Senator Corruption Loses His Cool
If Ted Stevens is going to get the Republican nomination for Senate next year, we’re going to have quite a bit of this to look forward to. Senator Corruption was none too happy about being asked about his ties to VECO during an interview this week.
“It was about the investigation. I’m not going into the investigation; you were going into the investigation. I’m not going to that, my lawyers told me not to do it. I’m just going to get myself into trouble if I do it. That’s all. If you are taping that camera and me right now, that’s not a good idea either. I just said it was over, and I’ll be happy to start again, but if you use that, it’s a violation too. I cannot talk about the investigation.”
It’s not a conviction in a court of law, but could be in the court of public opinion. It is clear that the VECO investigation will carry on well into the election, and possibly through it, and since Alaska is not New Jersey, it would be too late to replace Senator Stevens on the ballot if he already has the nomination. It is time for someone to step up and take down this corrupt spendthrift. We dare not allow the Democrats to get closer to sixty by failing to nominate someone who is not mired in corruption. Anybody else almost definitely holds this seat for us. If Senator Stevens’ situation gets any worse, this race could easily become a toss-up.
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Let me ask you a question. Say Stevens gets the GOP nomination and then gets indicted. Can he then retire and could the state GOP then replace him on the ballot? Also, what are chances do you think that he would really get indicted? Thanks.
November 26th, 2007 at 5:55 am
Michael,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I need to do a bit more research on the particulars of Alaska election law, but typically Party nominees for federal office can only be replaced on the ballot in the event of death or, in some cases, ineligability to serve in the office. As to the chances of him getting indicted, I’d say it’s probably about 60-40 that he will. He has actually been accused of accepting bribes by the person who allegedly gave them to him, and that was when that person was under oath. It’s not a certainty, but it’s certainly a very real possibility, if not a probability.
November 26th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Sean, correct me if I am wrong, but I think it was Ted Steven’s son who was accused of accepting bribes from the person who allegedly gave them. Senator Stevens has not actually been accused of the same thing, although there has been some evidence that his house was renovated and payments were made for such renovations by somone else.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Here’s an article on the testimony. Veco paid for work done on Ted’s home. “The contractor, Bill J. Allen, the former chief executive of the company, the VECO Corporation, testified Friday in an Anchorage courtroom that the company provided up to four workers at a time for several months in 2000 to work on the expansion of Mr. Stevens’s home in Girdwood, Alaska, according to an Associated Press account of testimony in the trial of a former state lawmaker who is facing corruption charges.” That’s pretty charitable, don’t you think?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/us/politics/16alaska.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin