Determined Alaskans are set to rally outside Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Anchorage offices on June 5 in hopes of inspiring him to appoint an independent commission that can publicly investigate alleged corruption and cover-ups by members of the Alaska Dept. of Law and the judicial branch.

Organized by the Alaska Grand Jurors Association, which has worked for years to expose alleged government corruption, the upcoming rally is part of an ongoing attempt to empower citizen grand juries to freely and independently exercise their constitutional right to investigate illegal actions by judges and government officials without interference.

Specifically, the rally will call on Dunleavy to convene – and attend – a meeting with concerned borough mayors, citizen advocates and members of his own justice department. Dunleavy chose not to attend a meeting earlier this year, which included many of the same players.

“It appears that our current mail/email requests to the Governor may not be getting to him, possibly at the request of individuals, like Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore, who are directly implicated in the corruption and cover-up we are asking to be investigated,” rally organizer David Haeg stated in a recent notice to supporters. “But it would be hard to hide a bunch of folks who show up in the Governor’s office!”

The planned rally comes on the heels of a February gathering which included citizen advocates meeting with high ranking officials in Alaska’s Department of Law. The meeting included Alaska Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills and Chief Assistant Attorney General Anne Helzer, who works directly under Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor in the Criminal Division.

They met with Haeg, leader of the grassroots Alaska Grand Jury Rights, who alleges that corrupt judges and government officials have been working in concert for many years to undercut the constitutional authority of citizen grand juries to freely and independently investigate powerful public officials and judges.

Listening via livestream during the February meeting were Kenai Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and Mat-Su Borough Mayor Edna DeVries, along with Jill Schaefer from Gov. Dunleavy’s Anchorage office.

Haeg and his fellow advocates, who requested the February meeting, aired a litany of alleged instances of corruption committed by the Alaska Supreme Court, the Alaska Judicial Council and members working in the Dept. of Law to undermine the power of grand juries to investigate these very same groups and individuals.

Without this action, the Department of Law will never regain the public’s confidence, Haeg said.

In particular, Haeg highlighted the fact that, in 2022, a Kenai grand jury was in the process of investigating alleged corruption in the judicial branch and Department of Law, when the Alaska Supreme Court intervened with a new rule for grand juries that effectively stifled their ability to launch independent investigations without being managed and controlled by the very branches of government they were intent on investigating.

The rule in question was Supreme Court Order 1993. Since statehood, rank-and-file Alaskan citizens have had the absolute right to approach grand juries themselves to request investigations. SCO-1993 erased that right, forcing citizens to now go through the Attorney General’s office.

In order to mitigate the impact of this ruling, and restore the power of citizen grand juries to investigate corrupt government officials, Haeg and his allies want Gov. Dunleavy to establish an independent citizen-led commission that can subpoena witnesses under oath, freely report their findings to the public and recommend prosecution – all freedoms that Alaska grand juries once enjoyed.

Without this action, the Department of Law will never regain the public’s confidence, Haeg said at the time. This is especially so, given that the Supreme Court’s new rules grant the Department of Law the veto authority to accept or reject requests to investigate corruption, even within their own ranks.

Attorney Mills told Haeg that the Dept. of Law never wanted the Supreme Court to empower them to decide which cases a grand jury can and cannot investigate.

At one point in the meeting, Haeg expressed frustration that the Dunleavy administration didn’t seem interested in attempting to launch and empower an independent commission.

“It seems to us like you’ll never meet about an independent commission to investigate corruption in public. Is that true?” he asked.

Mills said it wasn’t her call.

“I take my orders. You know, I take my direction, so what I can tell you is I will take this back, and I will talk about it, and bring that request up,” she responded. “I cannot make that decision. That is not within my authority to make.”

“Okay, who’s authority is it in?” Haeg replied.

“Well, again, we work with the attorney general and the governor’s office on what we should do,” Mills said.

TAKING ACTION

— The June 5 rally is set to run 2-5 p.m., outside the Governor’s Office in Anchorage (550 W. 7^th Ave.)

— Click here to watch a video of the Feb. 12 meeting.

— Click here to contact Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

— Click here to contact the Attorney General’s office.

— Click here to read a brief on why Alaska needs Gov. Dunleavy to appoint an independent commission to investigate government corruption.

— Click here to read a timeline detailing specific instances of alleged corruption within the Alaska judicial branch.

— Click here to read a copy of the original Alaska Grand Jury Handbook, which describes its constitutional authority to conduct independent investigations.

— For more information about the Alaska Grand Jurors Association, click here, call or text (907) 398-6403 or email info@alaskagrandjurorsassociation.org.

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