Stevens facing yet another scandal
New revelations have emerged about Alaska Senator Ted Stevens's ethical (and legal) misconduct. And this only a short week after a VECO executive revealed in court that employees from his company had worked on renovations on Stevens's house and that he had bribed Stevens's son Ben. And a month after the FBI raided said house in Girdwood, Alaska.
Yesterday, the AP reported that the FBI had recorded phone conversations between Allen and Stevens. Allen, who has by now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, agreed to collaborate. Furthermore, the FBI videotaped meetings between VECO contractors and state politicians in Juneau, Alaska. Corruption charges are being investigated not only against Stevens, but also against Rep. Young, Alaska's sole House member, and against members of the Alaska legislature. The entire Alaska GOP is in deep trouble.
Stevens has still not displayed any intention of retiring, and no major Democrat has entered the race (though speculation surrounds the popular Anchorage Mayor). But how long can Stevens sustain such a barrage of negative press? Do Democrats still prefer an open seat at this point, or would they rather take Stevens head-on? Stevens has accumulated a ton of seniority in the Senate, and is a very influential member. He has always brought a lot of federal funds home to Alaska, and remains very popular. He would not be easy to beat no matter how much the FBI's investigation picks up.
The biggest worry Republicans must have at the moment, however, is that everything indicates that the FBI has no intention to back down on this investigation, and that this is very much an ongoing thing. There are new damning revelations weekly at this point, and while Stevens has not been indicted up to this point, how long can he avoid that fate now that the FBI has all these collaborating witnesses? We saw in 2006 what happens when incumbents are indicted only a few months before the election or have to face a daily increasing body of allegations against them: Democrats now hold Ney's OH-18, PA-10, NY-20...
In other Senate news, Swett has now withdrawn from the NH Senate race, leaving Jeanne Shaheene a step closer to the Democratic nomination. Despite reservations, two of the three Democrats who were in the race have now withdrawn (Marchand was the first), leaving Dartmouth professor Buckley as the sole adversary of Shaheen. It will be interesting to see whether the Left groups around Buckley to protest against Shaheen's moderation (there were some inkling of that last week).
Yesterday, the AP reported that the FBI had recorded phone conversations between Allen and Stevens. Allen, who has by now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, agreed to collaborate. Furthermore, the FBI videotaped meetings between VECO contractors and state politicians in Juneau, Alaska. Corruption charges are being investigated not only against Stevens, but also against Rep. Young, Alaska's sole House member, and against members of the Alaska legislature. The entire Alaska GOP is in deep trouble.
Stevens has still not displayed any intention of retiring, and no major Democrat has entered the race (though speculation surrounds the popular Anchorage Mayor). But how long can Stevens sustain such a barrage of negative press? Do Democrats still prefer an open seat at this point, or would they rather take Stevens head-on? Stevens has accumulated a ton of seniority in the Senate, and is a very influential member. He has always brought a lot of federal funds home to Alaska, and remains very popular. He would not be easy to beat no matter how much the FBI's investigation picks up.
The biggest worry Republicans must have at the moment, however, is that everything indicates that the FBI has no intention to back down on this investigation, and that this is very much an ongoing thing. There are new damning revelations weekly at this point, and while Stevens has not been indicted up to this point, how long can he avoid that fate now that the FBI has all these collaborating witnesses? We saw in 2006 what happens when incumbents are indicted only a few months before the election or have to face a daily increasing body of allegations against them: Democrats now hold Ney's OH-18, PA-10, NY-20...
In other Senate news, Swett has now withdrawn from the NH Senate race, leaving Jeanne Shaheene a step closer to the Democratic nomination. Despite reservations, two of the three Democrats who were in the race have now withdrawn (Marchand was the first), leaving Dartmouth professor Buckley as the sole adversary of Shaheen. It will be interesting to see whether the Left groups around Buckley to protest against Shaheen's moderation (there were some inkling of that last week).
Labels: AK-Sen
posted by Taniel at
9:45 AM
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