Republican Senator Ted Stevens Indicted
It’s inexcusable that the Republican leadership hadn’t exorcised him from the party years ago.
Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and a figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, has been indicted on seven counts of falsely reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home.
Stevens, 84, has been dogged by a federal investigation into whether he pushed for fishing legislation that also benefited his son, an Alaska lobbyist.
From May 1999 to August 2007, prosecutors said Stevens concealed “his continuing receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value from a private corporation.” The indictment released Tuesday said the items included: home improvements to his vacation home in Alaska, including a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing, electrical wiring; as well as car exchanges, a Viking gas grill, furniture and tools.
I hope that the Alaskan Republican party can get rid of him in time and get a viable candidate for this November.
Ted Stevens is a national, not just a Republican, embarrassment. As far as I’m concerned his entire political career has been criminal. How many billions and billions in unnecessary spending did he steal from the taxpayers? Of course that isn’t an actual crime, it is a moral one.
I have no doubt that the guy is dirty. On the other hand, I’m concerned that it seems that the entire case is based on the “false statements” law rather than prosecuting him for actually committing an illegal act. These Martha Stewart prosecutions are bogus and are a threat to pretty much anyone in this country.
So while I’m glad he’s on his way out, hopefully on the bridge to prison, I think the charges they have him on are wrong.
