Sen. Mark Begich’s campaign released the most inflammatory ad of this campaign on Friday going into the holiday weekend. The ad features former Anchorage Police Department officer Bob Glen, who, among other things, blames GOP Senate candidate Dan Sullivan for the heinous 2013 rape of a 2-year-old and the murder of her elderly relatives.
According to the city’s human resources department, Glen was an officer with APD from 1989 to 2010.
Sullivan’s campaign shot back with an ad of its own, calling the Begich commercial “despicable.” In a press release, Sullivan says that Begich is “lying to Alaskans and using the murder of an elderly couple and the sexual assault of a two-year old for his own political gain,… Most Alaskans know that Mark Begich will do or say anything to win election, but this latest television ad proves it.” (Both of the ads are below, and because the case in question is still open, both the ads should make defense lawyers howl.)
Begich’s spokesperson, Max Croes, is sticking by the ad. “He is personally responsible for the actions of the Department of Law when he was Attorney General,” Croes said about Sullivan.
Sullivan was AG from. June 2009 to April December 2010. He then became the commissioner of the state’s Department of Natural Resources until he stepped down to run for office last fall.
Click here for a timeline of events according to the AG’s office. Here are the general facts: Jerry Andrew Active is accused of committing the crimes in May 2013, 12 hours after he was released from jail, where he was serving time for a parole violation. The crimes were committed nearly three years after Sullivan left the AG’s office. An error in the state database system, one that was maintained by the Department of Public Safety, which is separate from the Department of Law, was likely the reason for the light sentence Active received for a 2009 rape which pre-dated Sullivan’s time. The error also contributed to a subsequent “light” plea deal that Active made in 2010, while Sullivan was AG, and why he was released in 2013. Had the error been spotted, he would have been subject to a longer prison term.
According to a report done on the case by the current Attorney General Michael Geraghty, the database error took place on Jan. 30, 2009, when Sullivan was on duty with the U.S. Marine Corps.
Cori Milles, an assistant AG who also serves as a spokesperson for the Department of Law, said she couldn’t get into specifics because the case is still open and she didn’t want to risk sullying a potential jury pool. However, she said that during Sullivan’s time as AG, there were approximately 47,287 criminal cases handled by the Department of Law. About 12,155 of these cases were felonies.
“It is unreasonable to suggest that any attorney general reviews each pleading filed in court for the state; he or she relies on experienced prosecutors to file these documents,” Mills said.
The issue isn’t new. Lower-48 blogger Charles Johnson, a friend of Mead Treadwell’s who lost to Sullivan in the primary, wrote an error ridden story for Brietbart.com about the incident. Although Johnson continued to tweet about the case, Treadwell didn’t use it during his campaign.
Here are the ads:
http://youtu.be/6GmfxNXMNvw http://youtu.be/CBObfUh9ggcContact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Been dead for years.
And she has little, if any, common sense. Why does anyone pay attention to her?
I agree with Dani and Jon. Begich has no sense of decency to use a family’s unimaginable grief for his political gain. But, on top of that, he is making such loose connections because he isn’t telling the whole truth, that his ads are flagrantly dishonest. And, if that weren’t egregious enough, he had a dirty rapist cop on his payroll when he was mayor! Even if Begich’s accusations were true – and they aren’t — what is exponentially worse than accidentally letting a rapist go free too early is having and keeping a rapist on your payroll with benefits on the taxpayers’ dime. Where is the public outrage there? Oh, that’s right, liberals/democrats only feign righteous indignation when it futhers their agenda.
Begich is not only guileless, but, he is also not that smart. Dukasis lost the election for the Willie Horton ad and his political career ended. The same thing will happen to Begich. This is good for Sullivan. Begich’s true colors have emerged and the more desperate he becomes, the more he will rear his ugly head.
Absolutely! Finally, someone brought up the rapist cop on Begich’s watch. Begich has a closer and more direct link to a rapist, in the police dept no less, who sexually assaulted many women, than Sullivan has to the Active case errors, which, as Amanda clearly reported, happened BEFORE Sullivan’s time. Apples and oranges to Begich’s dirty hands.
I wonder what Ted Stevens is thinking now?
What’s most curious, Mae, is when you start to put this stuff in a timeline, certain events become much more clarified.
The timing of L48 Dan’s move from DNR to Law occurred around the same time former head of the State Troopers, Audie Holloway, resigned, ” heading for a warmer clime in the Lower 48, said his successor, Col. Keith Mallard.”
Well, that wasn’t quite true, he took a position in Iraq training Iraqi police forces, but that’s besides the point.
More importantly, what was happening in the Alaska National Guard around this time, you ask ?
“…….Chaplains Koch and McGovern said the administration of Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, who oversees the Alaska National Guard, was told of sexual assault problems as far back as fall 2010…..”
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/10/27/206531_alaska-national-guard-unit-being.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
“…….Soon after that Katkus and DeHaas had their council of colonels, where they told a room full of people that the information I gave the FBI was given to the State Troopers and Katkus’ friend at the Troopers (Holloway) gave it to Katkus. They further spoke that the field grade officer that gave the information to the FBI was not a team player and that he didn’t belong in the organization. And they expected loyalty from everyone else in the room……”
“…….AST and APD personnel told Katkus that a drug taskforce was about to arrest some R&R personnel and Katkus let the drug dealers know to get rid of the evidence…….”
“…….Coordinated with his friends at APD and AST that any sexual assault cases involving National Guard personnel would be turned over to him for investigation……….”
http://cryptome.org/2012/12/ng-alaska-blaylock.pdf
This is what they don’t want reported and are desperately trying to cover up.
If L48 Dan is the White Knight here, then why doesn’t he come out and say so ?
The corruption goes to the highest levels of law enforcement in this state, and it would be a serious stain on their reputation if the truth about these matters ever came out.
There is another skeleton lurking out there regarding a man who brutally beat and raped his girlfriend, who did his time in prison and was “reformed”, and then did an apparent “walk through” with the court system in order to get an early release from his probation. What’s even more interesting is the timing of his early release and the connection through his spouse to a young pregnant Alaska Army National Guard soldier who was found dead in her home, with no cause of death determined. The court system walk-through happened in December 2010 and the soldiers death in January of 2011.
http://www.mayors.charity.ball.org/events/2008/08committee.jpg
It’s just my gut feeling here that L48 Dan just might be the White Knight, Holloway too. Did he find the DoL such a mess that he needed to get some distance from it, you know, for his future political ambitions ? What was Holloway’s role in the reporting of sexual assaults within the Guard ? What did he know, when did he know it, and what did he do to curtail it ? Army and Marine culture are worlds apart, was Katkus trying to keep a lid on his festering cesspool of corruption, and was L48 Dan trying to get something done ? Those are the questions that I’d be asking, hard questions like that.
What did Rob Heun know, and when did he know it ? Why were these “investigations” steered to APD and not the State Troopers ?
Hello, Department of Justice ? Dat you ?
Why would the Begich campaign all of a sudden release this ad? They (and Put AK First) have run ad after ad after ad accusing Sullivan of not being from AK. Now they’re throwing the napalm, and they’re doing it for a reason.
This reeks of desperation.
And why won’t Mark answer the phone when reporters call? The Begich campaign is completely relying on their spokesman and the AK Democratic Party to defend this. I can’t imagine what Begich himself would say when asked about this. He has to know this was a bad idea, but he had no choice. That’s a very tough place to be.
Perhaps it is Anchorage Mayor Sullivan’s signature on the plea deal agreement?
Begich’ s Jerry Active ad is the biiggest lies thus far of the 2014 poliitical cycle. I think its time to open up Begich’s closet which has REAL AND FACTUAL SLEAZE. I’m waiting forr Begich to tell the public about zoning favors and their benefits. Mark is not an honest guy.
I said earler that Little man Mark would run ads showing Dan clubbing baby seals..or babies.
Wish I was wrong, but this last ‘ad’ is past disgusting. This just shows what kind of person the Dems are running. Gah! Words just fail me. I have to go take a bath now…..
I believe it is second runner up. Good question though.
Isn’t there something about pre primary withdrawal, then the party decides? Post primary, it is different? I don’t know. Good question. Gonna research tonight bout this.
One thing is fur sure: L48 Dan’s signature is on the plea deal agreement.
If Dan Sullivan withdraws from the race over this, does the Republican party get to choose his successor, or does the primary runner-up automatically get the nod?
L48 Dan signed the actual plea deal agreement.
Now that is disgusting.
Exactly. L48 Dan signed the actual plea deal agreement.
L48 Dan sighed the plea deal agreement.
L48 Dan signed the plea deal agreement.
Maybe Sen. Begich thinks that Alaskans will just accept his lies and the lies of President Obama. Remember when they both told us in reference to ObamaCare: “If you like your plan; You can keep your plan”. That statement was one Begich stood by and now we know it was a big fat lie. Just like his ad disparging and lying about Sullivan’s involvement in the Active case. Begich is nothing more than a continuous lying politician. I want better
The Republicans sure do have the vapors over this one. This is Alaska, and Mark Begich isn’t going to let a L48 Dan’s convoy of Outside clown cars ride roughshod over our state.
What L48 Dan let happen during during his short stint as AK AG is on him. He owns it. That scumbag wouldn’t have been on the street had Dan done the job we Alaskans paid him to do instead of using his position for politicking.
If folks think the Begich campaign hasn’t vetted the legalities of this ad, think again. Factually it is most likely accurate but I’d rather see a different tone set for this campaign, even if Sullivan’s beltway supporters are filling the airwaves with adds that are factually and morally-challenged.
Unfortunately Sullivan has a major problem defending his Departments decision.
Mark Begich appears to live in a terrible world of make-believe with a certain and sad desperation.
If he doesn’t see the errors of this, I feel and am sad for him. If he does, I deplore him. Either way, I can’t vote for him. I’m sorry Deb.
Lies, lies and more lies. The democrats are going deep into the sewers of desperation with this attack. I hope Mark Begich’s son doesn’t see this and think that such deceit is acceptable behavior. Begich and his team must not have a moral compass if they think such manipulation of the facts is acceptable.
I didn’t support either candidate that emerged on their respective party tickets; however, I’ll be voting for Sullivan. I learned long ago that Begich’s integrity was highly questionable. One more thing, when you see Mr Begich ask him how many times he was a best man for one of his political operatives that went on to be convicted and now have felon records. Yep, just ask him.
Begich should be ashamed. This is the most despicable ad that I’ve seen. Even the state’s attorney general says that the ad is not based in fact. Additionally, what the heck does this have to do with the senate race? Sounds to me like Begich knows he’s a dirt-bag and now is throwing mud, hand over fist, to soil Sullivan. Disgusting.
Maybe the debate should turn to what was going on while Begich was mayor – – about his police officers raping and sexually assaulting women. Now, that is both truthful and disgusting.
What of this?:
Dan Sullivan: “Look, I’m responsible for everything that happens in that organization. I had over 240 attorneys, prosecutors. Every letter that goes out from that organization- every single letter- has the signature block Daniel S. Sullivan, Attorney General. Everything; every prosecutor, every motion, everything. . . . I’m a big believer in you run an organization, you’re responsible for it.”
Thank you for the clarification!
Kind of makes it even worse.
…but he was a cop catching when Sullivan was releasing. Catch and Release Dan is responsible for this rapist/murderer being on the streets. And the cop has every right to be complaining that Sullivan put this scum on the street after the cop put him away.
Thanks to Randy Ruedrich and our ridiculous Alaska Republican Party we are saddled with this apparently incompetent candidate. If this is what Begich can release in August imagine the October surprise he has in store. Too bad Treadwell and Miller split the Alaskan vote.
Whether it be true or not? Take another sip of that kool-aid there…it seems to be working.
This shows what Mark Begich would do to anyone. This should serve as a warning to all Alaskans that they may be next. No one can be protected from this person. Fear him–you may be the next victim.
@Dani. The APD officer in the ad retired in 2010, three years before the crime.
Being a high school graduate has nothing to do with not being qualified. I do not plan on voting for Begich, but him not having a college degree is NOT on my radar of reasons why.
Our legal system (and now our political system) is “adversarial” going back to the days of Compurgation (innocence proven by victory in battle). The point is that you must take sides. I recognize the legal niceties and theory involved; however, Parnell defacto supported the father. Sometimes a wise leader will let the dogs sleep.
Hmm.
If those allegations that Begich is making are true, why didn’t he call for Sullivan’s head when this tragedy actually happened? He had all this time to do it.
The answer is simple: Begich is conveniently timing his outrage, and clearly is not beyond using what happened to an East Anchorage family of immigrants for political gain. These people obviously came to America for a better life, and have now found themselves in very unfortunate circumstances, and, on top of that, are being used like a tissue in flu season, for something as cheap as a second term in the U.S. Senate.
No first, second, or third-or-beyond term in the Senate is worth taking advantage of a family’s grief.
This isn’t even about Republicans vs. Democrats, or if Sullivan is better than Begich, or if Begich is better than Sullivan. This is about right vs. wrong.
How about this. If the *family* wants to extend their support to Begich, if *they* truly blame Sullivan for what occurred, let *them* be the ones to say it. Don’t be sneaky. I’m sure it sucked as a policeman to respond to that crime scene, but, dude—your tragedy is *nothing* compared to that family’s. Thank you for your service and I’m glad you were there to help, but at the end of the day, I’m more concerned about victims and helping their healing. (You are a professional, and have resources to help your own healing from aiding at that crime scene—while this family likely does not have what you do in terms of PTSD healing and options for therapy.)
Absolutely uncalled-for. Begich and those who made this ad did not “Choose Respect” for these poor souls.
Lynn,
Lynn,
the point is that the campain to end this awful epidemic is about more than marches. Should we have more law enforcement in rural Alaska? Should we spend more on victim services, education, etc? I think so. I’m not sure why Alaskans that care about this issue oppose the initiative.
The Parks case dealt with a very trickyissue of when should the state enforce tribal court orders. The father clearly was a monster. But the issue, or one of the issues in the case, was whether the state should give full faith and credit to a tribal court order when the court apparently deprived the father of due process – his lawyer was denied the right to speak at the hearing. The Parnell Administration wasn’t coming to the defense of a perp. The issue really centered on the scope and authority of tribal courts over non members.
Jon, don’t bother with Mae. She’s just a trolly haterbot.
Jon,
Look what it took for Sean Parnell to even feign interest in the complaint of serious sexual misconduct in his own National Guard. Then how about the 5-year old in Fairbanks who was placed in the custody of another family by a tribal court – a decision supported by both a State agency and the Fairbanks Police. When the child’s father demanded return of custody, the Parnell administration sided with father because Parnell “chose respect” not for the kid, but for some ethereal concept of law regarding native sovereignty.
You point how Parnell has increased funding for social welfare. Parnell has increased funding for everything. “Increased funding” is the mantra of Sean Parnell; however, soon he (or hopefully his replacement) is going to have to make the hard choice between funding for social welfare programs or more “pie in the sky” pipelines, damns, space ports, etc. With Parnell, “pie in the sky” trumps “choose respect” every time.
And Democrats were really mad at the Willy Horton ad.
The issue is whether a politician should be able to mislead the public about his opponent’s role in an awful tragedy. If this is fair game, then should Dan get a free pass if he were to run an ad blaming Begich for an Anchorage cop that raped and sexually assaulted women while Mark was mayor? http://www.adn.com/article/20110222/former-police-officer-rollins-guilty-sexual-assaults
Is this really the type of campaign we want to have?
I don’t think I can look at Dan Sullivan the same way again. No way to unsee that ad, whether it be true or not.
Wow, Republicans sure do get angry when a Democrat brings a gun to a gunfight.
Mae,
The Choose Respect campaign has increased funding for victim services, got more law enforcement in rural Alaska, increased funding for the troopers to deal with DV and Sexual Assualt, increased sentencing for sex offenders, and raised public awareness of an awful epidemic in Alaska. Why does this campaign make you want to puke?
Gee, no maybe L48 Dan will get off the Parnell Choose Respect campaign and quit walking behind banners that say so.
Cause ya know what? Perps don’t choose respect.
Do you get it now?
PERPS DONT CHOOSE RESPECT !! They choose victims.
That whole choose respect campaign is a political tool. Ment to prop up someone running for office.
L48 Dan IS responsible for the mistake.
L48 Dan spent his efforts as AG choosing cases that were politically favorable to his own butt. Not improving lives for Alaskans.
This deplorable crime occurred on Parnell’s and L48 Dan’s watch. Both had the tools and foresight to prevent this. But they were too busy pushing the Choose Respect campaign so they could look like they cared.
Which they don’t and never did.
Go ahead you all and list your disgust about how this crime is played out, (politically, legally and mistakenly) but at the end of the day, think about that Choose Respect campaign and its reason for existing.
Makes me wanna puke.
And go ahead and slam the Begich campaign for making this ad.
Meanwhile L48 Dan and Parnell are parading around with a Choose Respect banner acting like they give a rats ass to begin with. Disgusting.
This ad of Begich’s proves one thing for sure:
He is cunning, ambitious and unprincipled.
These characteristics combined is what’s wrong with Begich and explains why he put Alaska’s interests behind the interests of his Democratic Party, Harry Reid and President Obama. It’s why he uses a fishing license and a concealed hand gun permit as political props. All this, combined with this ad, clearly suggests its time for new leadership. It’s time to let Begich know that enough is enough and vote for Dan Sullivan.
Trey this is a pack of lies and you are dumber than a sack of hammers.
Begich, a high school graduate and general charlatan, is a US Senator because of a criminal conspiracy under color of law, against Ted Stevens. Begich is the ultimate opportunist and a right royal creep. The attack ad in question is disturbing, mendacious and beyond the pale. To say I am disgusted would be an understatement. This attack is shameless and despicable. Begich is a disgusting little putz.
I look at this election process and become even more convinced Lewis Black has the right idea for picking those who will serve in elected office. Black suggests we parachute a very friendly monkey from an airplane. Upon landing the first person the monkey touches wins the office.
Begich’s campaign is not one of a moral or upstanding individual. This isn’t leadership. It’s simply the persona of greed, power and consumptive behavior. This ad of Mr. Begich’s helped me make up me make up mind on how I should cast my ballot. I cannot and will not vote for anyone as morally vacuous that would run such a despicable negative ad. I will be voting for Dan Sullivan.
Oh my god. This is horrible on all accounts. I don’t know what to believe other than this is just awful. The whole thing. Awful. A two-year-old? What kind of man hurts a two-year-old? I think all dads are recoiling from this story. If it’s true, Sullivan is not someone I want determining laws about criminal sentencing and policies regarding their management. If it isn’t true, Begich owes Alaska and Dan a huge apology for using this poor kid as political fodder. I feel sick either way.
This is bad for Sullivan. I agree with Max’s comments. It is Sullivan’s responsobility.