Ruedrich’s shady moves aren’t those of a real Republican

“Those are my principles, if you don’t like them I have others”
Groucho Marx

On January 16, 2002 the Alaska legislature voted to override the veto of a bill that weakened campaign finance reforms. Shortly after the floor vote an email arrived in my inbox inferring that my failure to be a team player meant I wasn’t a real Republican. “Congratulate your Republican legislators for overriding the governor’s veto on an important fundraising bill. Every Republican voted for the override except Andrew Halcro who sided with the Democratic governor”.

Two years later the sender of that email finds himself accused of extensive ethics violations.

Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich faces allegations he illegally used state resources to conduct partisan politics while on state time. In an extensive sixteen-page complaint released by the attorney generals office, Reudrich is accused of running party politics from his $118,000 a year state position at the Alaska Oil & Gas Commission. Even more disturbing, he’s accused of disclosing confidential commission information to a political donor and industry lobbyist. These allegations are based on hundreds of supporting documents found on his state computer and subpoenaed cell phone records. In addition, fellow employees at the commission have also verified that Reudrich openly conducted party business on state time.  

In February of 2003 during Reudrich’s confirmation, Democrats questioned the governor’s appointment and warned of impending conflicts. A year later, Reudrich’s apparent ethics meltdown has cast Rep. Ethan Berkowitz as a soothsayer. Starting in July, senior Murkowski administration officials began ignoring repeated complaints that ethics laws were being broken. During one meeting, Reudrich was instructed to simply put his cell phone on mute during the business day.

Investigation documents show emails between Reudrich and Murkowski Chief Jim Clark discussing polling strategies and fundraising activities. In one email they discussed polling questions regarding Democratic politicians. In another they discuss “Alaska Contributors to the Bush-Cheney” campaign. Another email shows a senior Murkowski official asking for input to proposed campaign finance changes. The bill was approved by the governor and brazenly doubled campaign donations that special interests could give to political parties and candidates.

However the most alarming allegation surrounds the release of highly confidential information regarding the most contentious development proposal in recent years; coal bed methane.

On August 14, 2003 AOGCC Commissioners received a legal analysis from assistant attorney general Bob Mintz marked in boldface type “Privileged and Confidential Attorney Client Communication”. One week later, Reudrich forwarded the confidential analysis to a coal bed methane industry lobbyist soliciting his desired changes prior to an upcoming hearing. “I need your best efforts….as soon as possible,” he pleaded.  
 
Sadly, while many Mat-Su and Homer residents were fighting for their private property rights, the public official tasked with protecting those rights was secretly providing confidential information to an industry lobbyist while requesting policy advice. Reudrich’s response was he failed to notice the material was marked confidential. Curiously, he failed to explain why his email message solicited input from an industry lobbyist, when his quasi-judicial responsibility as a commissioner required him to create policy independently and objectively.  

The most intriguing violation came from phone conversations overheard by AOGCC staff during business hours. Reportedly, Reudrich was heard lecturing about “real Republicans” and those he felt were “Republican in name only”. However judging from personal history, I’m not sure if he’d recognize a real Republican if it showed up in his inbox.

According to party principles, real Republicans respect the law; respect personal property rights and endeavor for government based on honesty and integrity.

Ironically, if the alleged ethics violations are proven true, Randy Ruedrich- famous for defining real Republicans- will fail to meet the Republican Party’s own definition of a real Republican.

Follow up: Shortly after this column was published, Randy Ruedrich admitted getting caught violating three seperate ethics laws and was fined $12,000 by the Attorney General's office.