Dunleavy administration backs down on threat to withhold Permanent Fund testimony in Rodell case

The attorney general’s office and most of the Permanent Fund trustees have backed away from the threat to withhold testimony from legislators trying to uncover the truth about the firing of former CEO Angela Rodell.

In an antagonistic March 1 letter, the Dunleavy administration had its lawyers tell members of the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee that looking into her abrupt termination was beyond the “statutory and constitutional authority” of the Legislature.

The lawyers complained about micromanaging the corporation, “idle threats of employment termination,” attacked Anchorage Sen. Natasha von Imhof for an alleged conflict of interest, warned of future lawsuits and said the committee had not followed proper rules in going into executive session. This excessive legal posturing did nothing to reassure the public about the independence of the fund, which is important to Alaska.

But now the trustees, including two who work for Gov. Mike Dunleavy—Lucinda Mahoney and Corri Feige—have thought better of telling legislators that the Rodell firing was none of their business.

They have not apologized for the insulting and dismissive tone of the March 1 letter or even acknowledged their mistake. They haven’t admitted that the legislative history of the Permanent Fund corporation put a real focus on legislative oversight, a function that has been absent for too long.

But five of the six trustees, with the notable exception of Chairman Craig Richards, have now agreed to sit for depositions with investigators hired by legislators. Richards, a political ally of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, has hired Robin Brena as own attorney to deal with this matter.

The decision by Richards to have his own attorney may indicate that he disagrees with the other five trustees and wants to continue to refuse to cooperate.

The five trustees said that the legislative investigators would have to directly deal with Brena, the attorney for Richards.

Richards told the Anchorage Daily News that his position does not differ from that of the other trustees, but treat that claim with skepticism.

“I am fully aligned with the other members of the board of trustees,” he told the Daily News “and look forward to resolving this issue. The only unique circumstance for me at this point is that I’ve already testified. So I’ve requested clarification as to what the scope of further testimony would be.”

Yes, he already testified and refused to answer the key question about his communication with the governor and the governor’s office in the weeks and months before Rodell’s termination.

If he is “fully aligned” with the other trustees and believes that he has already said what he intends to say, then the board has no intention of cooperating with legislators.

When Richards testified in January he claimed the committee had no business in investigating Rodell’s firing. He never answered the key question about his dealings with Dunleavy and the governor’s office before Rodell’s firing.

“I am truly shocked that I am here,” he testified at the time.

“This is, this is a new one to me, Ok. We have a at-will employee who reports to the board, who years of documented evidence demonstrates that there were trust problems going both ways between the board and the executive director,” Richards said.

“This is the employee that reports to the board. This has been going on for years. The board decided to make a change. I think it’s pretty apparent that we had the authority to do it. I think it’s pretty apparent that like many, many people that work in state government at the top levels, that you know, it’s an at-will relationship and when it’s not working, it’s not working.”

“To me, what it seems is frankly, Ms. Rodell is popular. And she’s making a lot of hay and that is getting a response and a feedback.”

“What is best for the fund is to move on,” Richards said.

What is best for the fund and Alaska is to have the trustees reveal the degree to which the pressure to remove Rodell came from Dunleavy’s office.

Depositions are the proper way to go about the questioning as opposed to a public hearing because the habits of decorum used by legislators make it almost impossible to pin people down.

Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.