To 66,000 Alaskans who will go hungry: Let them eat cake

Sen. Bill Wielechowski is calling on the suit-happy Dunleavy administration to back a legal claim by 25 states that the Trump administration is violating the law by withholding food assistance money for political purposes.

“Certainly the clear, legal rights of 66,000 Alaskans to feed their families is of at least similar importance to ‘professionals like cake bakers,’’ Wielechowski said in a letter to Dunleavy and Cox.

Read More
Dermot Cole Comments
Korean shakedown to provide cash for Alaska pipeline, Trump official claims

If U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is right, a big if, the Alaska gas pipeline could be a public works project funded by the Korean government under duress.

I find it hard to believe that the Koreans will do what Lutnick claims and hand over $200 billion in cash, some of which Lutnick claims would go to the Alaska LNG project, making it the most expensive example of government involvement in private industry.

Read More
Dermot Cole Comments
Trump excluded Murkowski, sided with Sullivan on federal court judge pick

Sen. Dan Sullivan said he has a “red line” that no Alaska federal judge nominees are allowed to cross.

The Sullivan mandate is that anyone trying to become a federal judge in Alaska cannot be anything like Sharon Gleason, the first woman to serve as a district judge in Alaska.

Speaking to reporters in Juneau seven months ago, Sullivan claimed Gleason has done “more damage to our state that almost anyone” with rulings he doesn’t like.

Read More
Dermot Cole Comments
Dunleavy's new AG creates new job for Virginia lawyer

Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox appears to think that his main job as attorney general is to insert himself into national politics, often on cases that have little to do with Alaska. In September alone he put Alaska’s name on two dozen amicus briefs generated by Republican attorneys general.

He has hired a lawyer from Outside with no Alaska experience to represent the state in courts across the country.

Read More
Dermot Cole Comments
Crum helped launch a private investment fund while serving as commissioner

Dunleavy said that Crum “pursued investment opportunities with several other potential investment firms,” but the negotiations were halted. When were the negotiations halted and why?

I suspect that one of the so-called opportunities was related to Crum’s decision to use his office last spring to promote a new private investment fund called the “Frontier Economic Fund.”

Read More
Dermot Cole Comments
Dunleavy's office pleads ignorance on DigitalBridge review

Tyson Gallagher, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s chief of staff, had the Dunleavy spokesman, Jeff Turner, tell me that he doesn’t know how much the state has agreed to pay a Washington, D.C. law firm to review the DigitalBridge contract.

Ask Department of Law spokeswoman Patty Sullivan, he said. The Department of Law spokeswoman said in 10 business days she would have some kind of reply.

The Anchorage Daily News had no better luck from the Dunleavy transparency team.

Read More
Dermot Cole Comments
FEMA core functions ‘ground to a halt'

The Wall Street Journal has this update on how the Federal Emergency Management Agency is failing to respond to emergencies.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, Rep. Nick Begich the Third and Gov. Mike Dunleavy gushed with effusive praise for Donald Trump’s social media post saying he had approved a disaster declaration for Western Alaska. But maybe they should withhold their praise until they see if FEMA delivers.

Read More
Dermot Cole Comments