Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Apparently, There Is Such A Thing As Being Too Greedy

[According to this report on YouTube, Ted Stevens' infamous "Bridge To Nowhere" was going to go here. Screenshot by Cujo359.]

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has been indicted for making false statements in a bribery probe:

WASHINGTON (CBS) ― Government sources tell CBS News Republican Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has been indicted on seven charges related to a corruption probe.

A federal grand jury in Washington has handed up the indictment against Stevens -- which the Justice Department is set to announce very shortly.

Stevens faces seven counts of false statements involving VECO, the oil services company in Alaska, and the renovations done on his home.

Alaska Sen. Stevens Indicted For False Statements

The indictments seem to center on improvements made to Steven's Alaska residence, according to McClatchy:

Stevens' home in Girdwood was renovated in 2000. Those renovations doubled the size of the home and were overseen by Veco Corp. chief executive Bill Allen. Witnesses with knowledge of Veco's role have reported testifying before grand juries in Anchorage and Washington, D.C.

Stevens has said he paid all the bills he was presented, leaving open the question of whether he was billed the entire amount.

Indictment of Alaska's Ted Stevens part of 4-year probe

According to Bloomberg, Stevens didn't report the gifts he received from Veco on various financial disclosure forms. Open Secrets has Stevens' financial disclosures online.

Jane Hamsher has some insights into the political ramifications. Stevens is up for re-election this year, and the primary is next month. It doesn't look good for him at the moment. Progressive Alaska's Phillip Munger has some observations, as well. Love the graphic.

Meanwhile, CNN observes:

The 84-year-old senator is a former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is renowned for his prowess in steering federal funds to his vast, sparsely populated state.

Grand jury indicts Alaska senator

It looks like taxpayers will finally get some revenge for the bridge to nowhere. Even in Washington, it's sometimes possible to be too stupid or too greedy. Senator Stevens has apparently reached that boundary.

2 comments:

Phil said...

His pardon just got fast tracked.

At least he has to sit and shit himself in front of a jury first, a small price to pay.

Cujo359 said...

Hi Bustednuckles. So does that mean William Jefferson is getting a pardon?