That ad claiming Begich ‘sold phony medical devices’? Here’s the backstory.

Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola is running an attack ad on her Republican opponent, disparaging how he made his personal wealth.

“Nick Begich only looks out for himself,” her campaign ad begins, over ominous music. “First, he hired workers in India instead of Alaska to make himself rich. Now we learn he cashed in with an online company that pushed phony medical devices to seniors.”

With the campaign ad, Peltola breaks with the Alaska-nice campaign tradition she set in 2022. She’s throwing shade on the brightest feature of Begich’s personal history as he sells himself to Alaska voters: That he’s a brilliant and successful businessman. And the Alaska Democratic Party is doubling down with a new mailer accusing Begich of “scamming seniors with fake medical devices.”

Both the Peltola and Begich campaigns rejected interview requests to discuss the claim. But in an email, the Peltola campaign said the allegedly “phony medical devices” the ad refers to were sold on EarthPulse.com, a business started by the candidate’s dad in the late 1990s, primarily to sell Nick Begich Sr.’s writings about mind control and the alleged powers of a University of Alaska Fairbanks antenna array known as HAARP.

EarthPulse.com also used to sell several electronic products, such the “Alpha-Trainer biofeedback anti-tension device” headset and the handheld “Pointer-Plus.” The website said the Pointer-Plus could locate acupuncture points and stimulate them. “Never miss the point!,” the web copy said. “A complete clinic in your hands.” It sold for $149.

The Pointer-Plus is still for sale on other websites and some models have good reviews on Amazon.com. The problem, the Peltola campaign said, is in the claim the Begich-owned business made for the product.

“Earthpulse advertised Pointer-Plus as basically being 100% accurate and the sole acupuncture tool needed,” the campaign said in an email. “An academic study found it was NOT reliable and should NOT be used by itself.”

Nick Begich Sr. said it was a good product and that his website made no false claims.

“It is 100% accurate at locating points,” he said, when asked about one of the products the Peltola campaign takes issue with, “unless you have some tissue disturbance, like a scar that would interfere with the normal flow of energy across the surface of the skin.”

The elder Begich said Peltola’s ad alleging the company “pushed phony medical devices to seniors” is wrong, because they weren’t medical devices. And, he said, they weren’t pushed on seniors.

“Never,” he said. “We’ve never marketed anything for any specific group, seniors or otherwise.”

He estimates that his company sold fewer than 500 devices over 20 years.

The EarthPulse website recently went offline. Nick Sr. said he’s done with retail. Anyway, he said, his son was just a passive investor.

The candidate’s financial disclosures show he owns a 17% stake of EarthPulse Press that’s worth between $1 million and $5 million. In the latest filing, Begich reports earning less than $50,000 a year from EarthPulse. That’s a drop from the two prior years, when he reported that his stake earned him more than $50,000 a year.

It’s through a different company Begich III owns that he created jobs in India.

That one is FarShore Partners, a software development company he founded. When Nick Begich III first ran for Congress two years ago, FarShore was central to the image he projected as a successful tech entrepreneur, and he never hid that many or most of its workers were overseas.

This year, it’s hard to find any mention of Begich on the FarShore website. The Peltola campaign isn’t the only one making an issue of FarShore’s non-Alaska focus.

“How many Alaska jobs did businessman Nick Begich create? Seems almost none,” an ad from a pro-Peltola group called Vote Alaska before Party says. “Instead, seems almost 90% of Begich’s employees are in India. Which is nice — for India. While doing nothing for Alaska.”

Anchorage consultant Jim Lottsfeldt, who leads Vote Alaska Before Party, said the geography of Begich’s job creation matters.

“It shows you a little bit where his head’s at,” Lottsfeldt said. “He doesn’t see the future of Alaska in business. He sees it as a place where he doesn’t have to pay taxes, and he’s got a famous last name, and he can get into politics, but he’s not investing in Alaska.”

Actually, Begich’s candidate disclosure form shows he has invested in several Alaska businesses.

“Nick has created hundreds of jobs in Alaska,” a Begich campaign spokeswoman said by text message.

She cited his 15% stake in Stuaqpak Inc., through which he’s the partial owner of grocery store in Utqiagvik. That’s one of several investments Begich has made in partnership with his well-known uncle, former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. Mark and Nick Begich III also teamed up to form an Anchorage-based consulting firm, Begich Capital Partners.