IN THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA FOURTH JUDICIAw DISTRICT AT FAIRBANKS ALASKA DISPATCH, LLC, FAIRBl'.NKS DAILY NE\~S-MINER, ANCHORAGE DAILY NEviS and ASSOCIATED PRESS And Alaska Dispatch, LLC, Plaint.iffs, v. FAIRBANKS NORTH STAR BOROUGH, CASE NO. 4FA-IO-2886 CI Defendant. (consolidated with 4FA-IO-2990) v. JOSEPH MILLER, Intervenor Defendant, Cross-C:aimant and Third Party Plaintiff v. JIM WHITAKER, Third-Party Defendant.) ~~~~~~~~-) AFFIDAVIT OF MATTHEW JOHNSON I, Matthew Johnson, being duly sworn upon oath, deposes and states as follows: 1. I am a consultant for Citizens ~or Joe Miller, the Federal Election Commission-registered ncipal campaign AFFIDAVIT OF MATTHEW JOHNSON Fairbanks Daily News Miner et. al. vs. Fairbanks North Star Borough, et. ai.; Case No.: 4FA-10-2886 CI Page 1 of 6 committee of U.S. Senatorial candidate Joseph W. Miller and its preceding entity, Joe Miller for U.S. Senate, have \-IOrked as its research director, have personal cognizance of the matters set forth herein, and hereby verify that the same are tele and correct to the best of my information and bel f. The exhibits attached hereto are true and correct copies of print-outs, Internet search results, and other documents I have cited and relied on herein. 2. Alice Rogoff is majority o"mer of Alaska Dispatch, LLC ("Alaska Dispatch"). See Exhibit A. 3. Alice Rogoff personally donated $6200 to Lisa Murkowski's campaigns for US Senate, $4700 for the 2010 election cycle. The latest was in 2009 before she purchased Alaska Dispatch. See Exhibit B. 4 . Alice Rogoff ("Rogoff") is marri to David Rubenstein ("Rubenstein",. Note also that they were once both high-ranking federal officials: Rubenstein an adviser to President Carter's Wh House, and Rogoff a high-level official in the same admir.istration in the Office of Management and Budget. See Exhibit C. 5. Rubenstein is said by forbes magazine to be among the AFFIDAVIT OF MATTHEW JOf'NSON Fairbanks Daily News Miner et. al. vs. "'airbanks North Star Borough, et. al.; Case No.: 4FA-IO-2886 CI Page 2 of 6 150 richest persons in The United States, w h a personal net worth of $3 Billion. In addition, The Carlyle Group of which Ruebenstein is a founding partner, principle and managing director, has $156 Billion in assets. See Exhibits DJ E, and F. 6. Rubenstein's Wikipedia entry states that his wife Rogoff was the founder of both The Alaska House NY, and the Alaska Native Arts Foundation. See Exhibit E, at "personal" section. 7. Alaska House NY, a putative philanthropic organization for Alaska Nat , was reported in the Anchorage Daily News on July 15, 2010, to have been publicly funded, and closed down because Rogoff was denied a $600,000 funding request by the Alaska ~egislature. See Exhibit G. 8. Ms. Rogoff still s s on the Board of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation. See Exhibit H. 9. The Juneau Empire reported on September 10, 2010, that the Alaska Native Arts Foundation to be a publicly funded organization, receiving both state and federal revenue. See Exhibit 1. 10. Rubenstein's Carlyle Group empire was largely built by leveraging influence and "insider" government knowledge to AFFIDAVIT OF MATTHEW JOHNSON Fairbanks Daily News Miner et. al. VS. Fairbanks North Star Borough, et. al.; Case No.: 4FA-I0-2886 CI Page 3 of 6 buy up struggling corporations and reward them with federal contracts. The Carlyle Group has also capitalized, not exclusively but significantly, on special tax offsets obtained in cooperation with Alaska Native Corporations. See Exhibits J, K, L (at 4), M. 11. Alaska Dispatch has engaged in disproportionate coverage of Senate candidate Joe Miller, almost exclusively with a negative slant, versus generally positive and much less coverage of Lisa Murkows~i, Mr. Miller's 2010 opponent during the time this case was initiated. A search on the Alaska Dispatch website for Joe Miller returns 40 pages, while an identical search using sitting senior Senator Lisa Murkowski's name only results in 24 pages. Notably, Alaska Dispatch has apparently scrubbed their coverage of the 2010 US Senate race so that it can no longer be accessed by doing a search on their website. See exhibits N, 0, and P. 12. During the 2010 US Senate race, there were numerous instances of Alaska Dispatch engaging in what essentially were political attacks on Joe Miller, while all but ignoring very similar (or more egregious) situations with respect to the other candidates, and specifically Lisa Murkowski. <or example, AFFIDAVIT OF MATTHE"I JOENSON Fairbanks Daily News Miner et. al. vs. Fairbanks North Star Borough, et. al.; Case NO.: 4FA-IO-2886 CI Page 4 of 6 Mr. Craig Medred, a writer for Alaska Dispatch, had been tipped off that Senator Murkowski's top fisheries adviser was under federal criminal investigation no later than October 22, 2010. But it was never reported by Alaska Dispatch until months after the election. I also include another email exchange in which the Alaska Dispatch Reporter admits that Joe Miller is one of the most honest policicians in the state, yet Alaska Dispatch repeatedly ran headlines highlighting (lies, lying, etc.) one isolated incident during his tenure at the cNSB. See, e.g., Exhibics Q through X. 13. Alaska Dispatch, while a party to this litigation, wrote (or re-posted) biased articles that dealt with this case and reporced information they were privy to because of their involvement in the case. Notably, there was little effort made to disclose the conflict of interest Alaska Dispatch ters had in reporting on the story in the first place, a violation of journalistic ethics. See Exhibits Y through BB. It is my belief that Alaska Dispatch and its majority owner repeatedly acted out of a conflict of interest with respect to Senate candidate Joseph Miller, a candidate that openly ran on a platform of cucting superfluous federal AFFIDAVIT OF MATTH~W JOHNSON Fairbanks Daily News Miner et. al. vs. Fairbanks North Star Borough, et. al.; Case No.: 4FA-10-2886 CI Page 5 of 6 JUL-15-2013 HON 10:02 AM FNBA EAGLE RIVER FAX NO, 1 907 6947306 P. 06 spending, eliminating earmarks, ending federal no-bid contracts, and putting a stop to corrupt crony capitalist USES of government posed an imminent danger to the personal fortunes and interests (as well as future potential profits) of Rogoff and Rubenstein. FURTHER YOUR AF~ANT SAYETH NAUGHT. DATED this I G day of July 2013. ~~ MatheWJOhMk son ~ to before me this IS:- day Of Jul y My Commission The foregoing was on thie John McKay, Es Jud<,;!e Joannidea 117 E. Cook A ATTN, Ellen 90%%ini Anchorage, Ala ka 99501 82S W. 4th Avenue, RM 616 Anchorage, ~ 99501 AFFIDAVIT OF MATTHEW JOHNSON Fairbanka Daily News Miner at. al. VB. Fairbanks North star Borough, at. al.1 Case No., 4FA-IO-2SS6 CI Page 6 of 7 About Us I Alaska Dispatch Page 1 of 6 MostR••d Register I Sign In SECTIONS About Us From political corruption to climate change to rural Alaska to the rise ofSarah Palin, Alaska media has struggled to Alaska Dispatch in the news cover stories of importance not only to Alaskans but to the rest of the nation. Alaska Dispatch, Alaska's online-only American Journalism Re.iew news site, is devoted to fiDing this journalism void. Whether Dispatchesfrom tTle Last Frontier reporting on powerful oil companies or on residents who Columbia Journalism Review live far from the urban centers where decisions are made, Enterprise "eporting frol11 Alaska Dispatch's goal is to take an unflinching look at the the Lost }:)'ontier state, from its massive riches to its abject poverty, and tell these stories to Alaskans and to the world. Poynter Institute ,4['5 J.1ol'nim; ~~1(!eting We have been honored by the accolades our reporters, editors and columnists have received, including more than Juneau Empire hI'o dozen Alaska Press Club Awards injnst two years. In Online flet/}$: sites vie.f()I' 2011, we received the Alaska Press Club's awards for niche J"n Alaska market investigative reporting and public service, as well as the Anchorage Daily News Howard Rock Tom Snapp First Amendment Award for our Dispatch's in-depth coverage oflhe effolts to cover Alaska's 2010 race for U.S. Senate -- an Point Hope coribolt 'lm,assacr'e" honor for which we were nominated by our peers in the Alaska Press Club. Also in 2011, we received the Best of the Anchorage Press West journalism award for breaking news for our coverage nw newsroom ofA loska ISJltture? of the August 2010 plane crash that claimed the lives of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and fonr others. -----~ 2012 saw more awards come Alaska Dispatch's way, as Best More Information of the West once again l'ewarded Our coverage with a first­ place nod, this time in the category of best general reporting Staffdirectory for a story documenting problems surrounding a mnltimillion-dollar airport project sening the remote Aleutian community ofAkutan. In addition to other awards Advertising from the Alaska Press Club in 2012, Alaska Dispatch earned the title ofhest news website, reflecting the evolving design Search Exhibit A, 1 of2 htlp:II.www.alaskadispatch.com/about-us 7112/2013 About Us IAlaska Dispatch Page 2 of6 , and technology advancements being utilized to provide the RSS best news experience for our readers. Main phone (907) 743-0744 How we got started Fax (9°7) 743-0729 Alaska Dispatch was founded by journalist Tony Hopfinger "301 Merrill Field Dr. in :1008. In mid-2009, Alice Rogoff, a longtime supporter of Anchorage, AK 99501 journalism and a former chief financial officer ofD.S.