Yesterday's Washington Post reported:
"Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) quickly turned a $5,000 Florida condo investment into a profit of more than $100,000 in a questionable transaction that federal prosecutors would like to introduce as evidence at his trial next month on charges that he lied on financial disclosure forms...."
"Stevens was indicted last month by a federal grand jury on charges of not reporting on Senate financial disclosure forms that he accepted more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from executives of Veco, a now defunct oil services company in Alaska. Prosecutors allege that Stevens helped Veco and its executives on a variety of federal and state issues.
"Veco's former chief executive, Bill Allen, pleaded guilty last year to bribing public officials and is expected to testify at Stevens's trial." (WaPo)
Sen. Stevens, age 84, is the Senate's longest serving Republican, having taken his seat in 1968. He is known for getting impressive earmarks for Alaska and the companies that do business there. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, Stevens got $646 million in earmarks in 2006, alone, and got more than $1 billion from 1991-2000.
In 2000, Sen. Stevens' house underwent major remodeling, turning the one-story structure into a two-story structure and roughly doubling its size. The building contractor reportedly was paid by a Veco executive (Anchorage Daily News).
Perhaps coincidentally, Veco has received $30 million in federal contracts since 2000 (WaPo citing FedSpending.org).
In May 2007, two Veco executives pled guilty to bribery and other charges (Justice Dept.). One Veco exec admitted to laundering campaign donations by illegally reimbursing the employees who actually gave them (WaPo).
Sen. Stevens was indicted in July 2008 on seven felony counts "alleging that he lied to conceal his acceptance of $250,000 in gifts and services from a now-defunct Alaska oil services and construction company [aka, Veco]. (McClatchy)
After the indictment, Sen. Stevens temporarily stepped down from his ranking posts on two Senate committees.
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