An attorney is using emails between a lawmaker and developer in his case against the Legislature’s $4 million lease on renovated Anchorage office space.
The Alaska Dispatch News reports emails show the lawmaker who the “Taj Mahawker” is named for used his personal email account to communicate with the developer on making the lease comply with state law.
Anchorage Republican Rep. Mike Hawker declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Attorney Jim Gottstein filed his lawsuit over the legality of the lease and for damage to a building he owns that he says was renovation-related.
Hawker’s emails to developer Mark Pfeffer were included in 8,000 pages provided to Gottstein during the lawsuit’s discovery phase.
Gottstein is using the documents to challenge an attempt to block his punitive damages claim and to argue for a whistleblower award if the lease is invalidated.
