7-Count Corruption Indictment for Sen Ted Stevens

Sen Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Washington (DC) on seven counts of filing false financial disclosures. Sen Stevens became an Internet celebrity a couple of summers ago after an audio of his "The Internet is a series of tubes" speech to the Senate Commerce Committee wended its way round the Web. He made the comment during a debate on Net neutrality when he was still the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee. Stevens had been a critic of extensive Net neutrality mandates. At the time, he accused proponents of a Congressional bill of "imposing a heavy-handed regulation before there's a demonstrated need." Sen Stevens becomes by far the most powerful politician charged in a broad investigation into corruption of Alaska public officials that began more than four years ago that has so far led to convictions of three state legislators and charges against two others. The seven-count indictment charges Stevens with making false statements by failing to disclose things of value he received from Veco Corp., an Alaska-based oil services company, and from its chairman, Bill Allen, over an eight-year period. The indictment charges that those included substantial improvements to Stevens' home in Girdwood; automobile exchanges in which he received new vehicles worth far more than the old ones; and household goods. At the same time, according to the indictment, Stevens received solicitations for official actions from Allen and other Veco employees, and used his office on behalf of Veco. The federal Ethics in Government Act requires all senators to file financial disclosures statements detailing their transactions during the previous calendar year, including the disclosure of gifts above a specified value and all liabilities greater than $10,000. The case involves false disclosures, not bribery, and no specific actions by Stevens in return for the gifts were alleged. But the indictments also says that Veco had requests for Stevens, and that Stevens and his staff responded. Stevens could and did use his official position and his office on behalf of Veco during that same time period, the indictment charges. Some of the solicitations were made directly to Stevens and included requests for help on international projects in Pakistan and Russia; requests for federal grants and contracts, including National Science Foundation grants to a subsidiary called Veco Polar; and assistance with the effort to construction a natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope. Stevens, 84, is the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate. From 2003 to 2007, he was president pro tem.