Alaska Native lawmaker faces complaint for remarks

Alaska Sen. Albert Kookesh (D) could face an ethics complain over remarks he made to the city council in Craig, The Anchorage Daily News reports.

Kookesh asked the council not to oppose a bill in Congress to transfer land to Sealaska Corp., an Alaska Native regional corporation. He suggested that the city's stance could affect its requests for money in the state Legislature.

"There are times you are going to need my help and [another lawmaker's\ help," Kookesh said, according to audio obtained by the paper. "And this is a time we need yours."

Some city council members took the remarks as a threat. "I have real problems with it. I think there are some really serious ethics problems with it," Jim See told the paper.

Kookesh is a shareholder of the Alaska Native regional corporation and serves as chairman of the board of directors.

The bill is S.881 and H.R.2099.

Get the Story:
Legislator's comments called unethical (The Anchorage Daily News 1/25)

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