Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel (; born May 13, 1930) is an American politician who was a Democratic United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 and a candidate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel served in the U.S. Army in West Germany, and he later graduated from the Columbia University School of General Studies. He moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1966 and also became Speaker of the Alaska House.
In June 2003, Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. In the wake of criticism for his appearance, Gravel has said repeatedly that he does not share such a view, stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. I've been to the Holocaust Museum. I've seen the footage of General Eisenhower touring one of the camps. They're [referring to the Barnes Review and publisher Willis Carto] nutty as loons if they don't think it happened". The newspaper had intended to interview Gravel about the National Initiative. Gravel later recounted the background to the event: "He [Carto] liked the idea of the National Initiative. I figured it was an opportunity to discuss it. Whether it is the far right, far left, whatever, I'll make my pitch to them. They gave me a free subscription to American Free Press. They still send it to me today. I flip through it sometimes. It has some extreme views, and a lot of the ads in it are even more extreme and make me want to upchuck. Anyways, sometime later, Carto contacted me to speak at that Barnes Review Conference. I had never heard of the Barnes Review, didn't know anything about it or what they stood for. I was just coming to give a presentation about the National Initiative. I was there maybe 30 minutes. I could tell from the people in the room (mainly some very old men) that they were pretty extreme. I gave my speech, answered some questions and left. I never saw the agenda for the day or listened to any of the other presentations." The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.

Q: What was the first interesting thing you read?
A: The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.
how did that speec effect politics?
wake of criticism for his appearance, Gravel has said repeatedly that he does not share such a view, In the wake of criticism for his appearance, Gravel has said repeatedly that he does not share such a view, The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.
The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.