Stevens Guilty On All Counts

by: Chris Bowers

Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 16:04


Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has been found guilty on all counts. This might come as a disappointment to the prosecution, but apparently they didn't screw it up somehow.

I have to believe this puts the Alaska Senate race in the bag.
Chris Bowers :: Stevens Guilty On All Counts

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Stevens Guilty On All Counts | 33 comments
SCHWING! (0.00 / 0)
OK, that's a senate pickup #8, and Jim Martin is #9. Who's gonna be #10 to make sure that Lieberman is utterly superfluous?

Conduct your own interview of Sarah Palin!
I dunno... (4.00 / 3)
Those Alaskan voters are kinda mavericky.  Conviction on seven felony counts by a jury in Washington DC (the anti-America part of America) might be a badge of honor. ;-)

War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength; McCain/Palin 2008
[ Parent ]
Just curious... (4.00 / 1)
Does this mean he has to step down now?  What are the Senate ethics rules anyway?  I know that Repubs relaxed them so that you could be indicted, but what about convicted?
on TV they said (0.00 / 0)
The senate would have to vote to expel him, which certainly makes sense.  Hopefully the voters will take care of it.


New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.
[ Parent ]
here is the Consitution on expelling (0.00 / 0)
Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

So you would need a number of Republicans (esp. since Inouye seems to be Stevens' best friend.)   On the other hand, with a Republican governor to choose the replacement, they might be willing.



New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

[ Parent ]
Really? (0.00 / 0)
You think they're going to back him up now that he's been convicted?  That seems like it'd put their own seat in jeopardy, and that's something politicians hate to do. =)
[ Parent ]
I imagine they would convince him to resign (0.00 / 0)
Rather than bring it to a vote, much like Nixon.  That assumes he wins the election somehow, though, and I suppose that he could then claim he is vindicated by the election.  So here's my order of probability

1. Stevens loses in Nov, so it doesn't matter.
2. Stevens wins in Nov, loses his appeal, and is forced to resign by his collagues.
3. Stevens wins election, wins appeal, says he is vindicated by thos etwo events, stays in Senate.
4. Wins Election, loses appeal, fights, is kicked out of Senate.



New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

[ Parent ]
The Rot Runs Much Deeper in Alaska (0.00 / 0)
A secessionist party? That can't be a good sign...
Good, my excuse to refer to Doonesbury again (4.00 / 7)

My immediate reaction exactly (0.00 / 0)
I love that cartoon.

War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength; McCain/Palin 2008
[ Parent ]
Ex-ACT-ly.... (0.00 / 0)
The first visual in my head too....
[ Parent ]
ted stevens instant reaction (4.00 / 2)


"I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that."
-Lawrence Summers
Nightmare scenario... (0.00 / 0)
...Palin pulls some strings and steals the election for Stevens. he gets kicked out of the Senate and who does she nominate in his place?  Why herself, of course!

REID: Voting against us was never part of our arrangement!
SPECTER: I am altering the deal! Pray I don't alter it any further!
REID: This deal keeps getting worse all the time!
poor Ted (4.00 / 9)
Sarah Palin just released a statement:  "I'm glad that the court cleared Senator Stevens of any wrong-doing."
Please tell me your not kidding! (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
I'm betting... (0.00 / 0)
I hear you on the Prosecution... Never seen a case so poorly prosecuted since the OJ murder trial.   I'm betting this may be over turned on Appeals, but that's fine... he should be toast in the election.    

Don't discount the possibility of Bush pardoning him before leaving office.    At this point, Prison may literally be a life sentence...

But his career should be over.

As That Estimable Legal Commentator Nelson Muntz Would Say... (4.00 / 1)
"Ha! Ha!"

Talk about a bridge to nowhere.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

This year's foley (4.00 / 1)
Man, when the wind is at your back, it just keeps gusting.  Is there room for another nail in the GOP coffin?  

Best part is, Stevens is such a huge socialist, spreading all kinds of lower-48 wealth to Alaska.  

That was my thought (0.00 / 0)
I wonder if this could hurt Repubs beyond Alaska. Indirectly I mean. Remember the 2006 exit poll had corruption on a par with Iraq as the defining issue. It certainly doesn't help.
[ Parent ]
a boon for charity? (4.00 / 1)
I'll have to take a look to see who all is implicated... but I'm willing to bet there are some Republican members of Congress who have received campaign contributions from Ted Stevens.

They call me Clem, Clem Guttata. Come visit wild, wonderful West Virginia Blue
just gott sing .. (4.00 / 1)
"Sorry, Nicky, human nature-
Nothing I can do!
It's...
Schadenfreude!
Making me feel glad that I'm not you."

Republicans can't fix our country; they're too busy saddlebacking.
Dio-bolical! (0.00 / 0)
A conspiracy-minded friend of mine posits this scenario: Steven steps down.  The governor of Alaska, having lost in the national election but having tasted the fruit of big-time politics, makes an appointment--herself.
Only if he wins... (0.00 / 0)
Which, I imagine, is probably unlikely now.

But if he wins, then yeah... he steps down and we lose the seat to who knows who.

[ Parent ]
Plan seems to assume (0.00 / 0)
That Stevens will win reelection next week
[ Parent ]
Plan seems tgo assume (0.00 / 0)
Yes, of course.  Alaskans will re-elect him to spite the lower forty-eight.  That's the other part of the theory.
[ Parent ]
Eyes on the Prize (0.00 / 0)
Obviously this is a big bucket full of good for Begich, though, this being AK, I can't fully convince myself Stevens will lose, even now.  The real question is what impact it has on the national race.  Will the MSM play up the Stevens-Palin connection?  My guess, since they've largely let her skate by on it so far, is that the answer is no.  What benefit Obama derives, if any, is one more news cycle that it's difficult for McCain to win.
Before speculating, the facts ... (4.00 / 2)
FACTS:

1) AK gov doesn't appoint successor - there's a special election (however, she could run)

2) it takes 2/3rds of the Senate to expel Stevens (who probably has blackmail insurance against more than 1/3rd.

3) Bush can't commute like he did with Scooter because sentencing (at the request of the Defense) is 9 days after Bush mercifully leaves office

Resume speculation!

Commute? (0.00 / 0)
Why commute when he can pardon? As far as I know, he doesn't have to wait for sentencing to begin before he can pardon him.  Consider it a (likely) done deal.
[ Parent ]
Is that how pardoning works? (0.00 / 0)
Do you pardon for any and all crimes committed by that person?

So, if Bush pardons a whole group of people, and one turns out to have been some child molester somewhere - that person cannot be prosecuted for that crime?

[ Parent ]
Nixon never got convicted (4.00 / 1)
Pre-emptive pardons aren't unheard of.

Forgotten Countries - a foreign policy-focused blog
[ Parent ]
Kay Hagan Camp: Dole must return $11k of Stevens' money (4.00 / 1)
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (AK) was found guilty today on all counts. According to the indictment, Stevens "knowingly and willfully engaged in a scheme to conceal a material fact" covering up the gifts he received from an Alaskan oil company.

"Elizabeth Dole returned only a portion of the $21,000 Ted Stevens gave to her campaign when he was indicted. He's now a convicted felon and any excuse she had previously has gone out the window. Dole must now return the remaining $11,000, or else send the message to North Carolinians that she and her colleagues in the U.S. Senate, like Ted Stevens, are open for business," Hagan Campaign Communications Director Colleen Flanagan said. "In addition, she must immediately and forcefully oppose any pardon that George Bush may offer Stevens on his way out of office in January. The American people have had enough, and with every vote cast, they are sending a clear message that more of the same is no longer the way it's going to be. A pardon of Ted Stevens, and Dole's silence on the matter, would fly in the face of all the hardworking Americans who know that our elected representatives are there to serve us, not themselves."

Among other things, Stevens accepted the construction of a new first floor, garage and wraparound deck on a vacation home he called the "chalet." Dole received $1,000 from Stevens' campaign committee and she received $20,000 from his political action committee (PAC), Northern Lights PAC. As the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Dole also accepted more than $230,000 from Stevens' PAC on behalf of the NRSC.

Disclosure: I am Kay Hagan's Online Communications Director

Can Stevens vote for himself? (4.00 / 2)
The Alaska constitution (Art. V, ยง 2) provides:

No person may vote who has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude unless his civil rights have been restored.

The statutory definition of "moral turpitude" (AK Stat. 15.60.010(8)) includes a whole list of crimes, including:

those crimes that are immoral or wrong in themselves such as ... offering a false instrument for recording, scheme to defraud, falsifying business records, commercial bribe receiving, commercial bribery, bribery, receiving a bribe, perjury, perjury by inconsistent statements, ... interference with official proceedings, ...

Presumably a pardon would "restore" his civil rights.  So, unless a pardon comes before the election, though he can serve as a Senator, Stevens cannot legally cast a ballot for himself; not that it will make any difference in the outcome -- I just find it a bit ironic.  

Also... (0.00 / 0)
Regardless of a pardon, it should also be grounds for disbarment -- though, I have not checked the AK bar requirements for that.
[ Parent ]
Stevens Guilty On All Counts | 33 comments
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