Senator Stevens guilty of all seven corruption counts

Legal Newsline ^ | 10/27/08

[jasonmyos]

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) -- A Washington(D.C.) jury on Monday found U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska guilty of all seven corruption counts he was charged with over gifts he accepted from an oil industry contractor but failed to report.

Jurors said Stevens, who is running for a seventh term, deliberately failed to disclose on mandatory Senate financial disclosure forms more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts from the oil company VECO and its chief executive officer, Bill Allen.

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for five hours Monday before returning the guilty verdicts.

[americanophile]

Thanks for not resigning and giving another Republican a chance to hold onto that seat, Ted. Selfish old bastard.

[EGPWS]

Yet another reason for term limits. Good riddance.

Ditto!

Too bad he's too old to fulfill a good stiff term in the hoosegow!

[ari-freedom]

mccain always hated stevens.

[ari-freedom]

because stevens had so much power. go after him and no $ for you!

[Def Conservative]

I hope Alaskans vote him in anyway and let Palin pick the nominee

[Purrcival]

Tell that to West Virginia. Lotsa stuff named for Robert KKK Byrd there.

[Purrcival]

Tell that to West Virginia. Lotsa stuff named for Robert KKK Byrd there.

[LeonardFMason]

CORRECT.

[Eagle Forgotten]

Stevens has been convicted. He cannot retain his seat while in prison. If he resigns the day after the election (assuming he wins), Palin gets to appoint the person who would be his replacement.

The linked article says that Stevens CAN retain his seat:
"If he wins his re-election race against Democratic Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, Stevens can continue to hold his seat because there is no rule barring convicted felons from serving in Congress. The Senate, however, could vote to expel Stevens on a two-thirds vote."

If he does win re-election and then resigns, or gets ousted by the Senate, I don't think Palin plays any role. According to Wikipedia, the Governor of Alaska doesn't have the appointment power. (Voters removed it in 2004, ticked off at Frank Murkowski for appointing his daughter to succeed him in the Senate.) Presumably that means the seat stays vacant until they can hold a special election.

[FTL]

William Jefferson - Democrat, Louisiana - NEXT!

[LeonardFMason]

His “friends” turned on him to cut good deals for themselves.

[dr_who]

All’s well that ends well for the blight of the GOP.

[thefrankbaum]

Does that mean we need to rename the State of Robert Byrd?

[gracesdad]

“I was surprised they went after him for such a small thing, compared to the rest of the corrupt office holders in DC etc.”

Yep, should have just ignored it. Only a few hundred thousand.

[TexasRedeye]

I think he meant "Ces't la Vie"....French for "Such is Life".

Thankd you. After spending ten years in Quebec, I still couldn't figure it out!

[cva66snipe]

What irony. The man who refused to convict and remove the Liar in Chief is convicted himself. Don't let the door hit ya on the way out Ted.

[soycd]

He should have stepped down before this so we could have retained the seat.

[ElPatriota]

Excellent, it chould not have happened to a more arrogant bastard. I hope he goes you jail.

[RasterMaster]

If Stevens had been a DUmocrat, he’d get a committee chairman position out of it.

[Theodore R.]

It takes a constitutional amendment for congressional term limits. Something that will never happen. The American people would rather be communist than require that their own members be limited.