In a stunning blow to the image of the Republican party -- just days away from the national election -- Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) has been convicted of all seven charges levied against him of ethics violations. The question now becomes: will he or will he not resign before the Nov 4 elections, when his seat is up for a vote? Let us sincerely hope that the good people of Alaska have the wisdom to vote Democratic in the face of Stevens' indictment.
Stevens is the longest-serving Senate Republican, who has most recently been made famous by his claim that the Internet "is a series of tubes." Priceless. His name has been plastered across newspaper headlines this past year, though, when the ethics case against him was brought forward. Another blow to Republican abuse of power. Another win for Democracy.
A federal jury of eight women and four men from the District of Columbia found that the 84-year-old Mr. Stevens, who has represented Alaska in the Senate for more than 40 years, knowingly failed to list on Senate disclosure forms the receipt of several gifts and tens of thousands of dollars worth of remodeling work on his home in Girdwood, Alaska.
The verdict came just eight days before the senator is to face re-election and after more than three weeks of testimony, the highlight of which was Mr. Stevens making the calculated risk of taking the witness stand in his own defense. As the verdict was announced, the senator remained composed and stared at the ceiling while his lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, put his arm around him.
Mr. Stevens has long been tied to the rough-and-tumble history of his home state and wields outsized influence over federal spending. Government prosecutors used evidence and testimony to paint a picture in which several of Mr. Stevens’s wealthy Alaskan friends, keenly aware of his status as the dominant political figure in the state, were eager to shower him with gifts.
The indictment charged that he received some $250,000 worth from a longtime friend, Bill Allen, the owner of a huge oil-services construction company, as well as a sled dog, an expensive massage chair and other items from other friends.
Mr. Stevens’s defense was largely built on the notion that many of the goods and services he received were unasked for, and were things for which he had no use. In the case of the massage chair, he testified that it was not a gift from Bob Persons, a friend and restaurant owner, but rather a loan — even though the chair has remained in his Washington home for more than seven years and has been used by the senator.
