{"id":346,"date":"2020-09-14T15:49:26","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T20:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/w\/?p=346"},"modified":"2020-09-14T18:46:15","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T23:46:15","slug":"anchorage-daily-news-native-woman-comes-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/09\/14\/anchorage-daily-news-native-woman-comes-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Anchorage Daily News: Native woman comes forward about misconduct"},"content":{"rendered":"\"byronmallott\"\r\n
The late Byron Mallott was a citizen of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska who served as lieutenant governor of Alaska. Photo: Byron Mallott<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
The Woman Propositioned by Alaska\u2019s Former Lieutenant Governor Tells Her Story for the First Time<\/div>\r\n
Monday, September 14, 2020<\/div>\r\n
In 2018, Jody Potts was the target of misconduct from then-Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott. Two days later, he resigned, but the details of what happened have never been publicly told until now.<\/div>\r\n
By Kyle Hopkins and Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter<\/a> to receive stories like this one in your inbox<\/em>.

<\/P>\r\nAs the elevator rose, Jody Potts wondered at the possibilities.

<\/P>It was late on a Sunday afternoon, October 14, 2018, in downtown Anchorage. Potts was in town on business and had skipped her evening run to attend this hastily arranged meeting with the governor of Alaska, Bill Walker, and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott.

<\/P>As a former village public safety officer sergeant and an outspoken voice for justice<\/a> in Alaska villages, Potts said she knew they might want her help with the election, which was weeks away. She\u2019d had a hard year, charged<\/a> by troopers with damaging a vehicle in a case that was later dismissed<\/a> but that had placed her law enforcement career in jeopardy. Maybe, she thought, the governor and lieutenant governor planned to offer her a job within state government.

<\/P>The polished brass doors of the elevator opened and Potts, 41 at the time, stepped onto the seventh floor of the Hotel Captain Cook. She knocked on the door to Room 704.

<\/P>

<\/P>Mallott answered, alone in the room. He asked her to take a seat and began to talk.

<\/P>Looking her up and down, Mallott told her about the powerful attraction he had for her and hoped she felt the same. When she rose to leave, he reminded her of the effort he\u2019d put into advocating for her over the years. Potts rejected the advances and left.

<\/P>The story of what happened in the hotel room has never been publicly told. But within 48 hours, Mallott had resigned as lieutenant governor, and within a week, Walker dropped his campaign for reelection.

<\/P>Mallott died of a heart attack this May<\/a>, but variations of the misconduct that ended his career continue to plague state government. Since 2017, five Alaska officials have resigned or abandoned their reelection campaigns following harassment or sexual misconduct allegations.

<\/P>

<\/P>On Aug. 25, the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica reported that Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson had sent hundreds of text messages<\/a> including kiss emoji, dinner invitations and other overtures to a younger state employee. Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Clarkson\u2019s resignation<\/a> less than two hours later.

<\/P>It was the Clarkson resignation that indirectly led Potts and her family to come forward publicly. Potts said that when she reported Mallott\u2019s misconduct to Alaska Native leaders within minutes of it happening, she sought to remain anonymous. She nearly went public when blog posts stated, incorrectly she said, that Mallott\u2019s victim was not Potts but her then-16-year-old daughter.

<\/P>\u201cI asked to remain anonymous to protect my family, and it ended up that my family got attacked,\u201d Potts said.

<\/P>She later signed a nondisclosure agreement, as part of a 2019 civil settlement, at the request of Mallott. (Mallott\u2019s family says he respected Potts and voluntarily resigned but disputes that he lured her to the meeting under a false pretense.)

<\/P>Potts said she is coming forward today anyway out of concern for her daughter, who she says has been harassed by people who mistakenly think the daughter was propositioned by Mallott. Potts is sharing her first-hand account in an episode that underscores the intense pressure on victims of sexual harassment to stay silent and the high price of reporting the bad behavior of a powerful man.

<\/P>Walker and other former officials agreed to be interviewed for this story, describing what they knew and when, and why the public has known so little until now. All expressed sympathy for Mallott\u2019s family, given his recent death, and acknowledged that he can no longer tell his side of the story.

<\/P>Here is what happened according to Potts, as well as interviews with her daughter and father, Walker, chiefs of staff for both Walker and Mallott, Mallott\u2019s son Anthony and others who watched the resignation unfold.

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