By DAVID IGNELL
My previous article of Aug. 16 had two objectives. First, to help gain the attention of US Attorney Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel of the urgent need for federal intervention in draining Alaska’s massive swamp. Second, to further inform the court of public opinion of the truth behind the wrongful indictment of former Ketchikan Police Chief Jeff Walls.
David Ignell: With Trump gone, the arrival of Bondi and Patel is urgently needed in Alaska
The day after my column ran, Attorney General Treg Taylor wrote a column attacking me and defending his actions, claiming “The rule of law doesn’t work unless it applies to all of us.” Taylor’s article was riddled with misleading and inaccurate statements of fact and law.
On Aug. 20, Yvette DeBlois, the oldest sister of Thomas Jack, Jr., posted a comment to Taylor’s article defending me and stating her brother’s “investigation was a farse, the trials violated his civil rights, and you lied when you said he was tried by a jury of his peers.” DeBlois ended her comment by saying, “Justice is NOT EQUAL IN ALASKA!”
DeBlois, a Hoonah High School alumnus, graduated with honors from Temple University with a Masters in Social Work and lives in Virginia with her husband, who has worked for the FBI for 28 years and is currently a supervisory special agent. During her career, DeBlois worked with the Commission on Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking in Los Angeles County. She knows a thing or two about how the rule of law is supposed to work.
On Aug. 21, Walls’ wife Sharon wrote a column defending me and stating, “AG Taylor puts the truth in a chokehold.” Sharon called out Taylor’s hypocrisy, his gross misrepresentation of the facts, and his reckless abuse of the grand jury process. Sharon has a background in law enforcement and investigation of public corruption. Like DeBlois, she also knows a thing or two about how the rule of law is supposed to work.
Sharon, a mother of four children, was viciously attacked from behind at the Salmon Falls restaurant while dining with her husband. She sustained injuries.
Yet Taylor not only dropped charges against her assailant but threatened her with prosecution. As you’ll read further on in this column, Taylor also ignored evidence that she was being criminally stalked by an Alaska State Trooper.
AG Taylor, your column touched the nerves of the wrong women, each a victim of your version of equal justice.
My column today will continue with its dual objective of gaining the attention of Bondi and Patel while continuing to supply more evidence of Alaska’s systemic corruption to the Court of Public Opinion. Today’s column will tie in this evidence to the national emergency we face.
The intertwining of Southeast Alaska and President Trump’s Executive Order declaring a National Emergency
On Feb. 1, President Trump signed his Executive Order Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across our Northern Border. The order invoked the Power vested in the President under the National Emergencies Act, identifying drug trafficking organizations which smuggle illicit drugs into the US, “utilizing clandestine airstrips, maritime routes, and overland corridors.”
This order recognized “Canada’s heightened domestic production of fentanyl, largely from British Columbia, and its growing footprint with international narcotics distribution.” President Trump stated in this order, “I hereby declare and reiterate a national emergency under the NEA and IEEPA to deal with that threat.”
Alaska’s border with Canada is over 1,500 miles long. Most of that stretch is rural, remote, and rugged. In Southeast Alaska alone, more than 80 mountain peaks ranging from 5000 to 18,000 feet serve as boundary markers. Expansive, shifting icefields connect some of those peaks while dozens of salmon rich rivers drain the valleys below. During the winter, freezing Taku winds clocked at over 200 mph howl down the mountains from the glaciers in this region. Building a wall to separate Canada from Alaska is obviously not an option.
There are only three roads connecting British Columbia to Southeast Alaska. Two of them dead-end in the northern end of the region at Haines and Skagway. Both of those roads have border crossing stations maintained by US Customs and Border Protection.
The third dead-ends at the tiny border town of Hyder in the southern end of the region. Hyder is way off the beaten bath. Its population in the 2020 census was 48 people, down from 87 in 2010. The border crossing is not protected by US Customs.
The closest Alaska city to Hyder is Ketchikan, situated about 75 air miles away on Revillagigedo Island. Ketchikan, accessible only by boat or plane, is the first port of entry into Alaska from the Lower 48.
Significant evidence exists that Ketchikan doubles as a major gateway for fentanyl into the US from British Columbia. This is where Chief Walls’ municipal police force increased fentanyl seizures by over 500% in his first year on the job in 2022.
It only takes two milligrams of fentanyl to kill an American citizen. A single suitcase or box of cargo smuggled into Ketchikan from British Columbia containing 50 pounds of fentanyl can kill over ten million Americans. Those who aren’t killed by fentanyl become drug addicts and many of those soon become homeless.
The primary law enforcement agency covering the rural areas outside of Ketchikan city limits is the Alaska State Troopers. Ketchikan’s International Airport, the fifth busiest airport in Alaska, is located on nearby Gravina Island, and falls under the jurisdiction of the Troopers.
Like most Alaska towns and cities, Ketchikan has their own police department. However, Taylor’s Attorney General’s office prosecutes all felonies in the state, including those which arose during Chief Walls’ tenure.
To successfully deliver on President Trump’s Executive Order, Bondi and Patel will have to rely on Alaska State Troopers and prosecutors to honor their oaths and to follow the law. As this article will show, Bondi and Patel can’t do that.
The investigation into Walls’ wrongful indictment by a current law enforcement officer reveals the extent of the corruption and complicity that infests the Attorney General’s Office and the Alaska State Troopers.
Welcome to what I’ll term “Alaskagate.”
The report by retired AST Lieutenant Jeff Hall ignored by his former colleagues: A recap.
My second column about Chief Walls was published on July 23 and introduced the Court of Public Opinion to the evidence furnished by retired Lt. Jeff Hall of the Alaska State Troopers. Lt. Hall once served as the major crimes investigation sergeant for all of Southeast Alaska, based in Ketchikan, from 1992 to 1995.
Following Taylor’s first indictment against Walls, Hall investigated the Walls’ case. His resulting report was set forth in its entirety in my column. Hall concluded, “This case should never have been brought forward. Every person has a right to protect himself and others from aggression. Law enforcement officers have the right to use force in this manner to detain criminal suspects. The chief showed great restraint in dealing with a large, aggressive, intoxicated man, and was ill-served by the trooper and the prosecutor.”
Just as AG Taylor tried to discredit me, he also tried to discredit Hall. In his Aug. 17 article, Taylor called Hall “a paid expert” and asserted his analysis was not an independent one.
Once again, Taylor twisted the facts. Hall sent his report to the Alaska State Troopers nearly a week before Walls’ attorney filed it with the Ketchikan Superior Court. The Troopers did nothing.
As my second article describes, Hall’s report was dated August 31, 2023. That same day he emailed it to Major Anthony April, Deputy Director of the Alaska State Troopers. The next day, April forwarded the email with a “High Importance” tag to Captain Mike Zweifel, Commander of the “A” Detachment and Colonel Maurice Hughes, Director of the Alaska State Troopers.
On Sept. 5, 2023, Walls’ defense attorney sent Hall’s report to Taylor’s Office of Special Prosecution and filed a Notice of Expert Witness which clearly stated, “Lt. Hall is freely available for interview by OSP by appointment with the undersigned attorney.”
Any prosecutor interested in carrying out their oath to pursue the truth would have spoken with Hall. But none did.
Not to be forgotten is that fact that AST’s Hughes, April, and Zweifel were all aware of Hall’s findings and conclusions. Yet no other emails or evidence of related communications between their offices were ever produced by Taylor’s office to Walls’ attorney as required.
It’s incredulous that these three high ranking Troopers would completely ignore Hall’s assessment that the “investigation conducted by Trooper Larry Dur’an was a travesty – he ignored almost all basic investigation techniques.” Especially when the target of this highly questionable investigation was Walls, a decorated police chief and extremely successful in our nation’s war against fentanyl.
But Hall’s expert opinion wasn’t the only one in the possession of April, Zweifel and Hughes. They had in their possession another report that corroborated everything Hall said. This report was from a current law enforcement officer, and it was more detailed.
The corroborating report by a current law enforcement officer
My Aug. 16 article referenced but did not go into significant detail about a second report by another law enforcement officer. This article will provide that detail. The officer is still employed, so their identity will not be disclosed here.
This officer read the Trooper’s initial report and listened to the audio recordings from the scene and the first grand jury proceeding – something any of the prosecutors could have done. What follows are this officer’s findings verbatim (I have underscored portions and noted such by “emphasis added”):
- On Sept. 10, 2022, Jeff requested troopers to be contacted and respond to the assault that occurred to him and Sharon.
- Jeff told Trooper Duran what happened and relayed that the bartender would be able to tell Duran about both incidents. (emphasis added)
- Trooper Duran interviewed Jeff and immediately turned to talk to another witness, Jason Koss, Restaurant and Bar Manager. Koss tells the trooper his statement will be completely different from Jeff’s statement. (Police protocol is to interview witnesses independently) The trooper asks him if he overheard the conversation to which Koss replies, “No.” The trooper did not ask any additional questions as to why the statement would be different. This dialogue was changed in Trooper Duran’s written report. He simply wrote Koss overheard what was said with Jeff. Koss lied and did hear Jeff being interviewed by Trooper Duran.
- Koss states the male never attacked Jeff or Sharon and was not intoxicated. Multiple witnesses, including the bartender state the male was highly intoxicated. Five hours after the incident the male’s breath alcohol concentration was .07%, according to the jail intake report.
- Trooper Duran tells Koss he is going to interview the bartender. Koss said he would go talk with him. Koss leaves the interview. (Again, Trooper Duran fails to maintain a scene by allowing one witness to tamper with another; this is considered failure to obtain potential exculpatory statements.)
- Trooper Duran refused to interview witnesses Sadie Manabat and victim, Sharon Walls, and said they are bias because they are married to Ketchikan Police Department officers.
- Typical police protocol for working an active crime scene are to identify the suspect and detain. (In this case, the male was arrested, un-arrested and re-arrested.) Identify all victims and provide emergency care if needed or requested. Preserve all evidence, identify witnesses, separate and obtain independent statements. This is basic crime scene information taught at the Department of Public Safety Police Academy run by the Alaska State Troopers in Sitka.
- Trooper Duran did not attempt to separate witnesses, nor identify all potential witnesses. Trooper Duran did not enter the crime scene for nearly one hour of being on scene at which time he interviewed the bartender. During this time, Koss stated blood was everywhere but already cleaned it up. Witness and video evidence disprove this statement.
- Sharon took video of the scene and noted a small amount of blood on the floor.
- The bartender stated Jeff and Sharon are not intoxicated and the male attacked them twice. The bartender said he heard and felt the attack but did not see it all. Trooper Duran told the witness who was the Bartender that he did not see anything and ended the interview. It is clear that Trooper Duran is not interested in obtaining statements from witnesses who support Jeff Walls.
- Trooper Duran did not interview anyone else inside the restaurant despite it being full with customers and potential witnesses. Trooper Duran had another Trooper on scene to assist but did not use him to help investigate.
- Jeff asked the trooper to have a supervisor respond. No supervisor responded. Jeff spoke with Trooper Lieutenant Nick Zito on the phone and asked for a supervisor because the Trooper Duran was not interviewing witnesses. Lt. Zito said he had been drinking alcohol and could not respond and the sergeant was unavailable.
- Trooper Duran arrested the male the second time and told him what happened to him was wrong. He said Jeff put him in a chokehold and asked if he wanted to press charges. (This is a leading statement and is not accepted police interview protocol.) The male said repeatedly he was never in a chokehold and did not want to pursue charges. Durn told him there would be no camera footage of what happened at the bar. Duran told him he was in a chokehold but that he just could not remember it.
- Jeff took photos of Sharon’s injuries the night they went home. He took additional photos one week after the assault. The photos were shared with Trooper Duran. Trooper Duran testifies at grand jury that he did not know when or where the photos were taken and that Jeff sent some that week and another a month later. All photos have digital date and time stamps.
- Trooper Duran called Jeff about one month after the incident. He repeatedly asked Jeff if he put the male in a chokehold. Jeff denies it each time. He asked about the photos of Sharon and said he has not looked at them yet. Trooper Duran did not give any of that context to the grand jury insinuating the photos were suspect.
- Trooper Duran returned to Salmon Falls the following day to retrieve video surveillance. He did not review the cameras and Koss provided a 2-minute video from the front door view that shows Jeff being pulled back. In grand jury, a juror asked Koss which person he is in the video. Koss was a telephonic witness and could not see the video. He asked which video they were referring to and that there were different videos and angles. The state only provided the one (1) 2-minute video.
- On Sept. 15, 2022, Officer Manabat spoke with Deputy Chief Mattson, stating Trooper Duran contacted him via the phone. Duran asked Manabat if he wanted to change his statement because it did not match what Koss said. Manabat refused and said he provided the truth. Trooper Duran told him if he did not change his statement, he could be charged with a crime. This action is Tampering with a Witness in the 1st Degree, a class C Felony. Chief Walls was notified of this phone call. He called Lt. Zito requesting a meeting to report Duran’s behavior. Lt. Zito did not respond and no action was taken with this complaint on Trooper Duran.
- Trooper Duran did not produce the audio recording of the phone interview with Kevin. Months later, May 22, 2023, he wrote a report about this conversation and that he allegedly did not record this interview. (Failure to retain and discover exculpatory evidence).
- Trooper Duran testified in grand jury contrary to what was spoken and recorded on scene and what was written in his reports.
- On Sept. 15, 2022, Lt. Zito approached Kayla Howe, who was at Salmon Falls customer at the time of the incident. Lt. Zito asks her about the incident. He told her he was a lover and not a fighter, and would not have responded to this incident like Jeff. Howe also knows Koss and spoke with him about this incident. Howe contacted Duran at the direction of Zito for a recorded interview. Howe said the male was visibly intoxicated the date of the incident. She did not see him hit Jeff and Sharon. She saw the end. She saw Jeff push the male down. Duran interrupted her statement and asked her about the chokeholds, trying to lead another witness. She said the male charged Jeff but did not see the male get slammed into a wall or see blood everywhere. Duran asked her about chokeholds, she said Koss had Jeff in a chokehold. She said the whole thing lasted about two minutes to break everything up and that the drunk male was still fighting. Duran changed her statement in his trooper t to say that she claimed it took two minutes to pull Jeff off the male. He altered her statement for the report and the probable cause statement.
- On Feb. 7, 2023, Duran called Howe and asked her if she had been influenced to give a statement to which she said, “no.” She did say she was there with a group of people and she was very intoxicated and did not feel as though she was a good witness. She said there was another female in her group that was under 21 and not drinking but did think she saw anything based on where she was seated. She gave the female’s name but Duran did not ask for any other names for potential witnesses from the group that Howe was with that night.
The law enforcement officer concluded the State’s investigation was both illegal and unethical, citing 1) the amount of misleading questions to witnesses, 2) the lack of identifying other witnesses on scene, 3) the failure to secure critical exculpatory evidence, 4) changing words and statements to make the probable cause statement fit criminal charges, and 5) intentionally writing the narrative in the police report in contradiction to what was said.
Yet Taylor’s band ignored this critical evidence, continued to prosecute Walls, and played on with their off-tune and off-beat syncopation.
Criminal stalking? Taylor lets that slide too
The actions of Trooper Duran as described in the findings of the law enforcement officer are certainly disturbing. But the actions of Taylor’s office in covering up those findings and misleading dozens of grand jurors are even more reprehensible. And the story gets even worse.
On Dec. 14, 2023, Sharon exchanged emails with former Commissioner of Public Safety Dick Burton regarding incidents where she claimed Duran harassed her. The subject matter of the emails was “criminal stalking.” In responding to Burton’s questioning, Sharon said on the advice of attorneys she had begun keeping a log and photos and after a particular disturbing encounter had ordered a dash cam.
The attorneys had further advised Sharon that if she “filed a complaint there was likely to be retaliation and that of course it would be my word against his and unless he did some more drastic there was not much to be done.”
Sharon’s continued her response to Burton, “I did contact a friend from the FBI who was the ASAC in New Orleans just to ask what I could do. He thought that maybe the trooper’s unit would have data verifying the dates and times and hopefully there would be a log of why he was in the same proximity as me at those times. He said that he knew the ASAC out of Anchorage and was not very complimentary of him.”
ASAC is an acronym for Assistant Special Agent in Charge. Consider for a moment the implications of this. Sharon, the wife of the Ketchikan Police Chief, believes she is being criminally harassed by a State Trooper yet essentially has no effective recourse. If she files a complaint with the State, she is warned there is likely to be retaliation. If she goes to the FBI, she is also warned that could be a mistake too.
On the evening of Dec. 14, Burton forwarded his email exchange with Sharon to AST Deputy Director Tony April. The next morning at 9:08 am, Dec. 15, April responded to Burton with the names and addresses of Zweifel (“A” Commander), Lt. Michael Henry (“A” Deputy Commander), Lt. Jack LeBlanc (Ketchikan Lieutenant), and Sgt. James Halbert (Ketchikan Post Supervisor).
An hour and a half later, Commissioner Burton forwarded Sharon’s emails to LeBlanc who in turn forwarded them to Zweifel and Henry.
On Jan. 8, 2024, April forwarded some of Burton’s earlier emails to Robert Henderson in Taylor’s office. I won’t get into more detail regarding the content of those emails, but they involved the FBI’s investigation of the Alaska State Troopers.
Despite the evidence of criminal stalking, an FBI investigation into the Troopers, and former Commissioner Burton’s concerns, Taylor’s band continued to play on. In gaining their second and third indictments against Walls, they withheld all of this evidence from the grand jurors as well.
The arrogance of Alaska’s Deep State
Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel, the silence of the Alaska State Troopers on the credible evidence of criminal stalking directed towards Sharon; their silence on the manipulation of evidence against a local police chief who was successful in the war against fentanyl being railroaded out of Alaska by the Attorney General; the silence of the Attorney General in responding to complaints of criminal stalking by the chief’s wife; and the severe manipulation of fact and law by multiple prosecutors under Taylor, begs a couple of questions:
First, if the Attorney General’s Office and the Alaska State Troopers can do this to a decorated police chief and his wife, how many other Alaskan citizens are victims of their actions? The facts in cases such as Thomas Jack, Jr. and AK Mom suggest the number of victims is in the hundreds if not thousands.
Victim Yvette DeBlois believes these State agencies terrorize innocent families simply because they can.
DeBlois’ comment to Taylor’s article reminds me of something Patel told Sean Hannity towards the close of his interview on the historic day that Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met: “Years of excavating documents, that these Deep State actors held and buried and documented their own corruption because they were arrogant enough to think no one would ever find it. That Donald Trump would never become president and appoint a cabinet that would go in and investigate this matter thoroughly.”
The arrogance Patel spoke of is deeply seeded in Alaska
Second, who is in control of Alaska and its critical natural resources? Who is in control of a region which is likely a major gateway for fentanyl entering the United States?
Is Taylor under the control of someone besides Gov. Dunleavy? Is the great State of Alaska already subject to a heavy dose of foreign influence?
Could this frightening control of Alaska be one of the objectives of the masterminds behind “Russiagate” and their effort to keep President Trump out of power?
The close nexus between “Russiagate” and “Alaskagate”
I believe the Walls’ case just scrapes the surface of Alaskagate.
One of the executive orders signed by President Trump on his first day in office is titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.” The order is designed to help facilitate resource development on both state and federal lands. It prioritizes the development of Alaska’s LNG potential, emphasizing that its associated economic and national security benefits must be given due consideration.
Much of these natural resources are located in rural areas where the Alaska State Troopers are the primary law enforcement agency. Physical protection of these development assets, law enforcement over the companies and their workers who build and operate the infrastructure, and protection of the constitutional rights of the rural residents who live near these areas, will primarily rest with the Alaska State Troopers.
The Alaska Attorney General’s office will handle any criminal prosecutions associated with the actions of the Troopers in these area. On the civil side, the Alaska Attorney General’s office will oversee much of the legal and financial aspects of these development projects. If one of our nation’s enemies has influence over their office, the results could be disastrous not only for Alaska, but for our nation.
The end of my July 16 column cited Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore, who stated the following in announcing Taylor’s settlement with Walls. It bears repeating:
“Neither Ketchikan, nor any other community in Alaska, nor any community in the rest of the country will be at risk that Mr. Walls’ poor judgement will impact them while wearing the uniform of a law enforcement officer.”
The Walls’ case demonstrates that Bondi and Patel can’t trust the Alaska Attorney General’s Office or the Alaska State Troopers to help carry out President Trump’s orders. The corruption and/or complicity of State officials involved in the wrongful indictment of Chief Walls extends to the highest levels of those two agencies.
The announced resignation of Taylor, effective on Aug. 29, likely won’t change anything. The Walls case shows that under a best-case scenario, several other prosecutors within Taylor’s office have not been loyal to their oaths. Under a worst-case scenario, they may be associated with a criminal enterprise.
Russiagate concerns the “who.” Who was behind the effort to keep President Trump out of office?
Alaskagate concerns the “why.” Why the masterminds behind Russiagate wanted to keep President Trump out of office. At least two critical Executive Orders hang in the balance.
Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel, fortunately you can turn to many trustworthy Alaskans to help you in the war to save our nation. Chief Walls and Sharon, retired Lt. Hall, the current law enforcement agent, DeBlois, AK Mom, the Tribal Council of the Hoonah Indian Association, Bob Barton, and Thomas Jack Jr., are among many Alaskans who wouldn’t submit to the Deep State. They’re the ones you can trust most.
David Ignell was born and raised in Juneau where he currently resides. He formerly practiced law in California state and federal courts and was a volunteer analyst for the California Innocence Project. He is currently a forensic journalist and recently wrote a book on the Alaska Grand Jury.
David Ignell: How Attorney General Treg Taylor ran a decorated police chief out of Ketchikan
David Ignell: How the Alaska attorney general tried to destroy a cop who fought fentanyl, Part II
David Ignell: Media double standard of ‘due process’ for Kilmar Abrego-Garcia and Thomas Jack Jr.
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