One thing Ray Metcalfe brought up yesterday bothered me more than the rest. Metcalfe stated that he sent packets of information about corruption in our legislature to many legislators. He did this long before the FBI raids. One of the recipients was Ethan Berkowitz, who was, at the time, House Minority Leader. Metcalfe says he never got a response from Berkowitz about the issues raised in the correspondence.
When Berkowitz issued a press release this past week challenging Governor Palin to search her soul in regard to the gas line bid presented by Sinopec, he opened the door on this pretty wide. Here's just one comment from the ADN blog coverage of the issue:
In June of 2005, a substantial packet of evidence re. Ben Stevens' 'consultant work,' etc. was sent to every legislator, including Ethan Berkowitz, as well as those who sat on ethics committees, etc.
Interestingly, many of those legislators who received this information were/are also attorneys, making them 'officers of the court.' Most folks are aware that officers of the court, upon being made aware of a crime/criminal activity, are ethically and legally required to take some sort of action.. No?
This is separate from obligations shared by every legislator in a more general sense, but especially those who sat on ethics committees..
The packets received by the legislators are the same ones that were received by the AG (Marquez), the Troopers (Dept. of Public Safety), the District Attorney, and others. No one ran with the ball, so to speak. The packets were then sent to various sources in the federal government, who, apparently, were already working on these and other issues, mostly unbeknownst to others.
Mind you, few to no persons were aware of the federal investigation at that time. Therefore, it can easily be asserted that for anyone in any positions of authority, receiving that packet, it amounted to at least reasonable suspicion, if not probable cause, that crimes, yet unaddressed in any official capacity, were being committed.
And just as when many doctors investigate other doctors, just as when many attorneys investigate other attorneys, and just as when most cops claim to investigate other cops, nothing noteworthy was done with it..
Maybe that was based in others' knowledge of just how deep corruption in Juneau has run in the past. maybe that was related to not wanting to cause harm to the prodigal son of Uncle Pork, himself.... for a variety of possible reasons.
But in Ethan's case, he was a legislator, an attorney, AND a person who claims to have been active in defining and enforcing ethical standards in the legislature.
Reality might paint a slightly different picture, however...
I'll inquire as to whether there is currently a link to the evidence being discussed here. If not, it may not be too much trouble to establish one.
While Veco wasn't exactly committing genocide down in Juneau, they were truly screwing you and me. Berkowitz has made an issue of his sole complaint during one of the special sessions. It is the closest Berkowitz has come to a positive YouTube-type moment. I've commented very positively about this. But Metcalfe's claim of inaction on the part of Berkowitz has credibility. The sooner Berkowitz clears this up, the better.
Update - Saturday evening: Ray Metcalfe reiterated to me today that he e-mailed the entire packet of information to then-House Minority Leader, Rep. Ethan Berkowitz in 2005. He left more than one telephone message for Berkowitz, to let Berkowitz know the packet had arrived. He followed the same process with then-Chairman of the Alaska Democratic Party, Jake Metcalfe. Additionally, Ray Metcalfe says he hand delivered a print copy of the same packet to Chairman Jake Metcalfe.
Ray says he got no response from either of these gentlemen about the packets. He has no idea what they did with that information in the many months between their receipt of the incriminating material and the summer 2006 FBI raids.
6 comments:
You and Ray seem to imply that simply because Berkowitz & Jake Metcalfe had copies of information that Ray was handing out right and left and didn't do anything about it, that somehow they did something wrong.
At the time, Ray had quite a reputation as a crank, whether it was deserved or not. It's not surprising that most politicians would want to be *very* careful about starting their own investigation or make a public noise about Ben Stevens' activities when all they had were unverified allegations.
Most officeholders would read the info and assume that if it was true that Ben's chickens would finally come home to roost without them having to do anything. They might forward it to the toothless legislative ethics committee, and if they did so, the law forbids them from discussing it.
Ray Metcalfe isn't saying that Berkowitz or Jake Metcalfe did anything wrong. He's saying he gave them - along with others - the material and doesn't know what they then did with it. I republished a comment from the ADN Politics blog that raised questions about what responsibilities a person in Berkowitz's position in 2005 might have had to pass the information along that Ray Metcalfe had presented him. You raise a good point about what might have happened had Berkowitz, for instance, passed the information along to a body like "Ethics." I'm doing an interview/article on Ray for "down with tyranny," and will be looking at exactly what Ray gave to people back in 2005. From my 13 years experience working in law enforcement and public safety, I can guarantee you, AKhb, that a lot of good tips come from people who have "quite a reputation as a crank" or worse. Again, neither Ray Metcalfe nor I are implying either Berkowitz or Jake Metcalfe did anything wrong upon receiving information of probable criminal activity.
If I had been a legislator and received Ray's packet of information, of corruption on such a large scale, my first reaction would have been to be careful. If upon first scrutiny, I discovered the author of the packet to be the founder of a new Alaska political party, it would have elevated my skepticism. Ray's materials do have that touch of political theatre we have come to associate with fringe politics. Ray's own methods generated some of the resistance and skepticism he met.
Second, rumors have it that we are at about the halfway point or less of the US DOJ prosecutions. It is possible that contributors to the investigation may not be able to come forward for some time yet, until prosecutions are completed. We should consider holding judgement until the whole story emerges.
polsrbear,
I've been thinking along those same lines. Again, Ray is only claiming that Jake and Ethan got packets in 2005. along with a lot of other people.
I doubt we're more than about 25% along in terms of politicial corruption indictments.
Phillip Munger: Watching events unfold, and despite initial impressions, Ray's actions certainly reminded me to focus on the data; credit where credit is due. Best of luck with the interview and story. The whole series of events needs an Alaska historian for proper context.
It's time for ETHICS reform . time to make them pay for braking there word...
BOSSA
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