— Gov. Sarah Palin
"I expected it. I know all the Kott family and my heart goes out to them. But I think the evidence was compelling. What these guys have done, not so much the money they took, but vandalizing the system and profoundly depreciating the public confidence in it, is so highly offensive."
— Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, who worked with the FBI on the investigation
“Mr. Kott said some very unfortunate things on tape, and he voted for Veco’s interests. My client, Mr. Kohring, didn’t say unfortunate things on tape, never swore — doesn’t swear, doesn’t drink — and didn’t vote for Veco’s interests. So that’s the difference.
— Voice mail message in response to request for comment from John Henry Browne, Seattle lawyer for former state Rep. Vic Kohring, whose corruption trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 22.
“I think that there has been a willingness to not question very deeply or very carefully whatever that relationship might have been between Alaska’s dependency on the oil industry on the one hand and our politics on the other. This trial was very significant in that way because it will allow people to put a little distance between that politics which they probably have been a little uncomfortable with or they will be more uncomfortable with now. The earthquake was the election of Gov. Sarah Palin. This is an aftershock.”
— Steve Haycox, UAA history professor
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