Members of the Senate Judiciary committee put questions to a governor’s nominee for the Alaska Police Standards Council about her social media posts during a confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Veronica Lambertsen defended conspiracy theories around the Holocaust, blood-harvesting from children and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Lambertsen has been nominated by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to serve a three-year term representing one of four public seats on the 13-member Alaska Police Standards Council, which oversees law enforcement standards across the state.
Lambertsen has served on the council since being nominated in August, but her name was removed from the council’s website Thursday afternoon, following the hearing and media coverage of the posts.
Dunleavy’s office did not respond to a request for comment about her nomination, her social media posts and the removal of her name from the website on Thursday.
Lambertsen is the owner and operator of a motel in Birch Creek, a small neighborhood in Turnagain Arm that is part of the municipality of Anchorage. She also serves as a voluntary member of the local Turnagain Arm Community Council, according to her resume.
Lawmakers in the House expressed skepticism in a hearing earlier this month and questioned Lambertsen’s experience, connections with law enforcement and eligibility for the seat.
In a second confirmation hearing on Wednesday, following questions about her background, chair Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, asked about several social media posts going back many years.
“One of the postings that I saw was a posting that you didn’t believe the Holocaust was real,” Claman said. “Do you believe the Holocaust occurred during World War II?”
Lambertsen said it was a tragedy, but that she has questions. “Do I believe something happened at the Holocaust, and a tragedy and a lot of people died?” she said. “Yes, I believe that actually happened. Are we being told the true story about it all? No, I don’t believe we’re being told the true story about it all.”
“What do you believe is the true story?” Claman asked.
“That I don’t know yet,” she replied.
The Alaska Police Standards Council is charged with setting and enforcing standards for law enforcement, including police, probation, parole and correctional officers. They’re also tasked with reviewing regulation and investigating misconduct, like officer discipline and use of force.
A zip drive of selected posts from Lambertsen’s public Facebook page compiled by legislative staff and reviewed by the Alaska Beacon includes posts going back to 2021 related to a variety of conspiracy theories — questioning the shape of the Earth, the moon landing, the 2020 election results and the Jan. 6 insurrection, as well as posts related to the far-right internet conspiracy theory movement QAnon.
Claman asked about a QAnon claim that children are being harvested for a chemical called adrenochrome from their blood.
After a long pause, Lambertsen responded similarly that she had questions. “From information I have seen and documentation that was provided the question that should be asked,” she said.
Claman said in an interview Thursday that he found the hearing troubling. “For this position, which really means you’re providing some degree of supervision and regulation of our public safety officers, I just have a lot of concerns, given her perspective,” he said.
Lambertsen did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. She told the Juneau Independent that what she posts on social media is separate from what’s involved in serving on the council.
Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, raised the issue that Lambertsen may not be eligible to serve on a seat reserved for a member of the public from a rural district. Two of the four public seats are reserved for members representing communities with a population of 2,500 people or less.
“I think this is unfortunately a situation of where Ms. Lambertsen has been put into a seat that she is not qualified to hold based on statute and practice,” she said. “I would encourage Ms. Lambertsen to consider withdrawing her own name, as she is, in my estimation and read of the statute, not legal to sit in the seat.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee forwarded Lambertsen’s nomination on Wednesday to a vote by a joint session of the Legislature. But whether she will be considered is uncertain, as her name is no longer listed on the state website describing the council.
A joint session for state appointments to boards and commissions, including for Attorney General Stephen Cox, is scheduled for May 7.
