http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=13270DUBLIN, CA - The FBI brought in agents from all over the country, including Sacramento, to raid the offices of six Alaska legislators last week. They were looking for illegal dealings with an Alaska-based oil firm VECO that has long been a top Republican donor. But the money trail doesn't stop in Alaska.
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But, while McGavick may have returned the money, Congressman Richard Pombo of Tracy has not. A month before the House Resources Committee, of which Pombo is chair, added a provision to open ANWR to a budget reconciliation bill, Rep. Pombo took almost the same amount from Alaskan donors for his political action committee-40% of which came from VECO executives.
VECO has made no secret of what it hopes to gain from their donations. "VECO is ready to assist efforts in every way possible to make new mega projects happen - specifically, an Alaskan gas pipeline and the opening of ANWR," the company said in a 2003 newsletter. In an October 2004 newsletter to VECO employees, executives wrote, "The right people in the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the Alaska State Legislature make a huge impact on oil and gas resource development and on the economy of Alaska." They cited opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling as one of their top priorities. "We try to get those people elected," VECO President Pete Leathard told Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections, an online newsletter covering the oil industry. "We put a lot of money into the effort," Leathard said.
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Political pollster Marc Hellenthal, who said he was interviewed Friday afternoon by two FBI agents from Sacramento, said
agents told him what they are looking for "goes back longer." Some Alaska press reports say VECO executives are also known for prowling the Capitol halls and even passing notes to lawmakers on the floor to influence votes.
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