Pebble boosters accuse Trump allies of ‘political interference’

By Hannah Northey | 01/31/2025 01:46 PM EST

In court filings, developers of the planned southwest Alaska project blame politics for the rejection of their permit bid during President Donald Trump’s first term.

The Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska.

The Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska. Joseph Ebersole/EPA via AP

President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order calling for “unleashing” Alaska energy was silent about the contested Pebble mine — a copper and gold project ensnared by a legal fight involving some close Trump allies, including his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

The Army Corps of Engineers blocked the Pebble project during Trump’s first term. The southwest Alaska open-pit mining project would be developed in the pristine Bristol Bay watershed, prime salmon habitat.

The Pebble Partnership, a company wholly owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals, is asserting in court filings that “political interference” was a factor in the corps’ permit decision.

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The company’s attorneys in recent weeks filed subpoenas through the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska for Andrew Sabin, a New York-based metals magnate, environmental philanthropist, and prolific donor to Trump and Republicans, and Nick Ayers, a political consultant and former chief of staff to then-Vice President Mike Pence.

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