Corruption trial for Alaska pol begins (AP)

Former House Speaker Pete Kott, right, and attorney James Wendt walk  through the federal court building in Anchorage, Alaska, Wednesday Sept. 5, 2007.  A federal judge granted the government's request to separate the federal corruption trial for Kott and former state Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)AP - A former state lawmaker was a willing puppet of officials for an oil field services company that stood to be enriched if a natural gas pipeline was built, a federal prosecutor said Monday.