August 18, 2008

In And Out Of The Courtroom, The Case Against Senator Stevens Is Growing

From a Alaska Democratic Party press release:

There's no question it's been a bad week for Senator Stevens. While his campaign continues to try and manufacture an image of maintaining support, Alaskans don't seem to be buying it. A recent poll shows him down by 17 points and his campaign is struggling to raise money. Worst of all, The Department of Justice just released a new set of evidence expanding on the already serious criminal charges against Stevens. From taking improper loans to making over $100,000 on a Florida condo deal, to new cars and jobs for his children, one has to wonder who Stevens has really been working for.

Walter Hickel Abandoned Stevens This Week

Former Governor Walter Hickel, Who Appointed Senator Stevens, Said Stevens’ Time Is Over. According to Bloomberg News, Hickel spoke of Senator Stevens saying, “He has served Alaska for 40 years, but his time is over.” Hickel added. “... We were a young state, and I learned we needed seniority, and Ted was a survivor... Now it's time for a change,” Hickel is reported as saying. “He's just doing what those big economic interests want done. I don't care if I appointed him. That was a long time ago.'' [Stevens Charges Leave Alaska Republicans in Meltdown, Bloomberg News, 8/12/2008]

And Alaskans Seem To Agree With Hickel…

Senator Stevens Was Reported This Week To Be Trailing Mayor Mark Begich By 17 Points. According to a new poll from Ivan Moore, Mayor Mark Begich is leading Senator Stevens 55.5% to 38.5%. [ Anchorage Press, The Moore Report, 8/13/08]

And Stevens Seems To Have Shifted Away From Stating His Innocence To Claiming He Is Above The Law…

Senator Stevens Filed A Series Of Motions This Week Including An Argument That Federal Investigators Should Not Be Able To Investigate Stevens Or Interview His Staff. As the Anchorage Daily News reported, “Stevens' lawyers argued in motions filed Thursday that the charges against the 84-year-old senator . . . breach constitutional barriers meant to keep executive branch investigators from meddling in congressional affairs. His lawyers argued that a grand jury could have issued such an indictment only if it were shown evidence that violates what's known as the speech or debate clause -- a portion of the U.S. Constitution that limits what sort of evidence executive branch investigators can use when they probe acts by members of Congress . . . In a similar vein, they argued that the indictment violated the separation of powers clause of the Constitution. The alleged false statements and omissions that Stevens made in the financial disclosure forms are a matter for the U.S. Senate to take up, not executive branch investigators, his lawyers argued.” [Feds reveal more in Stevens case, Anchorage Daily News, 8/15/2008]

And With The Department Of Justice’s Latest Evidence, It Doesn’t Look Like Its Going To Get Any Better For Stevens…

The Department Of Justice Revealed Evidence Alleging That Senator Stevens Used Insider Help To Turn A Secret $5,000 Investment In A Florida Condo Development Into More Than $100,000 In Quick Profits. As the Anchorage Daily News reported, “The Florida transaction began in 2001, a year after Allen began renovating Stevens' Girdwood residence, and a time at which Stevens was approaching the pinnacle of his power in the Senate. On Feb. 4, 2001, Stevens and his wife, Catherine, signed a purchase contract with a development company about to build a condo project in Florida , agreeing to buy a garden unit for $360,000. The contract was a standard one and required a 10 percent down payment -- $36,000 -- but Stevens only put down $5,000, the motion says. . . The government said Stevens was required to disclose any loan over $10,000 during 2001, but failed when it came to the condo loan. "Although Stevens knowingly carried debt on a $31,000 interest-free loan from his personal friend for more than 10 months during 2001, Stevens did not list such a liability on his 2001 disclosure form," the government said.” [ Anchorage Daily News, 8/15/2008]

Ø According To Official Court Documents, Senator Stevens Sent A Check For Part Of His Loan On The Florida Condo On September 12, 2001 – Just One Day After The Terrorist Attacks On America . According to new court documents released by the Department of Justice, “The government will further prove that it was only after reaching the August 21, 2001, agreement to sell their to-be-constructed condominium at a substantial profit that the Stevenses repaid the $31,000 deposit that was “funded” by Person C. On September 12, 2001, Stevens requested his United States Senate staff send a $15,000 check, drawn on Stevens’ personal checking account, to Company B.” [Department Of Justice Court Documents for Criminal No. 1:08-cr-00231-EGS]

The Department Of Justice Revealed Evidence Alleging That Senator Stevens Received A New Jeep Cherokee As A Gift From VECO For His Daughter. As the Anchorage Daily News reported, “The vehicle transaction in 2005 follows up an earlier one in 1999 that is referenced in Stevens' indictment. In the first deal, Stevens was looking for a car for his daughter, Lily, then 18. He was accused of not reporting the trade of a 35-year-old Mustang worth $20,000, plus $5,000 cash, for a new Land Rover Discovery bought by Allen worth $44,000 -- for a net benefit of around $20,000." According to court documents, “Allen offered to get Stevens' daughter a new car in exchange for the 1999 Land Rover, and Stevens agreed." The deal was made between Stevens' daughter and a VECO employee "for the purpose of hiding Allen's involvement in the transaction." “Allen wrote a personal check to the employee for $35,000, who bought the Jeep July 15, 2005, for a little more than $34,000 from a dealer.” [Anchorage Daily News, 8/15/2008, Department Of Justice Court Documents for Criminal No. 1:08-cr-00231-EGS]

The Department Of Justice Revealed Evidence Alleging That Senator Stevens Asked Bill Allen To Get One Of His Sons A Job In Phoenix, Arizona. As The Anchorage Daily News reported, “In March 2006, after the government had begun tapping Allen's phones, Stevens asked a lobbyist to ask Allen for a job in Phoenix for one of his three sons. The son was unnamed, but Walter Stevens, a multimedia management specialist, lived in Phoenix , at least in the 1990s. In a recorded conversation, the unidentified lobbyist told Allen, "I saw (Sen. Stevens) at lunch and he asked if you -- I'm not sure why he mentioned it to me -- but he asked me to, I think, find out if you had any business contacts in Phoenix with respect to his son who is down there, who finds himself without a job at this point." The lobbyist said Stevens mentioned Allen by name. Allen ordered company officials to find a job for the son in Alaska in the summer of 2006, the government said. "Stevens' son accepted the position with VECO and also received a personal loan from Allen." [ Anchorage Daily News, 8/15/2008]

The Department Of Justice Revealed Evidence Alleging That VECO Gave Senator Stevens A Free Generator Before “Y2K.” The USA Today reported that Stevens received a free generator from VECO in preparation for Y2K. The news source also included the text of an email that Stevens sent to a friend stating, “Incidentally, I asked Bill Allen to hook up a generator to our chalet for Y2K – JUST IN CASE!!” [ USA Today, 8/15/08]

The Department Of Justice Revealed Evidence Alleging That VECO Solicited Senator Stevens For Help On A Pakistani Pipeline Project. According to new court documents released by the Department of Justice, “In the mid-1990s, a VECO subsidiary obtained an ownership interest in Asia Petroleum Limited ("APL"), a company that owns and operates a petroleum products pipeline in Pakistan ... When the Government of Pakistan delayed an agreement implementing the project, VECO contacted Senator Stevens for assistance. Specifically ... Bill Allen sent a letter to Senator Stevens asking Senator Stevens and his staff to "give [VECO] some assistance with VECO's Pakistan partnership, [APL]." Allen requested that Senator Stevens work with VECO executives in contacting the World Bank, which was a financial participant in the project ... By letter dated September 20, 1999, Senator Stevens wrote to James D. Wolfensohm, President of the World Bank Group... Senator Stevens also told Wolfensohm that VECO and APL had concerns regarding the Government of Pakistan's failure to sign the implementation agreement and, in that regard, asked whether the World Bank intended to send a representative to the upcoming meeting between APL and the Government of Pakistan. Senator Stevens further asked whether the World Bank supported the lifting of sanctions against Pakistan , which Stevens had been asked to facilitate. On September 22, 1999, a legislative aide to Senator Stevens sent a signed copy of Stevens' September 20, 1999, letter to a VECO executive, Rick Smith, by facsimile. The cover sheet for the facsimile advised Smith that VECO should contact certain individuals within the World Bank to "discuss this issue ... to see what they can do." [Department Of Justice Court Documents for Criminal No. 1:08-cr-00231-EGS]

The Department Of Justice Revealed Evidence Alleging That Senator Stevens Assisted VECO In Securing Federal Funding For A Training Program For Russian Workers In The Late 1990’s. According to new court documents released by the Department of Justice, “During the late 1990s, VECO and its subsidiaries were significantly involved in a series of oil production plants and refineries on Sakhalin Island , Russia . . . VECO sought to obtain contracts with the Russian government to build some of these modules in Alaska . To meet the bid requirements for the projects, VECO needed to use Russian workers; however, in order to be able to work VECO's equipment, the Russian workers needed additional training on American equipment. . . In or around 1999, Allen contacted Senator Stevens to request Stevens' assistance in obtaining federal funding to train Russian workers in Alaska in connection with VECO's proposed module construction contracts. In August 1999, Allen and Senator Stevens traveled to Sakhalin Island to meet with Russian officials and the oil companies to improve VECO's standing and relationship with the Russian government and to help VECO secure construction contracts and federal funding for the training program.

Ø The Department Of Justice Revealed Evidence Alleging That Senator Stevens Again Assisted VECO With The Russian Training Program In 2004. According to new court documents released by the Department of Justice, “In approximately November 2004, VECO again solicited Senator Stevens for additional funding for the training of Russian workers in Alaska . On November 20, 2004, a VECO executive sent an e-mail to a former officer of VECO Construction, Inc., regarding the federal funds obtained to train workers in Sakhalin . In regards to the training money, the VECO executive wrote: Bill got Ted to fund this a few years ago. Bill went back to Ted Stevens over the weekend to ask about more money. Ted found $3 million that is available now. Stevens [s]taff person is going to call [an oil company executive] next week to make the money available so that Exxon can get some good publicity.” [Department Of Justice Court Documents for Criminal No. 1:08-cr-00231-EGS]

The Department Of Justice Revealed Evidence Alleging That VECO Solicited Senator Stevens For Help To Obtain Contracts To Rebuild Yugoslavia And Eastern Europe . According to new court documents released by the Department of Justice, “An April 1999 internal e-mail between VECO Vice President Rick Smith and other VECO employees discussed a trip that Allen was taking in early May 1999 to Washington , D.C. The e-mail described that the trip was for Allen to attend a meeting arranged by Senator Stevens with certain unidentified officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The purpose of the meeting was for VECO to attempt to obtain a federal contract, through FEMA, to do rebuilding projects in the former Yugoslavia region of Eastern Europe .” [Department Of Justice Court Documents for Criminal No. 1:08-cr-00231-EGS]

And Regardless Of Staged Photo Opportunities And Desperate Attempts To Cling To His Job, Stevens And His Campaign Are Struggling…

According To Campaign Finance Reports Filed This Week, Mayor Mark Begich Out-Raised Senator Stevens By Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars. According to the latest pre-primary campaign finance reports filed on August 13, 2008, Mark Begich raised $412,549.02 while Stevens only raised $269,274.00. [2008 Pre-Primary FEC Reports]

But Stevens Seems To Be The Only One Who Hasn’t Noticed…

The Washington Post’s The Fix Has Rated The Alaska Senate Race The Third Senate Race Most Likely To Switch Parties. As posted on The Fix, “Alaska (R): Even before Sen. Ted Stevens (R) was indicted by a federal grand jury last month, he was trailing Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) in most publicly released polls. If Stevens isn't acquitted (or winds up losing the primary) this seat is a lost cause for Republicans. (Previous ranking: 5)” [The Washington Post, 8/15/08]