Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted for concealing payments from his financial disclosure forms.
The indictment accuses Stevens, former chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, of concealing payments of more than $250,000 in goods and services from an oil company. The items include home improvements, autos and household items.
The Alaska oil firm, Veco, and its onetime leader Bill Allen, asked for help in return, which Stevens allegedly provided. Allen and a former Veco lobbyist pleaded guilty in May 2007 in connection with their role in the scheme, Justice Department officials said.
The indictment charges Stevens with violating the Ethics in Government Act between 2001 and 2006 by hiding payments from Allen, Veco and two other people. The law requires elected officials to disclose gifts and debts that exceed $10,000 during any point in the year.
Link via Kevin Drum, who notes:
Apparently Republicans were right all along about the morally debilitating effects of relying for decades on a nonstop stream of federal welfare handouts.
Tough to argue with that. Stevens was a notorious pork coopersmith, and to my immediate recollection has not done much to commend himself in Congress. Time will tell, though, whether there’s enough evidence to warrant a conviction.
