve members from Maryland, Texas and Washington state. It began in 2002 and was expanded in August 2005 to include sites in the public domain, including blogs.

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

More Here:

The Army will not disclose the methods or tools being used to find and monitor the sites. Nor will it reveal the size of the operation or the contractors involved. The Defense Department has a similar program, the Joint Web Risk Assessment Cell, but the Army program is apparently the only operation that monitors nonmilitary sites.

Non-military sites. DKOS, MYDD, Myspace, etcetc. Your friend or relative has 10 minutes at a computer and wants to post a quick note to his friends at home on his personal blog, well a Message from the higher ups details:

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, NO INFORMATION MAY BE PLACED ON WEBSITES THAT ARE READILY ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC UNLESS IT HAS BEEN REVIEWED FOR SECURITY CONCERNS AND APPROVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MEMORANDUM WEB SITE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, DECEMBER 7, 1998."

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Now they say that this is all in the name of safety.

Unofficial blogs often show pictures with sensitive information in the background, including classified documents, entrances to camps or weapons. One Soldier showed his ammo belt, on which the tracer pattern was easily identifiable

Nevermind the whole Google Earth thing. Or a quick search on any search engine for 'machinegun' will result in a number of government, corporate and academic sites that show the layout of tracers in US machinegun ammunition.

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

No, thats a lame excuse and everyone knows it. As time goes on and they try and boot embedded reporters or restrict them to 'green zones' they really want to censor the truth.

Recently, shortly after his commanders discovered My War on the Web, Spc. Buzzell found himself banned from patrols and confined to base. His commanders say Spc. Buzzell may have breached operational security with his writings. "My War" went idle as he pondered the consequences of pursuing his craft while slogging through five nights of radio guard duty, a listless detail for an infantryman. More recently, the pages again went blank, as he chafed under a prepublication vetting regime imposed by his command.

Such prepublication censorship is rare in the modern military: Soldiers' missives haven't been routinely expurgated since World War II and the days of "Loose Lips Sink Ships." The Pentagon doesn't prescreen soldiers' communications, whether print or electronic, assigning the job of policing soldier-journalists to commanders in the field. There are restrictions against divulging references to specific troop locations, patrol schedules or anything that might help the enemy predict how U.S. troops might react to an attack. But commanders in Iraq rely on the honor system and soldiers' common sense to enforce restrictions. Infractions are in the eye of the beholder, difficult to define but easy to recognize in practice...

The blog entry at the root of Spc. Buzzell's difficulties was an Aug. 4 piece called "Men in Black." Opening with a bland, four-paragraph squib about a Mosul firefight that he snatched from CNN's Web site, Spc. Buzzell spins a riveting account of a nasty, hours-long firefight with scores of black-clad snipers. It begins with an enemy mortar attack and a testosterone-driven scramble to arms. "People were hooting and hollering, yelling their war cries and doing the Indian yell thing as they drove off and locked and loaded their weapons," he writes. He describes a harrowing ambush. "Bullets were pinging off our armor all over our vehicle, and you could hear multiple RPG's [rocket-propelled grenades] being fired and flying through the air and impacting all around us," he writes. "I've never felt fear like this. I was like, this is it, I'm going to die."

Spc. Buzzell's account caught the attention of the News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., the newspaper that covers Spc. Buzzell's home base of Fort Lewis. Noting that the attack got scant coverage by bigger media, the local paper drew heavily from Spc. Buzzell's anonymous account. The Pentagon's internal clip service picked up the News Tribune story and it landed in the hands of commanders in Iraq.

Within hours, Lt. Col. Buck James, the battalion commander, ordered Spc. Buzzell to his office. Spc. Buzzell quickly shaved and grabbed fresh fatigues to see the colonel he had never met. As he later recounted on his blog, he arrived to find Col. James leafing through a massive printout of his Web writings, which someone had marked up with a yellow pen. The colonel, whom Spc. Buzzell described as a cross between George Patton and Vince Lombardi, opened with a question: " 'Youre [sic] a big Hunter S Thompson Fan, arnt [sic] you?'"

Spc. Buzzell says he was called to account for two details: the observation that his unit ran low on water during the hours-long standoff and a description of the steps he took to get more ammunition as the firefight waxed on. Both were excised from his online archives.

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Many soldiers note:

It appears to be very subjective as to what is and isn't allowed, so to keep from violating some Army reg, policy, or wish of the commander

Write that you painted a school and hugged an Iraqi and things will be grand. Write that your unit came under attack and your career may be over.

To keep from violating some Army reg, policy, or wish of the commander, milblog has been shutdown by Author on October 17, 2006.

or

Folks, this is a short lived Blog, because:

I've already been talked to once about my content and had to "edit" it. Today we had a briefing on Blogs "do's and don't" for the Army.

or

As of today, May 5th, 2006, I am officially shutting down my blog... There are certin [sic] commands out there that do NOT want me to blog... they have been trying very hard to find out who I am and shut me down... I really don't want to end my military career over a blog - it has gotten THAT bad!

Blogs arent the only thing. Just the other day the NYTIMESran a story about Iraqi insurgents using YouTube to spread fear. Youtube = bad. Republican campaign ads that promote Bin Laden's message = Good.

TOP SECRET

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and A Fishy House Deal

Posted originally @ DailyKos

On 11/25/03 Dennis Bakke bought a house. Not just any house either. The sales price was $3,125,000. Property History Here

AES Corp. is probably the biggest company that nobody has ever heard of. With 118 power plants in 16 countries, the Arlington (Va.)-based power supplier is one of the world's largest providers of electricity, boasting a market capitalization of about $14 billion. Sure, it's an old-line business, but CEO Dennis Bakke and Chairman Roger W. Sant conduct it in a remarkable waySource

As you see Bakke was CEO of AES Corp. which has a History of scandals.

AES allegedly conspired with several other electricity companies to cause a shortage of power during the California power crisis of 2000, thus driving up the price of electricity and driving up profits. (Power Engineering International, Dec. 2002)

And another:

Dennis W. Bakke  Use of secured equity-linked loans (SELL) that grossly inflated revenues and bolstered stock prices. These loans are not carried on the company expense sheets, since they are paid back by issuing stocks--further diluting value and ownership of company.

On the very same day that Bakke bought the house, he sold it to one Rooney Group LLC. Rooney Group LLC belongs to Robert Kimmitt who is the current Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Whats weird is that he sold the house he had just bought for 3.15 million to Kimmitt for 2.75 million. A net loss of $400,000.

The questions arise of: Why buy and sell a house on the same day for a nearly half-million dollar loss.

Did AES Corp benefit since the house was sold by any actions on Kimmitts part?

Kimmitt was not deputy secretary of the treasury at the time of the sale. the Dep. Secretary of the treasury at that time was one Kenneth Dam, who was the chairman of the German-American Academic Council at the same time Kimmitt was Ambassador to Germany.

Another Scandal Out of Alaska

A possible new scandal is breaking in Alaska. This time it involves Alaska Republican Vic Kohring.

You may or may not remember that at the end of August, Kohring was one of 6 legislators whose offices raided as part of an investigation into influence peddling. This time around Kohring is accused of... influence peddling.

Alaska Daily News explains it all:

Last year, state Rep. Vic Kohring sat down with the mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Jim Whitaker, to talk about changing a state law to increase a tax break for an Anchorage-based developer.

Kohring, a Wasilla Republican, wasn't there to represent a constituent. He was on the payroll of the developer, Marc Marlow, for whom he had been working since November 2004.

Kohring runs "Vic Kohring Enterprises". The problem is, Marlow is his only customer. Marlow paid him $38,100 last year alone.

Not a bad tradeoff for a tax-break that:

exempted all but $10,000 a year in property taxes for 10 years and deferred normal property taxes for the five years after that.

But thats not all:

Kohring has worked on a half-dozen projects for Marlow since being hired by him in 2004. Several of the projects, including a proposed electrical generating plant in the Mat-Su, are subject to government approvals.

Kohring also contacted Municpal-Attorney Fred Boness on the issue.

Boness said he doesn't recall Kohring disclosing he was on Marlow's payroll.

..snip...

Boness said he told Marlow the mechanism wouldn't work

Kohring then approached Ramras, R-Fairbanks, and asked him to sponsor the legislation. The Polaris is in Ramras' district.

Why not just sponsor the bill yourself? Ramras recalled asking him.

He couldn't, because he had taken consulting fees from Marlow, Ramras said that Kohring told him.

Marlow battled radio host Dan Fagan on the issue:

Fagan: "So that legislation did not in any way save you any money?"

Marlow: "Absolutely not one dime. All that legislation did is set up a situation in Fairbanks wherein the Polaris building could be renovated like the McKinley (the old MacKay) building was ..."

But as the 10-minute duel ran its course, Marlow admitted that he needed the legislation to even consider buying the building.

Marlow of course is a victim:

"Some people don't like Muslims either or black people or homosexuals, but it doesn't make them right," Marlow said. Asked what that had to do with his situation with Kohring, Marlow said "There's all kinds of different prejudices or people's different reasons for not liking one thing or another."

Falwell, Robertson, Weller & Genocide

Fill in the blanks to this Pat Robertson quote.

I was in _________ three days after _________ overthrew the corrupt [previous] government. The people had been dancing in the street for joy, literally fulfilling the words of Solomon who said, ‘When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.’”

Did you say Iraq/United States? BUZZZZ. Wrong.

Heres the real deal:

I was in Guatemala three days after Rios Montt overthrew the corrupt [previous] government. The people had been dancing in the street for joy, literally fulfilling the words of Solomon who said, ‘When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.’”

Robertson also praised Rios Montt for his “enlightened leadership” and claimed that the dictator insisted on “honesty in government.”

Yes this is the same Rios Montt we've been hearing a lot about lately. Jerry Weller (R-IL) married Rios Montt's daughter Zury Rios Montt. Her father attended the wedding.

Robertson wrote those words in 1990, well after the widespread massacres, rape, torture, and acts of genocide against the indigenous Mayan population of Guatemela by Montt's rule where known to the world.

In an Aug. 15, 1995, letter to The Washington Post, Amnesty International officer Carlos Salinas wrote, “In just the first four months of Gen. Rios Montt’s rule, Amnesty International had documented more than 2,000 extrajudicial killings attributed to the Guatemalan army. Furthermore, these killings were done in horrible ways: people of all ages were not only shot to death, they were burned alive, hacked to death, disemboweled, drowned, beheaded. Small children were smashed against rocks or bayoneted to death.”

Ríos Montt's ties with the United States military go back fifty years when he received training by the Pentagon. In 1950, Ríos Montt graduated as a cadet at the School of the Americas in the Panama Canal Zone, which at the time educated students in counter-insurgency tactics for the purposes of combating potential "communist" influence in the region.

In 1954, the young officer played a minor role in the successful CIA-organized coup against Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, who was alleged to have had communist sympathies largely as a result of his efforts to break the economic monopoly of the United Fruit Company, a US firm with strong ties to Washington.

In 1978, he left the Catholic Church and became a minister in the California-based evangelical Church of the Word; since then Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Loren Cunningham (Youth with a Mission) have been personal friends. (You'll Remember YWAM from The Path To 9/11)

In March 1982 Ríos Montt seized power in a bloody coup d'etat that was quietly backed by the CIA and the Reagan White House. He and his fellow generals, Maldonando Schadd and Luis Gordillo, deposed Gen. Romeo Lucas Garcia and set up a military tribunal with Montt at its head. The junta immediately suspended the constitution, set up secret tribunals and began a brutal crackdown on political dissidents that featured kidnapping, torture, and extra-judicial assassinations.. (Gee that sounds awfully familiar)

In December 1982 during a meeting with Ríos Montt Ronald Reagan declared: "President Ríos Montt is a man of great personal integrity and commitment".

The killings continued even after Ríos Montt was eased from office in 1983. Some human rights groups charge that perhaps as many as one million Mayan peasants
were uprooted from their homes and that many of them were forced to live in re-education concentration camps and to work in the fields of Guatemalan land barons.

Attempts to indict Ríos Montt on charges of genocide have so far failed, and Rios Montt even tried to run for President in 1990 under his created party The Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG). He was prohibited from entering the race due to a constitutional provision banning people who had participated in military coups from becoming president. In 2003 he tried to run again but his candidacy was initially, and once again, rejected by the electoral registry and by two lower courts. In July 2003, Guatemala's highest court, which had had several judges appointed from the FRG, approved his candidacy. Later, however, the Supreme Court suspended his campaign for the presidency Ríos Montt denounced the ruling as judicial manipulation and, in a radio address, called on his followers to take to the streets to protest against this decision. On July 24, in a day known as jueves negro (black Thursday)thousands of masked FRG supporters invaded the streets of Guatemala City armed with machetes, clubs and guns. They were led by well known FRG militants, including several known congressmen, who were photographed by the press early in the morning while co-ordinating the actions, and the personal secretary of Zury Ríos Montt, the general's daughter. The demonstrators marched on the courts, the opposition parties headquarters, and newspapers, torching buildings, shooting out windows and burning cars and tires in the streets.

In March 1999 U.S. President Bill Clinton apologized for the United States support of Ríos Montt's regime. Clinton declared: "For the United States, it is important I state clearly that support for military forces and intelligence units which engaged in violence and widespread repression was wrong and the United States must not repeat that mistake.

Zury Ríos accompanied her father on his campaign trail, generally introducing him, in highly favorable terms, before he addressed his rallies. She was quoted in the press as saying, "my father is my inspiration.". She has not apologized to the Guatemalans for her support of a man accused of gencide.

Nor has her Republican husband Jerry Weller.
Nor has Jerry Falwell.
Nor has Pat Robertson.

FBI Raids Stevens.... Again

The net is closing in on Ted Stevens. Newest information after this brief review:

On August 31, Federal agents begin serving 20 search warrants in Juneau, Anchorage, Wasilla, Eagle River and Girdwood, including in the State Capitol and the legislative offices in Anchorage. The offices of six Alaska state legislators are raided (including Ben Stevens, son of Ted Stevens), with warrants seeking materials showing contact with executives from the oil field services firm Veco and documents concerning proposed natural gas pipeline and petroleum production tax.

A list of past diaries for informative purposes:

The Corrupt Bastards Club is what was known as Sept 2.

What You Need To Know About The Alaska FBI Raids is a compilation of information about the warrants and politicians/companies involved.

What Else You Need To Know... tells the story of past Steven's corruption involving fisheries and special interest projects that may be a part of the current investigation.


Wave Goodbye To The Alaskan Republican Party examines the Veco raids and their effect on the political climate in Alaska.  


This Article from the Anchorage Daily News makes me all giddy inside. It confirms some of what I've written about here on dkos in my past diaries, that to my knowledge, nobody else was writing about elsewhere. Heres some of the article:

FBI agents returned last week to the legislative office of Senate President Ben Stevens and seized more evidence, including a copy of a sworn statement that implicated Stevens in an alleged payment scheme involving fisheries legislation brought by his father, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens.

In This Diary, I branched from the VECO scandal, and examined the possibility that investigators where also focusing in on a Fisheries Scandal. Now that I've patted myself on the back here more from the article:

Word of the second search, and what was taken by the FBI, came from Ben Stevens himself, who disclosed the information in a letter to the Daily News dated Sept. 22. In his letter, Stevens denied a request by the newspaper for a copy of any FBI search warrants which may have been served on him or his office, and the government's receipts for items seized. But Stevens provided what he said was a "complete listing of what was obtained from my legislative offices" on Aug. 31 and Sept. 18.

Interesting that Stevens denied a request for a copy of the warrant. The only warrant information released to the public, happened to come from the only Democrat being investigated in the scandals. This being the warrant where the infamous 'Corrupt Bastards Club' items where listed as possible evidence to seize. Stevens obviously will not release his warrants, as it open up all avenues of the investigation to the public, and he definately doesnt want that. From information I've obtained, its not just Oil and Fish either, but until I can confirm that I wont go into that much here, and I may discuss it in the comments if anybody is interested. However sorry to go on and on, heres more from ADN:

Among the material hauled off by agents, Stevens said, were binders on the proposed natural gas pipeline and revised oil taxes, as well as information on a board that doled out federal marketing money to fisheries companies, some of which paid him as a consultant. Stevens was chairman of that board until about six months ago.

The vast majority of items on Stevens' list were public records that could have been obtained by anyone, sometimes under a formal public information request, sometimes just for asking. For instance, the FBI seized the 2006 Legislative directory, the 2003 Legislative Ethics Training Manual, federal and state laws governing North Slope gas, and a "piece of paper" with the tax identification number for Stevens' consulting firm, Stevens and Associates.

Though much has been made of the FBI's apparent interest in the relationship between legislators and the politically active oil field service and construction company Veco -- the company itself was searched, and it was mentioned in other search warrants -- Stevens listed only a single Veco document taken by the FBI: an undated memo to Veco president Pete Leathard.

The government also seized Stevens' Rolodex containing business cards and a phone log, made a copy of the hard drive of a Gateway computer, and took an 80-gigabyte hard drive, an untitled compact disc and something described as an "e-mail found on printer."

Some of the material goes beyond issues known to be important to Veco like the gas pipeline and touch on fishery subjects that involve Ben's father, long-time U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. Since 2005, Ted Stevens has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, through which all fisheries legislation passes. Before that, he chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful seats in Congress.

Among fishery-related items, Ben Stevens reported that in the second search, the FBI seized "Victor Smith affidavit" and a 2004 "UFA" letter -- United Fishermen of Alaska. Agents also took two April 2006 letters he wrote to the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board, which he headed from its creation by Ted Stevens in 2003 until his resignation earlier this year.

The second search also yielded a Jan. 23 fax to Ted Stevens along with "unknown documents of Ted Stevens with a cover page dated 6/5/06 bearing the United States Senate seal."

Ive previously reported that a staff member of Stevens has been working with investigators for months before the raids. That made this quote jump out at me:

"They don't know what phones are tapped. Nor do they know who is wired"

More on Alaska

Past Diaries that all gives details on the F.B.I raids of 5 Republican and 1 Democrats offices in Alaska nearly three weeks ago. Ben Stevens, son of Ted 'Tubes' Stevens, had his offices raided, and 12 boxes of evidence removed. The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section (Enron, Abramoff) is heading the investigation.

:

The Corrupt Bastards Club

What You Need To Know About The Alaska FBI Raids

What Else You Need To Know...

Wave Goodbye To The Republican Party

Lots of interesting news coming out of Alaska in the past few days. Some to do with the raids, some not but what I really wanted to bring to DKOS attention today is This Article at the Christian Science Monitor.

When Gov. Frank Murkowski announced last spring he had struck a deal with three major oil companies on terms for building a huge natural-gas pipeline to the Midwest, he said it would fulfill Alaska's decades-long dream of commercializing the North Slope's vast natural-gas resources.

...

But now Alaska gas-pipeline politics has exploded.

Governor Murkowski was dumped from his job, finishing with 19 percent and in third place in the Aug. 22 Republican gubernatorial primary. Terms of his gas-pipeline contract led many voters to scorn the deal and the governor who proposed it.

Shortly after this primary is when the FBI raids took place. Remember that its not just legislators involved, there are 2 republican polling companies and the top VECO executives. More from the CSM article:

Adding to the public's sour mood is the partial shutdown in August of the huge Prudhoe Bay oil field - stemming from pipeline leaks that BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. is supposed to prevent. All together, the events are causing Alaskans to reevaluate their relationship to the oil companies that have long dominated the state's economy and politics.

National Democrats need to be more aware of whats going on in Alaska currently, and highlight some of these races. The public backlash at their Republican leaders has CQPolitics.com changing its rating on the race to Leans Republican from No Clear Favorite. Republican Sarah Palin has a lead in the polls over former two-term Gov. Tony Knowles but Knowles has proven campaign skills, and the strongest independent candidate is the race is a Republican could draw some votes away from Palin. in 2004 while running for Senate Knowles finished within 3 percentage points of Lisa Murkowski, in a state that Bush was winning by 25 points.  I kind of got off topic, on to more from the CSM about controversial provisions in Murkowskis Gas-Pipeline bill.

Freeze oil and gas tax rates for decades, forbidding the imposition of any new taxes on the three oil companies' Alaska operations, either by the legislature or by citizen initiative. "That's impossible. It's not constitutional, and it's wrong for Alaska," says Knowles.

* Require the state to take its tax and royalty earnings in the form of natural gas rather than cash, giving the state - which has never before marketed natural gas - the task of finding buyers and ensuring deliveries. "The state doesn't have a very good track record - and neither does any other state - of being in competition with private businesses, including three of the biggest oil companies in the world," says state Sen. Tom Wagoner, a Republican from Kenai.

* Omit any deadlines or performance benchmarks. The deal requires only that the three companies advance the project "as diligently as is prudent under the circumstances." "The contract doesn't do anything. All it does is lock us up for 35 or 40 years," says former Gov. Wally Hickel, a famously pro-development Republican.

* Surrender Alaska's right to take disputes with the companies to court and exempt them from oversight by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, which regulates utilities (including pipelines). Instead, disputes would be resolved by an arbitration panel, with some members chosen by the oil companies.

Is he effin serious?

Its backers - including Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials - say that unless this deal is approved quickly, the market niche that Alaska gas would fill will be satisfied by imported liquefied natural gas.

Ohh, well  Cheney said it, so it must be true. And imported liquid gas... Does Free Gas for every household in 151 Alaska Villages donated by Hugo Chavez count? You know the drill by now... more on VECO from the CSM:

Those who voted against the net-profits tax say their suspicion that the vote was tainted heightened after the FBI raids of the six lawmakers' offices, in a probe of VECO Corp., an oil-field service company based in Anchorage.

House minority leader Ethan Berkowitz (D) says he was outraged to find oil lobbyists in the House chambers giving signals to direct some members how to vote. During one heated debate, he made a speech decrying the telephone calls and other messages that were reaching the House floor during the proceedings.

"I saw votes taken, strong-arm tactics used on various legislators, votes reversed. I saw ugly efforts to turn this legislative body into a rubber-stamp for an administration that was in lock step with the oil industry," says Mr. Berkowitz, who is running for lieutenant governor.

Wave Goodbye To The Alaskan Republican Party

Between losing my job and trying to find a new one, as well as raising my 10 month old, I have not had time to update on the investigation of corruption in the Alaskan Republican Party.

A list of past diaries for informative purposes:

The Corrupt Bastards Club is what was known as Sept 2.

What You Need To Know About The Alaska FBI Raids is a compilation of information about the warrants and politicians/companies involved.

What Else You Need To Know... tells the story of past Steven's corruption involving fisheries and special interest projects that may be a part of the current investigation.





The FBI served search warrants at homes, offices and businesses across the state three weeks ago, including the offices of Bill Allen and other Veco executives, as well as six state legislators. Ben Stevens, son of Ted Stevens had his office raided and 12 boxes of documents labeled as 'evidence' removed.

Those warrants are currently under seal. One was divulged and among other things, it focused on items that could prove ties between Veco and state legislation. Information about the investigation indicated that it is broad in scope and may tie into hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of special interest earmarks being directed to Ben Stevens by his father. The IRS are doing audits of all involved, so time will tell. Adding more interest is that sources say:

*For months a staffer in one of the offices raided has been providing information to federal authorities. This may explain why documents were taken off the back of a picture on the wall.

Sounds like a lot of corruption eh? 6 legislators, oil companies, fisheries. How big?

The federal influence-buying case that erupted with fury 10 days ago with searches of a half-dozen Alaska legislative offices is being managed independently of the Alaska U.S. Attorney's office, a U.S. Justice Department official said Monday.

"The whole office is recused," Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra said.

Instead, the wide-ranging investigation is being overseen by attorneys from the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section in Washington, Sierra said.

Public Integrity Section? "What the hell is that?" you may ask. Well I happen to have a blockquote with just the answer:

The Public Integrity Section has about 25 attorneys, a team that often lives out of suitcases in pursuit of corruption cases as far away as Guam. They've prosecuted petty thefts by sheriff's deputies, the massive frauds of Enron and the high-profile corruption case of Jack Abramoff.

In one of my past diaries linked above I said:

Throw into the mix that VECO was a one-time owner of the now defunct Anchorage Times, and that VECO continues to pay for the production and publication of Voice of the Times, a half-page editorial section that runs in the Daily News, and you have quite the interesting read.

Well I was right. The AnchoragePress has this to say:

On Sunday, September 10, the Anchorage Daily News published a column by former ADN editorial page editor Michael Carey in which Carey predicted the demise of Veco, the oil field services company, and of the Alaska Republican Party, as both are currently structured.

"Everybody in the capitol building knew Veco's money bought the company exceptional access to lawmakers," Carey wrote. "Everybody in the building knew many lawmakers, mostly Republicans, were inordinately dependent on Veco dollars for their campaigns."

VECO bought Republicans, and possibly even a Democrat, The whole Alaska Attorneys office and the newspapers.

There has been much speculation in this paper and others about how much Veco pays the ADN for its space. The ADN historically has refused to comment. Recently, however, ADN editor Pat Dougherty told the Press that the paper does not charge Veco for the space other than the costs of production, and that the paper gains nothing financially by publishing VOT.

They have all the bases covered. That has to be all the wrong they've done right?! Its not like they would try to write laws, too:

Alaska Attorney General David Marquez was once a Veco lobbyist, and was fined by the Alaska Public Offices Commission for failing to register as a lobbyist - a fact recently highlighted on reporter RA Dillon's blog "An Alaskan Abroad."

In 2002, Marquez lobbied the Alaska legislature for a bill that would have revived the Stranded Gas Act to give energy producers a tax break during the construction of a gas pipeline and the first two years in which gas flowed down the line. Marquez was paid $43,500 in fees plus more than $11,000 for travel expenses to write and lobby for HB 519, which ultimately failed to become law. He was initially fined $580 for not disclosing his lobbying. The fine was later reduced to $90.

In a statement prepared by Marquez in order to reduce the APOC fine, he said he was paid by Veco to "draft the legislation" that would become HB 519. He then delivered "the draft to the staff of the legislator picked by Veco and its lobbyists," Marquez wrote.

Theres alot to say WTF! about. But a 90 dollar fine? Thats alot like Stevens getting a $150 fine for his corruption that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars. No wonder the Justice Department stepped in.

What You Need To Know About The Alaska F.B.I Raids

As I stated in my last diary I will cover the Alaskan raids here on dkos day after day, in attempt to highlight the ongoing (but seemingly forgotten) culture of corruption.

Comments are urged, and researchers are desperately needed, as I'm just one person with a 9 month old to take care of. But anyways, on to the story:

Timeline:

Thursday:

Federal agents begin serving 20 search warrants in Juneau, Anchorage, Wasilla, Eagle River and Girdwood, including in the State Capitol and the legislative offices in Anchorage. The offices of six Alaska state legislators are raided, with warrants seeking materials showing contact with executives from the oil field services firm Veco and documents concerning proposed natural gas pipeline and petroleum production tax.

With agents continuing to gather documents in legislative offices, agents from the FBI and IRS interview Veco President Pete Leathard and a company attorney at the company's Midtown offices. Boxes of materials are seized from lawmakers' offices.

Friday:

Agents serve more search warrants in Anchorage and Willow, and interview current and former legislators and others.

The Warrants:

*Two dozen searches in two days.

*A copy of one of the search warrants links the investigation to a new production tax law signed last month by Gov. Frank Murkowski and a draft natural gas pipeline contract Murkowski and the state's three largest oil companies negotiated.

*Warrants were executed in Girdwood, where Ted Stevens has a home and offices.

*The warrant called for seizure of documents "concerning, reflecting or relating to any payment" to lawmakers by VECO executives Allen and Richard Smith. Agents also looked for documents about contracts, agreements or employment of legislators provided by VECO, Allen, Smith and company president Peter Leathard.

*agents were authorized to seize any documents related to The Petroleum Club, Republican pollster David Dittman or his company, Dittman Research and Communication Corp., pollster Marc Hellenthal or his company, Hellenthal and Associates, Roger Chan, VECO's chief financial officer, and Olson Air Service

*A specific item named in the search for seizure: "Any physical garments (including hats) bearing any of the following logos or phrases: `CBC,' `Corrupt Bastards Club,' `Corrupt Bastards Caucus,' `VECO.'"

*Agents left Ben Stevens' Capitol office Thursday evening with 12 boxes of documents labeled ``Evidence'' and loaded them into a vehicle.

The Companies:

VECO:

*VECO Corp is an Anchorage-based oil field services and construction company. According to its  Web site, Veco offers expertise in businesses ranging from pipelines and terminals and oil refining to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and food and beverage services. Also VECO's executives are major contributors to political campaigns.

*At the same time it was emerging as a titan in Alaska business, the company became a dominant political power in the state, its executives and employees among the most regular and generous contributors to dozens of statewide and statehouse campaigns every election season.

*VECO has given over a million dollars in campaign contributions in recent years.

*In 2000 Veco executives and employees  donated $130,000 to candidates before the primary election.

*In 2004, the last statewide election, Veco's top three donors -- president Pete Leathard, chairman Bill Allen and chief financial officer Roger Chan -- gave more than $122,000 to the Alaska Republican Party and state House and Senate candidates. The company has also employed active lawmakers as consultants and in other capacities, including Senate President Ben Stevens, R-Anchorage.

*In 1985 Veco was fined more than $72,000 for a scheme that funneled secret donations to a select slate of candidates through an employee payroll deduction plan.

*Veco executives also are known for prowling the Capitol halls and even passing notes to lawmakers on the floor to influence votes.

*Veco supported Murkowski during primary for governor.  

The Petroleum Club:

"Welcome to Anchorage's most prestigious private club. Come and relax in elegant surroundings designed to cater to Alaska's business elite. You've said goodbye to your troubles, and are ready to enjoy special moments with friends and family in an atmosphere that celebrates just who we are."

Dittman Research and Communication Corp:

Is a Marketing research & public opinion polling services

*Has been accused of 'Push Polling' on at least one occasion

*Terry Dittman, said Friday the FBI had been to their office and said the company was not the subject of the investigation but they may have evidence related to it.

Hellenthal and Associates:

*Donates to Republican Campaigns

*"They are after people paying for votes during the recent oil and gas special sessions. I think that was fairly transparent," - Marc Hellenthal on the Investigation

*Worked for John Binkley during the Republican primary contest for governor.

*has conducted polls for VECO and other businesses on governors' and legislative races

Olson Air Service:

Owned by Sen. Donny Olson of Nome. Kott, a former House speaker

*The FBI seized five things from Olson's Office: Olson's 2006 year planner, Murkowski's gas pipeline proposal released in May, a manila folder labeled ``APOC'' for the Alaska Public Offices Commission, Olson's interim travel file and a binder related to the Alaska Stranded Gas Fiscal contract.

The People:

Ben Stevens:

*Son of Senator Ted Stevens

*has reported collecting more than $240,000 in consulting fees from VECO since 2000

*In Stevens' office, an agent appeared drawn to something on the back of a framed picture wrapped in protective plastic.

*Agents left Stevens' Capitol office Thursday evening with 12 boxes of documents labeled "Evidence"

*Has earned more than $1.5 million as a 'consultant' for special interests directed to him by his father Ted Stevens, including VECO and The Special Olympics. And that was up to 2003. Theres been more since.

*Ted Stevens' spokesman Aaron Saunders said Friday he had no comment on the search

Peter Leathard:

*Veco President

*Son Scott works on Ted Steven's staff.

*A visit to Leathard's office leaves no doubt of his own politics. Behind his desk are framed, signed

photographs of Leathard posing with the Republican power elite: President Bush (both of them), Vice President Dick Cheney and Alaska's powerhouse senior senator, Ted Stevens

*FBI and IRS interviewed Pete Leathard and a company attorney at the company's Midtown offices.

Misc Info:

*Senator John Cowdery, the Senate Rules chairman; Republican Representative Vic Kohring; Republican Representative Bruce Weyhrauch; Democratic Senator Donald Olson; and Republican Representative Pete Kott all had offices searched

*The Corrupt Bastards Club started as a barroom joke last spring among Alaska legislators whose names were linked to large campaign contributions VECO Corp