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Political Punch

Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper

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Teddy Bear

July 31, 2007 3:21 PM

On the same day Democrats were heralding a new lobbying and ethics reform package, both the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate today refused to comment on the FBI raid on the home of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

The FBI's political corruption probe into oil services company VECO, the Associated Press reported today, has led to recent federal grand jury testimony from Barbara Flanders, a financial clerk for Stevens on the Senate Commerce Committee. Flanders, the AP reported, provided documents relating to the senator's bills.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was asked about the House GOP policy of removing from committee assignments Members of Congress under investigation, but Reid would have none of it.

"We have to be careful about punishing people during an investigation," Reid said. "Many investigations go nowhere."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, likewise said he would not comment since, after all, "Sen. Stevens has four decades of service in the United States Senate." McConnell said he "will be discussing the matter with my conference."

As the FBI noose began to tighten earlier this month, Stevens said he had received "overwhelming support" from his fellow Senators on the matter since "it's sort of a family, the Senate family comes around when someone's got a problem, and they've all encouraged me, 'Don't get excited about this' because so many people have been through it in their own states and it's not an easy thing."

Asked by ABC News what the American people would think about this sentiment expressed by a senator whose home was just raided by the FBI, McConnell said, "I don’t have anything to add to the Stevens matter beyond what I said."

For his part, Stevens slipped out the back door of the weekly GOP luncheon. Followed by industrious reporters peppering with questions, the 83-year old lawmaker met their inquiries with a chilling silence, angry glares, and no comment. Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in US Senate history, is up for re-election next year.

-- jt

July 31, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (3)

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If he is the building block of what this country has gone through with the lies and deceit of this administration...then he is just as guilty as the rest of the tyrants of this administration. Preventing the truth from coming out, invading a country that we had no business invading, the loss of American blood for profit, going after Americans who voice concern and expose the truth. This guy and his boss are worms. But, we all know that his successor will be a brown noser and someone who will contribute to the trash pile of this administration. God help us all.

Posted by: Me | Aug 13, 2007 11:26:25 AM

Or all of the above.

Posted by: bobby stickers | Aug 1, 2007 9:43:52 AM

What I'd like to know is exactly what dirt Sen. Stevens has on the other senators to make them all fold like cheap umbrellas when it comes to standing up for ethics reform and removing him from his assignments. Polaroids? Scandalous love letters? Proof of extramarital trysts? Or maybe just fear of retaliation from a political hack who knows where the bodies are buried?

Posted by: chuck | Aug 1, 2007 8:39:11 AM

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