Alaska Political Corruption Probe - Corrupt Bastards Club

Corrupt Bastards Club

The name "Corrupt Bastards Club" (alternatively "Corrupt Bastards Caucus") has been widely, if with limited accuracy, used to designate Alaska legislators implicated in the federal corruption (a.k.a., "Polar Pen") investigation. The nickname originated in the spring of 2006 as a barroom joke among Alaska legislators after a guest article by Lori Backes, executive director of All Alaska Alliance, that ran in Alaska's three largest newspapers named 11 lawmakers who had received large campaign contributions from executives of the oilfield services company VECO Corporation, which has a long history of making large campaign contributions to Alaska politicians. The article also named Senate President Ben Stevens as having received large consulting fees from VECO.

In her article, Backes detailed the amount of political campaign donations contributed between 1998 and 2004 by the top seven VECO executives to Alaska lawmakers who were in office at the time her article was written. The figures were based on reports to the Alaska Public Offices Commission

• Senator John Cowdery (R-Anchorage), Senate Rules Committee Chair: $24,550.
• Representative Pete Kott (R-Eagle River), former speaker of the House: $21,300.
• Representative Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage), House Rules Committee Chair: $18,000.
• Representative Vic Kohring (R-Wasilla), House Oil and Gas Committee Chair : $14,708.
• Governor Frank Murkowski: $6,500 (excluding donations to past U.S. Senate races)
• Representative (currently Senator) Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage), House Finance Committee Co-Chair: $12,300.
• Representative Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski), House Finance Committee Co-Chair: $12,000.
• Representative (currently Senator) Lesil McGuire (R-Anchorage), House Judiciary Committee Chair: $12,000.
• Senator Con Bunde (R-Anchorage), Senate Labor and Commerce Committee Chair: $11,500.
• Senator Lyda Green (R-Wasilla), Senate Finance Committee Co-Chair: $28,000.
• Representative Mike Hawker (R-Anchorage): $8,050.
• Representative Tom Anderson (R-Anchorage), House Labor and Commerce Chair: $8,000.

Additionally, Backes noted the consulting contract Senate President Ben Stevens (R-Anchorage) had with VECO Corporation and financial relationships other lawmakers had with other companies active in the oil and gas industry, including Conoco Phillips and ASCG Incorporated, the latter a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation which is heavily involved in oilfield business in Alaska.

According to Chenault, one of the lawmakers named in the article: "Somebody walked up and said, 'You corrupt bastards,' and that name stuck." Hats with the label "CBC," standing for "Corrupt Bastards Club" or "Corrupt Bastards Caucus," were later printed up, but according to Chenault "that was the extent of the CBC deal."

Backes article failed to note that members of the families of VECO executives, in particular Allen himself, were used to launder money as well.