OPINION: Will Sullivan vote for an alleged sex trafficker as attorney general?

Sen. Dan Sullivan seems to have fallen into lockstep with the partisan crowd in Washington, D.C., and I’m always prepared to be disappointed by him. But that wasn’t always the case.

Sullivan briefly served as Alaska’s attorney general and, in that role, he distinguished himself by pursuing an investigation into Bill Allen over allegations of child sex trafficking.

Bill Allen, you’ll remember, was the powerful oil services boss who pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers during Alaska’s earthshaking VECO scandal. Allen did serve a bit of time for bribery, but as a star witness against Sen. Ted Stevens, the federal government seemed willing to overlook a few flaws.

During the Stevens trial, allegations emerged that Allen had engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor and probably done a bit of child sex trafficking. Those charges were never pursued.

Afterward, Sen. Sullivan, perhaps a different man at the time, passed an amendment to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama. This important change allowed state prosecutors to build a case against Allen themselves.

A victim came forward who first met Allen as a 15-year-old prostitute in Spenard, but ultimately the case didn’t go anywhere and Allen never faced any consequences. Sullivan failed, but at least he tried, and he opened the door to pursuing others for similar crimes.

This all brings me back around to being prepared to be disappointed by Sen. Sullivan.

President-elect Donald Trump, a man with his own long history of sexual misconduct allegations, has named Matt Gaetz as his pick for U.S. attorney general.

Just like Allen, Gaetz has been investigated by the Justice Department for sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls. He was also being investigated by the House Ethics Committee over allegations including sexual misconduct when he abruptly resigned from the House of Representatives last week. The difference here is that Allen got away with it and Gaetz may be put in charge of the entire Justice Department.

Given his history, I don’t see how Sullivan could bring himself to roll over for Trump and confirm Gaetz as attorney general. But hey, I’m prepared to be disappointed.

Pat Race is a filmmaker, illustrator and a lifelong Alaskan.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.