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Sen. Stevens guilty of corruption charges
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-28 12:00 Stevens is the Senate's longest-serving Republican, at 40 years. He was popular in Alaska before the trial but is now in a tight re-election battle with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.
"This makes it more difficult," for Stevens, said Nathan Gonzales of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. "Still, I wouldn't count Stevens out because he is an icon in the state." News of the verdict broke as Stevens was appearing via prerecorded television statements in a live debate with Begich, Young, and Young's Democratic challenger, Ethan Berkowitz. Democrat Control The loss of Stevens' seat could help Democrats control 60 seats in the 100-seat chamber, enough to overcome potential Republican roadblocks. He was the first sitting senator on trial since 1981, when New Jersey Democrat Harrison Williams was convicted of bribery. The Senate could vote to expel a convicted felon with a two-thirds vote, but no action is expected before next week's election. Since 1789, the Senate has expelled only 15 members. Prosecutors charged that Bill Allen, the former head of oil-services firm VECO Corp., provided extensive home renovations for Stevens' house in the ski-resort town of Girdwood, near Anchorage. Allen and others also provided gifts including a $2,700 massage chair, a $29,000 fish sculpture, stained-glass artwork, a gas grill and furniture. Stevens called his former friend a liar. He said his wife oversaw the renovations and thought she had paid for them. He said the massage chair and other items were either unwanted or loaned, not given, to him. |
