Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell is facing accusations of hypocrisy on spying based on the actions of his companies. KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has more.
The Alaska Democratic Party has criticized Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell for his inconsistent stance on spying. Treadwell, who is currently running for US Senate, says he is opposed to the mass surveillance carried out by federal agencies such as the National Security Agency. However, according to ADP spokesman Zack Fields, this is inconsistent with Treadwell’s business interests.
“Treadwell says the government snoops too much, but his own company, where he was CEO and on the board of directors, got an earmark for spy technology. This isn’t the only company of Treadwell’s that’s developed intrusive spy technology or surveillance technology because another one of his companies was also pushing the RealID national identification program which Alaskans opposed.”
The first company, Venture Ad Astra, develops remote sensing and location-based technology, while the second company, Digimarc offers watermarking technology that embeds information into a variety of products, such as ID systems. Fields says these aren’t the only cases where Treadwell has a conflict of interest.
“Treadwell has been criticized for receiving stimulus money for a Maryland company on which he’s on the Board of Directors called Ellicott Dredges. Mead Treadwell has criticized the stimulus, but his own company was earning millions of dollars through the stimulus. Some see that as hypocritical.”
Treadwell will compete with fellow Republicans Dan Sullivan and Joe Miller in the Alaska Primary Election, which takes place on August 19th.