Anchorage's city attorney has asked for copies of e-mails sent to and from former Mayor Mark Begich's private e-mail accounts during his last months in office as part of an investigation into whether important financial information was withheld from the Assembly last year.
Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler also wants to interview Begich, now one of Alaska's U.S. senators, in person or by telephone. But Begich wants to conduct that discussion in writing.
In a letter sent to Wheeler on Wednesday, Begich says he has provided all the information relevant to the city attorney's inquiry and that in any case he doesn't have access to his private e-mails for the period Wheeler cites -- Aug. 31, 2008, to Jan. 1, 2009. Begich resigned as mayor on Jan. 3 to become senator.
Begich goes on to say, however, that any e-mails from city officials that were sent to his private e-mail account would have been archived on the city's computer servers.
"Any emails that may have been sent by others to my home email account, which only rarely occurred, would have been archived on the Municipality's email system because they were sent to me from individuals using their Municipal e-mail accounts and also were sent to my office e-mail address," Begich said in a written response sent to Wheeler on Wednesday.
"I did not make a habit of sending emails concerning Municipal business from my home email account."
"If you have any additional questions, please put them in writing and I will be pleased to review them," the senator says in the Oct. 21 letter to the city attorney.
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