Chief
07-29-2008, 03:06 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,393562,00.html
WASHINGTON — Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens allegedly made false statements to cover up gifts given to him by an oil contractor seeking his help on Capitol Hill, according to a seven-count federal indictment unveiled Tuesday.
Stevens, 84, is the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate and has been under investigation for more than a year, with a heavy focus on work done to his Girdwood, Alaska, ski-community house.
"We are at the very beginning of the criminal process," said Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department Criminal Division. "Like any other criminal defendant, Senator Stevens is presumed innocent."
Talking to reporters, Friedrich said that while the charges alleged making false statements, Stevens is not charged with bribery.
Nevertheless, Friederich said, Stevens made no mention of approximately $250,000 worth of work done to his house and other gifts given to him over seven years between 1999 and 2006.
Stevens will not be arrested. He was seen walking into an attorney's office, and Justice Department officials said arrangements are being made for him to turn himself into authorities.
The most immediate result of the inictment was Stevens giving up his leadership posts, which he did under Senate protocol. Until Tuesday, he had been the top-ranked senator on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, as well as the defense subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.
The gifts allegedly came from Bill Allen and the company he founded, VECO Corp., an influential Alaska oil services firm that has been the focus of federal investigators in a public corruption probe that has been churning since 2004. The probe has ensnared more than a half dozen public officials, lobbyists and business leaders.
WASHINGTON — Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens allegedly made false statements to cover up gifts given to him by an oil contractor seeking his help on Capitol Hill, according to a seven-count federal indictment unveiled Tuesday.
Stevens, 84, is the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate and has been under investigation for more than a year, with a heavy focus on work done to his Girdwood, Alaska, ski-community house.
"We are at the very beginning of the criminal process," said Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department Criminal Division. "Like any other criminal defendant, Senator Stevens is presumed innocent."
Talking to reporters, Friedrich said that while the charges alleged making false statements, Stevens is not charged with bribery.
Nevertheless, Friederich said, Stevens made no mention of approximately $250,000 worth of work done to his house and other gifts given to him over seven years between 1999 and 2006.
Stevens will not be arrested. He was seen walking into an attorney's office, and Justice Department officials said arrangements are being made for him to turn himself into authorities.
The most immediate result of the inictment was Stevens giving up his leadership posts, which he did under Senate protocol. Until Tuesday, he had been the top-ranked senator on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, as well as the defense subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.
The gifts allegedly came from Bill Allen and the company he founded, VECO Corp., an influential Alaska oil services firm that has been the focus of federal investigators in a public corruption probe that has been churning since 2004. The probe has ensnared more than a half dozen public officials, lobbyists and business leaders.