Sen. Stevens indicted: 7 false statements counts

[2pac Shakur]

WASHINGTON - Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and a figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, has been indicted on seven counts of making false statements.

Stevens, 86, has been dogged by a federal investigation into whether he pushed for fishing legislation that also benefited his son, an Alaska lobbyist. Authorities have also scrutinized his ties to a corrupt oil contractor who paid employees to renovate the senator's home.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080729/ap_on_go_co/stevens_indictment

You down with GOP? Hell no not me.
You down with GOP? Hell no not me.
Who's down with GOP? I think only P S E U D!

[glassjaws]

What? A 2pac post not bellyaching about McCain? I can't believe it.

[2pac Shakur]

What? A 2pac post not bellyaching about McCain? I can't believe it.

My name's John McCain and I peed my pants.

[glassjaws]

My name's John McCain and I peed my pants.

There's the moranic 2pac I've come to loathe. Thanks loser.

[The President]

TTIA

[2pac Shakur]

There's the moranic 2pac I've come to loathe. Thanks loser.

You've got a McCain-esque temper. You should marry him.

[notreallyme]

2pac hasn't figured it out yet that people that don't like Obama may not like McCain either.

[H.R. Paperstacks]

:lol:
A republican upset about wiretaps.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The jury in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens Monday heard the Alaska Republican use an obscenity to describe the Justice Department investigators pursuing him, as prosecutors played audio of government wiretaps as evidence against him.


An artist's rendering shows former oil executive Bill Allen testifyig in the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens.

1 of 2 "I've never been up against a bunch like this one before," Stevens said in a September 2006 call, referring to prosecutors with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section.

"I'm not getting much sleep. Maybe four hours, thinking about all this s--t coming down," he told Bill Allen, the former energy-company executive who is the government's star witness against Stevens.

He also told Allen he's "trying to figure out why these f---ers are doing this." Listen to audio of the Stevens wiretaps »

The veteran Alaska politician showed no reaction as the recordings were played in court.

Stevens is accused of failing to report as gifts hundreds of thousands of dollars of renovations to his Alaska home arranged by Allen and the energy services firm he headed, Veco Energy.

The senator pleaded not guilty in July and hopes to clear his name before standing for re-election in November.

Stevens is not accused of accepting bribes, which would require the government to prove he undertook specific actions in exchange for specific payment.

After prosecutors played a third recording, the government handed Allen to the defense for cross-examination.

Allen already has pleaded guilty to attempting to corrupt a number of Alaska officials -- not including Stevens -- and is cooperating with the prosecution.

As head of Veco, he used company employees and resources to improve and maintain the Stevens home in Alaska.

Allen testified that Veco staff who had worked on his own house had charged "way too much," leaving him uncertain how much to invoice Stevens for when he had his staff work on the senator's house.

"Here's the problem," Allen testified. "They did really screw up on my house, it was way too much, but I never really saw how much time or the money was spent on Ted's house. I didn't really, I've never seen an invoice. And so I had no idea how much, but I thought it was probably going to be too much."

Allen agreed with defense attorney Brendan Sullivan that he would be embarrassed to bill Stevens for overpriced labor on the house, and said he concealed some of the expense because it was "way too much."

Sullivan also asked Allen: "You never tried to bribe Sen. Ted Stevens, did you?"

Allen replied, "No."

Allen's testimony came after the defense Sunday urged the judge to throw the case out or declare a mistrial, arguing the prosecution had hidden evidence that would be beneficial to Stevens.

The judge is expected to rule Tuesday on the motion, the second time the defense has filed to dismiss the case.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has given the prosecution until Monday night to respond to the defense motion and the defense until Tuesday morning to counter the prosecution response.

The motion is the second one filed by defense attorneys asking for a case dismissal or mistrial. Sullivan denied a similar motion last week.

The defense said Allen quashed some bills for the work on the Stevens home without telling the senator. Allen confirmed that argument on the stand last week, saying he had done it "because I like Ted."

The defense repeatedly has accused the government of concealing information that could help Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in history.


The judge last week berated the prosecution for withholding information such as an FBI investigator's report that Allen said Stevens would have paid his bills had he known about them. But Sullivan allowed the trial to proceed.

The bulk of the money the lawmaker is accused of trying to hide is related to construction and renovation at the Stevens family chalet in the ski town of Girdwood, Alaska, about 40 miles from Anchorage. His attorneys have said Stevens promptly paid the bills he knew about, but that his benefactor, Allen, concealed additional costs.

[oedipus rex]

too bad we can't indict cheney. executive privilege must be nice to have...

[Juan McCain]

too bad we can't indict cheney. executive privilege must be nice to have...

What did he do again?

[Heathen]

He must have not read the thread on never talking to the police.

[oedipus rex]

What did he do again?he certainly made false statements.

[2pac Shakur]

He also shot somebody.

[Bobby Digital]

Guilty!

[SamHusseinEagle]

You've got a McCain-esque temper. You should marry him.

He's already proposed 8 times. He's waiting to hear what the answer to Proposition #8 is.

[Irish Blues]

This probably assures the Democrats of winning this seat - but in the off-chance that Stevens still wins it [even as a convicted felon, there's nothing barring him from winning the election and serving his term], it's unlikely he's going to be able to convince 34 members of his own party to not kick him out.

I don't know if that means Palin would get to pick a replacement or if another election would be required - but I think it's safe to say Stevens is done in Congress one way or another.

[Don McCain]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department has dropped its case against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, a department source told CNN on Wednesday.


Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, 85, lost the senatorial election last November.

Stevens, 85, was convicted in October on seven counts of lying on mandatory financial disclosure forms.

Stevens hid "hundreds of thousands of dollars of freebies" he received from an oil field services company and its CEO, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Matthew Friedrich said.

Many of the alleged free services were given as part of the renovation of Stevens' Alaska home.

Stevens maintained his innocence even after the conviction, and his sentencing has been delayed amid charges by an FBI agent of prosecutorial misconduct.

Stevens also lost the senatorial election last November to Democrat Mark Begich -- who had been the Anchorage mayor.

He had been appointed to the Senate on December 24, 1968, when his state was less than 10 years old.
Now he can run for senate or govenor

[glassjaws]

:party: He'll be as corrupt as a Democrat. He's a shoo-in! :party:

[Don McCain]

:party: He'll be as corrupt as a Democrat. He's a shoo-in! :party:

Dems don't get convicted.

[glassjaws]

Yeah. You're right.

[Patrick Bauer]

Now he can run for senate or govenor
I have mixed feelings about this one. I like to see government officials get convicted and punished but I also like to see judges actually cracking down on prosecutorial misconduct.

[E. Blackadder]

Dems don't get convicted.

Nonsense. Dan Rostenkowski was convicted. and... well there must have been others!

[Loner]

I have mixed feelings about this one. I like to see government officials get convicted and punished but I also like to see judges actually cracking down on prosecutorial misconduct.

One could take the view that the punishment in this case was the loss of the office he abused, and of his reputation. So I think overall this is a reasonable outcome. He didn't really "get away with it" nor did the prosecution.

[glassjaws]

Nonsense. Dan Rostenkowski was convicted. and... well there must have been others!

Hopefully Blago.

[Don McCain]

Hopefully Blago.

You guys could have named the representative from LA with the "cold hard cash" in his fridge.

[Don McCain]

You guys could have named the representative from LA with the "cold hard cash" in his fridge.

Gosh not even that guy was convicted. Dems are truly smarter criminals.

[2pac Shakur]

James Anthony Traficant, Jr. (born May 8, 1941) is a former Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio (from 1985 to 2002). He was expelled after being convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington, D.C.,[1] and is currently serving an eight-year prison term with a projected release date of September 2, 2009.[2]

The Youngstown Vindicator[3] reported that on March 9, 2009 Traficant would "report to Community Corrections Association (CCA[4]), a halfway facility" in Youngstown, Ohio, where he would serve out the rest of his term, be expected to find a full-time job, and be able to go home for limited weekend visits.

Numerous other news organizations (including the UPI[5]) picked up this unverified story and trumpeted it nationwide.[6] But Traficant has reportedly stated[7] that he will not accept the DOJ's invitation to be supervised on early release by Richard J. Billak (the CEO of CCA), who made what Traficant considered material misrepresentations to the Court during Traficant's 2002 trial.[8] On Monday, January 12, 2009, Billak stated that he had received an e-mail from the federal Bureau of Prisons canceling Traficant's placement. [9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Traficant

[Jack]

Is in interesting that it was a Republican lead attorney generals office that indicted him and a democratic led office that dropped the charges?


I'm not sure myself.

[Don McCain]

Is in interesting that it was a Republic lead attorney generals office that indicted him and a democratic led office that dropped the charges?


I'm not sure myself.

:lol: Welcome to Bizarro World were dems let republicans off the hook and republicans complain about it.

[Don McCain]

Alaskans are dumb. They dropped the charges because it was handled improperly, but that doesn't mean Stevens is innocent. If they want a republican there that's fine, Dems and Reps are really the same, but don't put Stevens in there.
(CNN) - The Alaska Republican Party is calling on Democratic Sen. Mark Begich to resign his first-term post as senator, one day after Attorney General Eric Holder cleared former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens of felony charges Wednesday.

"The Alaska Republican Party…believes that current Senator Mark Begich should resign his position to allow for a new, special election, so Alaskans may have the chance to vote for a senator without the improper influence of the corrupt Department of Justice," the Alaska Republican Party's Web site states.

Stevens lost his bid for a seventh Senate term against Begich in November following a conviction of seven counts of lying on Senate ethics reforms.

(Updated after the jump with Begich reaction)

The Alaska GOP mantains a special election "will allow Alaskans to have a real, non-biased, credible process where the most qualified person could win, without the manipulation of the Department of Justice."

UPDATE: Begich said Thursday he wasn't going anywhere. “It’s clear there was misconduct by the prosecutors in Senator Stevens’ felony trial. I’m pleased President Obama’s Justice Department has brought a new sense of ethics to their responsibilities," he said, in a statement issued by his office.

“I got into the Senate race long before Senator Stevens’ legal troubles began because Alaskans were looking for a change and a senator as independent as Alaska. Today, with our country in a severe recession, it’s more important than ever that we have a senator focused on fixing our economy so Alaskans have the jobs they need to support their families. That is my job in the Senate, and I’m honored to serve Alaskans for the next six years.Can Alaska afford to have a special election?

[Actuary321]

Yeah, I would be Begich will resign right after they guy from IL.