Stevens: FBI crossed the line in Alaska corruption probe
Originally published Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 12:46 p.m.
Updated Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 9:23 p.m.
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Stumble It!WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Stevens accused the Justice Department of trampling on the independence of Congress, arguing Thursday that the corruption case against him should be thrown out.
That legal argument will test the limits of a court ruling that prosecutors fear could limit their ability to investigate corruption on Capitol Hill. Stevens said FBI agents went too far when they questioned his Senate aides.
The Alaska Republican is scheduled to go on trial next month on charges that he lied on Senate disclosure records about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and services he received from a powerful oil services contractor, VECO Corp.
Stevens said the FBI’s long-running corruption probe intruded on his Senate affairs. He cited the Constitution’s speech-or-debate clause, which prohibits the executive branch from using its law enforcement authority to interfere with legislative business.
The Justice Department predicted this would happen after an appeals court ruled last year that the FBI violated the constitution by searching the Capitol Hill office of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. The Supreme Court refused to reconsider the case and prosecutors said lawmakers already had begun arguing that their aides could not be questioned.
Legislative staffers have proven to be crucial witnesses in recent corruption cases. If Stevens prevails on this issue, it would be a blow to the Justice Department’s power.
Anticipating Stevens’ argument, the Justice Department filed its own court documents Thursday night, saying legislative speech issues were irrelevant.
“The government’s criminal case against Senator Stevens is not based on his legislative activities, but on his receipt of financial benefits and his need to conceal those benefits from public scrutiny,” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors also officially acknowledged for the first time that it taped telephone conversations between Stevens and VECO founder Bill Allen.
In court documents Thursday, Stevens also argued that it’s up to the Senate, not the Justice Department, to enforce Senate rules about financial disclosure. If the Senate feels he violated its rules, it can punish him, he said.
Stevens, the Senate’s longest-serving Republican, has been a political force in Alaska since before it became a state. He has been dogged by the corruption case and now faces a challenge in the Republican primary.
He asked for an unusually speedy trial that he hopes will clear his name in time for the November election.
VECO employees normally build oil drilling and processing equipment. But VECO workers led the renovation of the senator’s home, a project that was overseen by company founder and longtime Stevens friend Bill Allen. Stevens says he paid every bill he received.
Prosecutors say he got hundreds of thousands of dollars in freebies and discounted work that Stevens should have disclosed.
Though prosecutors say he also performed official Senate actions that benefited VECO, they don’t accuse him of bribery.
In their filing Thursday, prosecutors outlined a series of conversations and e-mails in which Stevens apparently offered VECO help. In particular, prosecutors describe his help pushing for an Alaskan natural gas pipeline that would have benefited VECO. In one 2006 conversation, Stevens told Allen he would try to use his Washington connections to push forward the stalled pipeline deal.
The pipeline never materialized. Stevens’ supporters have maintained that the senator long has supported the pipeline project, well before the VECO case.
Stevens also set up a meeting between VECO and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, prosecutors said.
Stevens’ attorneys said Thursday that prosecutors were trying to insinuate bribery without actually charging it. They asked a judge not to let jurors see a paragraph in the indictment about those official actions.
“This language is blatantly inflammatory and prejudicial,” attorneys wrote.
Community Discussion
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I stand in awe of this tortured legal logic. It's almost as rich as when Chaney announced he wasn't part of the executive branch.
This is also a fairly bad idea for him, and doesn't make much sense. God knows if he gets it thrown out, there'll a nasty fight to come. Better to get this all past him by Nov. Why does he want this to drag on?
Wow.
It's not often that I'm speechless.
It isn't bad enough they vote themselves pay raises and benefits packages the rest of us get to pay for with our taxes but now the Little Runt feels they should be able to excuse themselves from the laws of the land at will. I guess it's an excellent example of just how much having power can overpower a sense of common decency.
Since when does a new addition on a personal residence constitute legislative business? C'mon Ted, when you reach for straws like this it makes you look twice as guilty.
Nice try, Uncle Ted! :-(
Ted's right.When I'm speeding in my car General Motors should scold me,not the state.What the?
Dirty Pool. While the importance of separation of powers must be maintained for the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches to maintain power, it's definitely a cheap tactic.
He may be right, in a legal sense, but using this clause puts him more in question in a moral sense.
My God, he sounds completely delusional. He should know better than anyone else that the laws that he passed are enforced nearly 98% of the time. Does he really think he it above the law? If so, then he should be committed to API for an indeterminate time. He is obviously crazy. As in insane. So of course we can expect Don Young to be next in this kind of delusion.
And by the way, let me add: what a total jerk to put his own failings in public. He seems to have no shame at all.
Ted supporters should be even more embarassed to support someone whose ego has gotten so big that he thinks he is above the law. Lets see... Don't worry corrupt senators will police corrupt senators. Another sign that if this is his reality he needs to go and like his trial soon.
Interesting defense. We'll see. But I doubt it'll work.
Same ol', same ol'.
Like the cops; got the fox guarding the hen house.
Just like Willie Jefferson, the one with the $90,000 of bribe money in a freezer in his basement.
dog
I think that he is just following his legal advice. This may be a loophole that is only available to the legislators of our country, but I am sure anyone who is convicted of a crime would follow the advice of their attorney. I don't think this makes him look any more or less guilty. It's just the political/judicial game that is being played. Lawyers are slimy sometimes, but if they are worth what they are being paid, they often succeed at these tactics. If he is innocent, I don't care how we get to the verdict...let's just get there. And if he's guilty...that will come out too.
Good ole loop holes!
You have to admit:
Most of us would grab for any ace and throw it in the hole if we could.
Especially if we were rich enough to pay for a million dollars in legal fees.
I am not surprised.
I'd like to believe that innocent people do not need to find legal loop holes.
A speedy trial isn't necessary. It would seem clear that Ted Stevens has lost all credibility. Not even 1 comment I've read so far, indicates any support for him.
Thanks Ted, but I don't think it's the Justice department who's crossed the line here.
I just hope if by some fiasco the judge rules that aides cant be questioned, or that the justice department has no jurisdiction over congressmen, then a real cry for reform screams out.
Ted Stevens is innocent. He is trying to get a speedy trial to clear his name before the elections.
If this is how he views the American legal system and the legislative branch, it is time for him to go, guilty or not. In my opinion he no longer stands for the America legal system if he thinks he is above the law. The question is regarding signing papers knowing not fully providing information is illegal. Who needs this man representing the great state of Alaska. It is a sad moment in Alaskan History.
We better hurry and name the Fairbanks airport for Don Young before he gets indicted too...
So what's apt to transpire, I predict, is the following.
The Little Runt will go to trial Sept.22, having won the primary for his party and office. Before Shrub Jr. is out of office, the Runt will be convicted of his crime. Shrub Jr. will do a Scooter Libby on him and the Runt will retire from politics, benefits intact, to become a very high-paid lobbyist, probably with an office in the same building as ex-Representative Don Young (who will still be the object of an investigation even though he is no longer in office).
I won't bet my lunch money on this scenario unfolding exactly as I have laid it out but I wouldn't be surprised if several of its major events come into being.
I really don't see how he expects to have a speedy trial. Seems like every day they are coming up with something new which will cause delay. I also have a problem with someone who wants to have their trial moved because it will hurt their campaign. He is getting enough press coverage whether he is in Alaska or Washington. I think we can decide how we feel about him without him actually being here.
First Uncle Ted demanded a very quick trial date. Then he claims he needs help sorting through the mountains of evidence. Now he wants it all thrown out. Sounds just a bit erratic to me. This trial is something that Uncle Ted knew was very likely to happen for a long time. I would think if there was ever any kind of forethought to what was obviously going to happen, he would of called foul to begin with. Seems to be a lets try this first kind of stunt. Then if that fails lets deal with the mess. It just all gives me a sickening feeling.
OR....(to amend my earlier prognostications)...Unca Ted, against his attorney's advice but because he is an attorney himself....will take the stand, start to wax wrathful, and fall into an apopletic fit that would make Monty Python take notice. He will then be carted off to the Blessed Acres Home for the Incurably Bombastic where he will spend the remainder of his years making woven baskets and now and then falling into a loud tirade against the world in general (at which point the attendants will give him some cookies and warm milk then lead him off to beddy-bye).
dobieman---
Is that where you live? If not, I'm sure that you'd fit right in.
I'd love to see a trial take place in the courts, rather than the court of public opinion though - that whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing. I'd like to see this without legal "loopholes" - those just make the innocent look guilty or allows the guilty to get off without paying their debt.
That's enough Teddy. Resign.
Behaving like a true Alaskan politician. God luv ya, Unkie! We do.
Check the Anchorage Daily News, more evidence regarding accepting un report gifts of a condo, cars, jobs, etc. Looks like it is only the beginning of what the evidence will disclose. A lot more than a home repair job.
Do I look like a turnip?
I'm not too cranky about Ted's getting a few extra creature comforts forked over to him by VECO, that just makes him look like he took a bath in pork gravy, and if he sits in the sunshine too long he'll just attract flies for our amusement.
What I am cranky about is all of the Discombobulating Nincompoopery that has gone on in WARshington over the past 100years largely unimpeded by a Senate full of disastrous goofballs.
...and how many important/secret committees has Ted been responsible for over the years???
For tiny slice of life example:
http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/modules.php...
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http://www.takeoverworld.info/proterrori...
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The Congress has driven this economy into incalculable debt...
if I got caught kiting my checkbook like that they'd throw me in the Looney Bin.
http://www.truthout.org/article/the-depl...
In my opinion all of WARshington District of Criminals has consistently flunked the sanity test for the past 100years.
My family and friends [me too] have witnessed plenty of events first hand over the past 100years that when put to the challenge of the "Official Historical Version of Events" either makes me or Congress out to be pathological liars.
I've never been convicted of anything worse than a minor traffic ticket, and I have no debts, no mortgage.
I hardly believe the official-version of anything because I have known too many thousands of interesting people over the years who have BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, AND GOT THE BLOODY TEE-SHIRT COMPLETE WITH BULLET-HOLES.
...I didn't fall of a turnip truck last week.
just_me,
Your claim about the soldiers return to their families being delayed by the President's visit are false. Their flight landed early, and their travel plans were not affected by the visit. Soldiers don't like dog and pony shows after a deployment. They wanted to get home to their families as quickly as possible and that's what they got. This visit was not a mandatory event for soldiers and there was limited attendance possible. Please check your facts before you use soldiers or their families to make a point. Every installation has a public affairs office and the people working there can verify my statement.
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