Senator Stevens Knew He Was Guilty

Not all the news on corruption out of Alaska is about Sarah Palin. She may be the one running for VP, but Senator Stevens is campaigning for his re-election to the Senate and his little criminal trial is starting to get in the way. Instead of being able to hold rallies and fundraisers in Alaska, he is stuck in Washington so that a jury can decide whether he is guilty or innocent. Too bad for Stevens, he already knew he was guilty, though when he said it he was unaware that he was being recorded.

From Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens told an oil-executive friend, in recordings played on Monday at the Alaska Republican's corruption trial, they both risked going to jail -- but he didn't think it would come to that.

"These guys can't hurt really us. They're not going to shoot us. It's not Iraq. What the hell?," Stevens told Bill Allen, founder of the former VECO Corp. oil-services firm based in Alaska.

Stevens is charged with lying on Senate disclosure forms from 2001 to 2006 to conceal more than $250,000 in renovations to his property and other gifts provided by VECO.

"The worst that can happen to us is we run up a bunch of legal fees, and might lose and we might have to pay a fine, might have to serve a little time in jail. I hope to Christ it never gets to that, and I don't think it will," Stevens said.

However, he said, "We've got a fight out there ahead of us, and we're going to win, because we didn't do anything wrong. You've got a right to spend all the money you've got to support the party you believe in."

If Stevens thought he wasn't doing anything wrong, then he wouldn't have lied and concealed all the gifts he received. Sorry Senator, I'm afraid logic has its way of blocking your path to innocence. The recording clearly shows that Ted knew that what he was doing was illegal and gambled on the outcome of being bribed. For him, giving attention to rich oil companies was more important than representing Alaskans. Stevens figured that by throwing as much pork as he could their way that they'd be happy, but clearly Ted never gave his constituents much credit.

Thankfully for them, they can put their trust in a man who will put Alaska first, Senate candidate and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

Will There Be An Alaska Left When The FBI Is Done?

Alaskans may not have to pay an income tax to their state government, but there's an implicit arrangement that the constituents have little or no say in comparison to the oil interests that indirectly pays their royalty check every year. The tale of corruption in the giant state to the north is seemingly consuming every politician from Juneau to Nome. The stories uncovered by the FBI is quite a sight to see.

From The Washington Post:

ANCHORAGE -- When the FBI came looking for corruption in Alaska politics, it found an excellent perch in Suite 604 of the Baranof Hotel in Juneau, the state capital. There, a profane septuagenarian named Bill Allen did business throughout a 2006 special session called to set taxes on the oil industry. With hundred-dollar bills in his front pocket for ease of access when lawmakers turned up with their hands out, the oil-services company executive turned in a bravura performance before the pinhole camera that federal agents installed opposite his favorite chair.

"Let me count first here," Allen said, shushing a former statehouse speaker as he counted out a bribe in video footage entered as evidence in the lawmaker's September trial, one of several crowding the docket of the federal court here.

On another tape, Pete Kott, the former Republican speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, crowed as he described beating back a tax bill opposed by oil companies. "I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie," Kott said. "Exxon's happy. BP's happy. I'll sell my soul to the devil."

"Well, that will stay in this room," one lobbyist said as a midnight session wound down.

Since this is a quote from the WaPo via the FBI, it most certainly did not stay in the room. Alaskans always knew that the government was corrupt, but never to the degree that was uncovered. It paints an ugly image of politics (even for politics) in sub-Arctic state that begs the question, can it be reformed?

Changing the governor's office was a good start last year, but that is only a drop in the bucket for Alaska. Getting rid of the Stevens family among others is vital, but more importantly, the oil industry needs to be corralled, up there, across the country and around the world.

Stevens Jr. Is Screwed

The apple that did not fall far from the Stevens' family tree is rotten to the core and was brutally exposed by one of the worms that used Ben Stevens for personal gain. Ex-VECO CEO Bill Allen testified in court yesterday and fingered ex-Alaskan State Senate President Stevens for taking bribes from him. Basically, it was a slam dunk for the government's eventual case against the young Stevens.

From The Washington Post:

Allen said he bribed Kott, former state Senate President Ben Stevens and former Rep. Vic Kohring. He also testified that he recruited Stevens in 1995 for work on behalf of VECO, well before Stevens was appointed to the state Senate in 2002, and that Stevens maintained a consulting contract with the company through 2006.

Stevens, the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, is under federal investigation but has not been charged.

"Mr. Stevens has consistently said he's not engaged in any of the illegal activity that is alleged by Mr. Allen. He denies it," John Wolfe, Stevens' attorney, told The Associated Press.

Ben can deny his "alleged" actions all he wants, but testimony under oath by the man that claims to have bribed him carries just a tad more weight than his cries of innocence. I'm sure his dad is proud to see Junior following his dad's footsteps in politics. I only wonder if Ben can last as long as his Dad. Another interesting aspect of it all, which one will be convicted of corruption first? It should be a close race.