No Pol Left Behind in Alaska Corruption

Bribery scandal spreads from Juneau to DC
By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 12, 2007 4:07 PM CST
No Pol Left Behind in Alaska Corruption
Former Alaska state Rep. Vic Kohring walks through the federal court building in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, as jury selection began in his federal corruption trial. Kohring is accused of demanding and accepting up to $2,600 in cash and a $3,000 job for a relative from former VECO Corp....   (Associated Press)

Back-room backslaps, pockets stuffed with $100 bills, and the odd Viagra pill—the Washington Post looks at the freewheeling frontier-style corruption exposed in oil-rich Alaska over the last few years, as elected representatives on every level were caught in scandals and many entered guilty pleas. Now the stain is threatening to spill out of Juneau to Washington, with the state's lone congressman and one senator under scrutiny.

Rep. Don Young has not been named in proceedings, but he's linked closely with Bill Allen, an oil executive caught on tape dishing out bribes; Allen's company is his biggest donor.  Sen. Ted Stevens is under investigation regarding additions to his home, and his son is accused by Allen, who pled guilty to corruption and bribery charges, of accepting a quarter-million-dollar bribe disguised as a consulting fee. (More Alaska stories.)

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