Anchorage Daily News

Former state Senate President Ben Stevens unexpectedly called a local radio show Friday, talking publicly about the Alaska corruption investigation for the first time since the FBI searched his office more than a year ago.

On the radio, Stevens said he was calling because of a remark KFQD 750-AM host Dan Fagan had made about his father, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. Both father and son are under investigation by the FBI, and were implicated during the recent bribery trial of former House Speaker Pete Kott. Neither Stevens has been accused of a crime.

The younger Stevens struck a defiant tone.

He said he did nothing illegal and worked in the state's best interest as a senator. He said that he'll prove his innocence if he gets the chance, and that the current political climate is a "feeding frenzy" where accusations are considered fact.

When Fagan accused him of receiving kickbacks from the commercial fishing industry, Stevens said the host had it wrong. He said that ex-Veco chief Bill Allen, who testified that he bribed Stevens while he was in the Legislature, is "unpredictable" and "willing to do anything," and that his relationship with his father is in fine shape.

Here are excerpts:

FAGAN: How much money did you receive in consulting money from these fish processors in which you were a part of funneling money to?

STEVENS: I didn't receive anything ... I've got a 30-year relationship with the fishing business. I've been working for many entities, and for many companies and some of that overlapped, but it didn't have anything to do with what happened on that board.

Stevens was chairman of the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board, which awarded millions of dollars of federal money to fisheries companies. Stevens received consulting fees from some of those companies.

When Fagan called those fees kickbacks, Stevens said he was wrong. "I had relationships with those companies before I was ever a member of the board."

Stevens also received consulting fees from the oil field services company Veco, which is at the center of the corruption trials. Allen and and ex-Veco vice president Rick Smith have pleaded guilty to bribery, and implicated Stevens on the witness stand as the company's instrument in the state Senate.

At one point, Fagan started to ask Stevens about Allen, but Stevens cut him off.

"I'm not at liberty to talk about that," Stevens said. "It's under investigation. I'm under investigation by the Department of Justice, the FBI, the IRS, the National Marine Fisheries Service. I'm not talking about that."

FAGAN: (Allen) has turned people against the oil industry and you were part of that.

STEVENS: Look, he might have done something wrong. You know, obviously he admits he did. You know. But I maintain my innocence, big man. I was working for the state of Alaska. I was pushing the governor's bill.

FAGAN: So when Bill Allen says that he paid you ... You, you think he's doing that just to save ...

STEVENS: Bill Allen will do anything at this point.

Fagan then asked Stevens if he's worried about his father.

"My father's been in politics for 57 years. You know, he's been investigated numerous times," Stevens said. "This is a feeding frenzy. Anybody who says anything, this is, this is an environment where any accusation is ... is automatic guilt. And I think people just ought to sit back and let the judicial process work and hold their, their determination until everybody gets a fair trial."

FAGAN: Do you anticipate being indicted?

STEVENS: Me? I don't anticipate anything like that, big man. You know, you just live day to day.

FAGAN: Can you, can you flat out say today that you are innocent of all allegations and you've done nothing wrong, nothing illegal.

STEVENS: I didn't do anything wrong. And If I ever get the chance to prove it, I will. But I'm not saying anything.

FAGAN: Nothing illegal?

STEVENS: All I can tell you is I didn't do anything illegal.

He wouldn't comment when asked what he thought of Gov. Sarah Palin calling for him to resign from his post on the Republican National Committee, or Palin calling on his father to speak out about the corruption investigation.

"My father is a smart guy, Dan. He's been around a long time," Stevens said. "He's going to do what needs to be done. He's a former U.S. attorney. He knows what's going on inside those people's mind, because he used to do it.

"He's not going to do anything, uh, that they want him to do. And I'm not going to do anything that they want me to do."

FAGAN: How is your relationship with your father right now?

STEVENS: It's fine. I talk to him all the time. I got an e-mail from him this morning.

FAGAN: Tough time I'm sure though, for both of you.

STEVENS: These are tense times, big man. You get, get accused of what, you know, we've been accused of lately, any human being on the planet would be having a little bit of a tense time ...

Stevens said there's "no question" the feds are targeting him and his father. "You know, we're big fish in their minds. He's a big, big fish, big man. I'm just a little, you know, I'm a little guppy."

FAGAN: Do you think this is an ambition-driven prosecution to get your dad? That they're trying to get some gold stars out of it?

STEVENS: We all know ... we all know the innate characteristics of prosecutors. Let's just put it that way.

FAGAN: Meaning that they are ambitious?

STEVENS: They're, they're not from Alaska. You know, when's somebody going to take the question and say what, what are these guys, these prosecutors from out of the state coming up here and doing this? ... Why is it that information is leaked out of Washington, D.C,, and comes back to Alaska?

All told, Stevens stayed on the air about 15 minutes. He ended the call with a joke about a less serious trial making headlines: the custody case of a certain Mat-Su feline.

"You think that if, that if the jury had deliberated over Kott's deal the way they deliberated over Carl the cat, Kott would have got off?" Stevens asked.

Find Kyle Hopkins on the Alaska Politics blog at adn.com/alaskapolitics or call him at 257-4334.

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