A federal grand jury has indicted longtime Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, on charges of failing to disclose receiving gifts of services and construction work as part of a wide-ranging corruption inquiry involving public officials and corporations in his home state. The indictment accuses Mr. Stevens of failing to report on his financial disclosure forms receiving gifts of more than $250,000 — in labor and construction materials — from Veco Corp…
The 84-year-old senator has been running for re-election this year while he was under investigative scrutiny, a matter that had not gone unmentioned by Democrats. His opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, has been campaigning hard against the longest-sitting Republican member of the Senate, and Democrats have been touting this race as among its most competitive this year.
Mr. Stevens was first appointed to the Senate in 1968, and has served nearly six full terms. He also had been a United States Attorney in the 1950’s.
Federal officials said they did not know whether Mr. Stevens would surrender to authorities here or in Alaska for an arraignment.
He’s one of the most outstanding examples of corruption and cronyism that characterizes Congress.
#22, edwin,
Small bananas. Quarter mill of comp building work on a home in Alaska, can’t be reasonable cause for indictment.
Try reading the article.
The indictment accuses Mr. Stevens of failing to report on his financial disclosure forms receiving gifts of more than $250,000 — in labor and construction materials — from Veco Corp.
… at the same time that construction and architectural work was being done by Veco Corp. executives and employees on Mr. Stevens’ home in Girdword, the corporation was seeking assistance on business-related matters.
That amounts to open bribery.
Censure, maybe, temporary loss of House privileges, maybe too, ruining a lifetime’s reputation of loyalty to his State, no, that’s going too far, even for a bitter liberal like me.
This is a criminal charge, a felony. It isn’t an internal Senate rules violation.
“This is a criminal charge, a felony. It isn’t an internal Senate rules violation.”
Looks like hard time to me.
LMAO – You guys really are thick. Not only is he staying out of jail, he’s going to get reelected. As a former resident of Alaska, this makes perfect sense: The federal government owns a good deal of the state, so they need to send the state a disproportionate amount of money (to some, pork) compared to the other states.
If you don’t want that to happen, I’m sure Begich.com wouldn’t mind $5 of your money. He’s not a bad guy, despite being a lib.
He hasn’t been indicted for bribery, but for not disclosing the bribery!
The Alaskans voters don’t care that he’s corrupt. He didn’t steal their money. Or cheap their state out of taxes. He’s only brought them more tax dollars than they deserve. That bridge to nowhere, probably would have made them happy, cause it would have provided some construction jobs. You can bet the senator always looked out for his voters’ interest. While screwing the rest of the country’s taxpayers. So don’t expect Alaskans to get religion and vote him out of office. He’d have to turn gay or something, before they’d do that.
This guy is an Ahole.
Hope they lock him up for the rest of his life.
I hear the tossed salad in jail is a real treat.
#16 I agree that what is happening in Cleveland, my home, is bigger, in terms of the number of involved officials and total kickbacks, than this Stevens’ ordeal.
Cleveland, like other towns, has been controlled by the Democratic machine/Labor Union boys for fifty years. As a member of a visible Irish family, myself, I know I could get a county job tomorrow by calling in family favors. Russo, Dimora, Pumper, Cimperman, Mason, and Kelly are all names that will grace coming features.
As a scoop: This story involves arson (Cimperman’s residence which burned to the ground an hour before the raid), drugs and money laundring (Russo and Dimora), prostitution (Russo, Dimora, all the other good ol’ boys), and a whole shitload of anger over the mortgage scam perpetrated by Russo and the rest.
Oh, Cleveland was supposed to have a MedicalMart. We don’t. We now have the poorest city and anrgy taxpayers. I will relish actually being able to vote for new blood.
It never fails. A top Republican goes down and all the wing nuts start crying about corrupt the Democrats are.
For once I would really like the wing nuts to accept that their party has a greater potential for corruption than do Democrats. Not because they are worse people, but because they have held the reins of power so long.
And I hope ANY corrupt official, Democrat or Republican, is punished with jail time.
#24, Right on!
It seems like the longer a person is in Congress, the mushier their brain gets.
And their morals.
Fry you old coot fry!!
>It never fails. A top Republican goes down and all the wing nuts start crying about corrupt the Democrats are.
Well, the Republican Senate Campaign Committee has withheld its support. This is the same committee that interfered in primaries in favor of Arlen Specter and Lincoln Chafee. Let’s see how much the Democrats withhold support? They have Ted Kennedy in power despite his committing murder. Former Klansman Robert Byrd talking about white niggers on TV, and they praise him as perfect for any time in history.