Ex-Aide of Alaska Governor Admits Errors

JUNEAU, Alaska — Gov. Bill Sheffield’s former chief of staff testified Wednesday in impeachment proceedings, saying he made errors in judgment only in trying to patch up his boss’s tattered public image.

“Negative press” about Sheffield on a variety of issues “led me to do a lot of things I obviously regret,” said John Shively, who resigned as Sheffield’s chief aide July 10.

Shively has admitted lying to investigators and destroying documents in connection with a state grand jury probe of the way the state negotiated a lucrative state office lease in Fairbanks.

Under questioning from a Senate committee that is hearing the impeachment proceedings, Shively said the governor was blameless in the affair, and that he, Shively, tried to cover up actions in connection with the negotiations to avoid “one more beating by the press.”