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Erika Bolstad

Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau in 2007, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He spent three years based in Juneau for the ADN before joining the Tacoma News-Tribune to write about Washington state politics. He went to Iraq twice for the News Tribune, and previously wrote about Alaska government and politics for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers politics and other stories for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously was a reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com

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Stevens statement - "I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that."

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: July 29, 2008 - 12:40 pm

Statement from Alaska Senator Ted Stevens

I have proudly served this nation and Alaska for over 50 years. My public service began when I served in World War II. It saddens me to learn that these charges have been brought against me. I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. Senator.

In accordance with Senate Republican Conference rules, I have temporarily relinquished my vice-chairmanship and ranking positions until I am absolved of these charges.

The impact of these charges on my family disturbs me greatly.

I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that.

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37 November 10, 2008 - 6:12am | y4yycom

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36 October 18, 2008 - 3:27am | games

thanks

35 July 30, 2008 - 12:39pm | kaiakokonok

God I pray that he is

God I pray that he is innocent. He is a great man. He is one of the few white men that truly understand the needs of the Natives. He has done so much for my people. I still have the letter from him from 14 years ago where he and I discussed a national holiday for Natives. He charmed me by humbly responding when I respectfully told him that he had dodged the issue.

July 31, 2008 - 10:25am | muzungu

Ah yes, he's done so much

Ah yes, he's done so much for "your people" and us Alaskans as well ----- but at what (and at whose) expense?

Ted Stevens, and the worship of his power and politcal pull, is emblematic of everything that is wrong with this country today. Let me sum it up: "Give me, give me mine, give me mine now, and to Hell with everyone and everything else."

34 July 30, 2008 - 4:10am | seanothing

Silly isn't it.....

All the press, all the speculation and in the end George Bush will pardon Ted on the way out the door. That's the Fatcat way of doing business in the United States. You pay the bill after your caught not before.

July 30, 2008 - 7:53am | tom32

What about Dem Senator Dodd?

If Stevens is guilty Bush will not pardon him. If you're comparing this to Libby, such is an apples and oranges comparison. It is interesting how Republicans are hunted down while Democrats like Chis Dodd get away receiving favors from their constituents -- and no talk of prosecution.

July 30, 2008 - 8:09am | seanothing

CIRI and Ted

Ted didn't pay his hunting and fishing bill at the Natives resort until someone caught him accepting free trips. Fatcat business in Alaska man!

33 July 29, 2008 - 9:33pm | s_thyng

Certainly, lets just 'scrap them all and start from scratch'

Unfortunately, 'scratch' means Democrats. Why, thats it! All we have to do to get clean government is to get the Republicans out and the Democrats in! Dems like Obama, who got good deals for 'Projects' developers who made tons of money and then let their 'Projects' go to pieces due to lack of maintenance? But thats not his fault, though.

32 July 29, 2008 - 9:20pm | AKH

I hope Ted is found not guilty

Bill Allen may have given Ted a good deal without ever telling Ted about it. Ted got billed and paid them. If Bill told Ted he was being under billed then Ted would have paid them.

If Ted did'nt know he was being under billed then he could could not report it.

I do not trust anything Bill Allen says and I do not trust the Federal Scalp hunters.

July 30, 2008 - 12:01am | Diogenes_lamp

It's called denial...

open your eyes and think. Ted is not a stupid man, he knew exactly what was going on. All the indicted and convcted did. When have you EVER heard a caught, crooked politician claim anything but innocence?

July 30, 2008 - 12:03am | Sheridan_Sheraton

Larry Craig? But he did/has

Larry Craig?

But he did/has denied being gay.

July 30, 2008 - 9:12am | Diogenes_lamp

no, even Larry...

changed his mind and claimed to be innocent. He wasn't seeking sex with men...remember, he just had a wide stance.

July 30, 2008 - 2:52pm | Sheridan_Sheraton

Or trying to get some TP or

Or trying to get some TP or something, anything..

31 July 29, 2008 - 9:12pm |

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30 July 29, 2008 - 8:56pm | grolaw

He's as innocent as Larry Craig

is straight.

Bush will pardon him - possibly next week. Can't lose a certain Rethuglican seat just because he was caught doing what Rethuglican's do.

Ted should be indicted, tried, convicted and stripped of his criminal gains....but, he won't. Thicker than thieves has real meaning...

July 29, 2008 - 9:20pm | rfn

Though I know you will find it

inconvenient, there can be no pardon unless/until there is a conviction.

If there is one, I believe we'll securely be an obamanation by then.

July 29, 2008 - 9:46pm | HD

Nope, wrong.

A president can issue a pardon at any time. Ask Jerry Ford. Highly unlikely in this instance, though.

July 30, 2008 - 9:12am | akmooster

i think you are right HD...

And i think we can expect it in the waning hours of this presidency. Bets?

July 30, 2008 - 10:44am | HD

It's a bet.

President Bush may be a corporatist insider (or useful idiot), a wastrel with our federal treasury, and a reckless foreign adventurer, but I doubt very much that he will pardon Ted Stevens. Whatever his faults, Bush and his advisors must know that such a pardon would cause even greater damage to the already battered Republican 'brand.'

July 29, 2008 - 9:15pm | Ter_H

So true......

Can you imagine the cell-phone airwaves are now clogged with the Alaska Mafia trying to figure out where they stand.

29 July 29, 2008 - 8:00pm | arctictraveler

when will we learn

We need to get rid of all the people running the state and start from scratch. When will we learn that when you put some one in charge who has money to begin with, they will cater to their own. They do not give a crap about the average people, just themselves and how they can profit even more from our blood sweat and tears. You want things to reflect your best intrest then put an average person in charge, until then all you will see is catering to big business and those who already have money. Maybe if the jobs to run our state did not pay so well there would be less intrest in it for the rich. They should only make the average wage of the area they represent. And if a state position pays so well why can t they pay rent like the rest of us, but no they make 200 k a year and live rent free no gas to pay for. The whole country is this way, and now we are letting Alaska do the same. What a shame, and all involved should be ashamed and embarassed to say the least. If found guilty all his property should be forfited just like a person caught committing a crime who used the money for their house car etc

28 July 29, 2008 - 7:38pm | Natalie_0

I never thought I would agree with Ted Stevens on anything...

but I found it. Yes Ted, I agree, the impact of the charges on your family SHOULD disturb you....VERY GREATLY. If you are, indeed, an honest ethical person, and not just "the great Senator of Alaska", then know your own limitations and take responsibility for your actions. In otherwords,....you made the bed...go lay in it!

27 July 29, 2008 - 6:09pm | Stags_Leap

Palin's trooper scandal makes the national press

along with Uncle Ted's little problem. This is a good read.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20080729/pl_cq_politics/politics2928674

26 July 29, 2008 - 5:29pm | gordonh729

I wonder when they will

I wonder when they will remove Ted's name off of our airport. Never did like the fact they put Steven's name on it.

25 July 29, 2008 - 4:48pm | tom12

there isnt a person in this town or State...

... who doesnt owe Ted a debt of gratitude for the roads he has help build, the clinics he has made accessible, and the airports of our state. The legal process will be what it is and will generate the result that it will. There is no need to attack a venerable Alaskan Icon like the Senator guilty or not. It is macabre and tastless

July 29, 2008 - 7:22pm | akjustice2day

Hey tom12

Perhaps you should let him steal your money, Tom. Now that would be in "good taste", as you are the victim, not me !?! Until they forgive every small time thief who has stolen money to support their drug habit, why should I forgive a man who has been given EVERY ADVANTAGE for years and years, but chose the path of dishonesty and corruption. It wasn't Ted Stevens who built the roads, it was the tax dollars that he will be found guilty of appropriating to his friends, in order to enrich family and in exchange for campaign contributioins and bribes.

Ted Stevens is a common crook.

24 July 29, 2008 - 4:40pm | erak

The timing of this is extraordinary.

After a lengthy investigation the Justice Department came up with nothing more than reporting violations, which they felt needed to be turned into an indictment just weeks before the Primary. This could very well help Ted and it should.

23 July 29, 2008 - 4:21pm | Northern_light

If it weren't for Uncle Ted...would Alaska even be here?

He has done so much for this state, for one...makeing us a state. He used illegal tactics in lobbying way back when to gain Alaska as part of the United States of America. Probobly a worse transgression then his little veco/girdwood home building project.

Most of you here remind me of band of villagers, holding pitchforks and torches going after the "witch". Have ANY of you truly done any research or know of all the good he has done? Alaska Sea Life Center Anyone???? Proponent for ANWR.......I could go on, but those of you who are so rude to convict before a guilty verdict is announced should really get their fingers googling. See Below.
The fight for Alaska statehood became Stevens' principal work at Interior. "He did all the work on statehood," Roger Ernst, Seaton's assistant secretary for public land management, later said of Stevens. "He wrote 90 percent of all the speeches. Statehood was his main project."[21] A sign on Stevens' door proclaimed his office "Alaskan Headquarters" and Stevens became known at the Department of the Interior as "Mr. Alaska."[20]

July 29, 2008 - 7:59pm | brdzwrd

Good golly.

I also read the aforementioned Daily News article (via Wikipedia) in which Stevens admits that he ILLEGALLY LOBBIED FOR STATEHOOD as a lawyer in the Department of the Interior --

"WE WERE VIOLATING THE LAW," Stevens told a researcher in an October 1977 oral history interview for the Eisenhower Library. "We were lobbying from the executive branch, and there's been a statute against that for a long time.... We more or less, I would say, masterminded the House and Senate attack from the executive branch." (David Whitney, ADN, 8/10/94)

I find it unconscionable, but unfortunately credible, that many Alaskans would rather have a Senator WHO KNOWINGLY BREAKS THE LAW than a Senator who follows his oath of office:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

According to HIS OWN WORDS, Mr. Stevens seems a "domestic enemy of the Constitution".

A wise man once said that voters get the candidate they deserve; until Alaskans value the integrity of a Senator over his ability to bring back unconstitutional pork to the State, should we really expect anything different?

July 29, 2008 - 8:20pm | rfn

Definitely proves

statehood should be immediately revoked. Then we can appeal to the United Nations for independence. But we'd have to move fast or the new administration would simply sell Alaska to Exxon to help reduce the deficit.

July 30, 2008 - 11:02am | pixieteeth

"We can squeal to the UN?"

As to balancing Exxon's balance sheet...that would be folly.

July 29, 2008 - 4:34pm | seanothing

Vintage wine

If Ted would part with some we could drink to that!

22 July 29, 2008 - 4:23pm | seanothing

What's New!

These guys have been pulling the strings for so long in Alaska they thought they were above the law. Move over Ted and make room for Don. We see Bubba in both your futures.

21 July 29, 2008 - 4:19pm | wjd20062001

Bet he asks for change of venue

And asks that the trial be held in Girdwood at the Double Musky! Also, what will his poor children think? Especially poor Ben, the fisherman.

20 July 29, 2008 - 4:17pm | crippen3

Senator Stevens arrest

It's a great year to be a Republican.

19 July 29, 2008 - 3:27pm | tamirochin

Yes let's change the name of the airport!!

Stevens is a rat! Let's change the airport to Herbie Nayokpuk International Airport! It sounds Alaskan and I Love saying that name!

18 July 29, 2008 - 3:26pm | trader

Blogs

Wouldn't it be more convenient to just go ahead and combine the Politics Blog and the Crime Blog? There's so much overlap anyway....

17 July 29, 2008 - 2:52pm | Stags_Leap

Palin flipflops on Stevens

she is screaming for Cowdrey to resign before the ink is even dry on the inidictment, but not with Stevens....

16 July 29, 2008 - 2:48pm | akmc

Great.

Now go ahead and prove it to us. I won't be holding my breath on that one though.

15 July 29, 2008 - 2:40pm | Samantha_McIntosh

What is he suppost to say?

I am guilty, take me away? he is gonna say that he is innocent and the public for the the most part can see strait through that!

14 July 29, 2008 - 2:29pm | AKCheese

Why does everyone find it so

Why does everyone find it so implausible that he'd hire VECO to be the general contractor on his home remodel

Every home remodelling contractor has to start somewhere

I for one am proud that Ted Stevens gave a new company a helping hand in thier new business venture

Where else could you get all that work done for what Ted paid?

13 July 29, 2008 - 3:45pm | twodux

Deja' Vu (We have all been here before)

OMG He's taking the Vic Kohring line of defense (Stolen from OJ Simpson who stole it from "The Fugative") "I'll prove I'm innocent."I guess next we'll be hearing it was the one armed man who did it.

12 July 29, 2008 - 2:13pm | AKN49

Of Course he says "I am Innocent"

Have any of the politicians admitted their guilt.......Ted has done a lot for Alaska, and the state has benefited from many of his efforts......but with that I think comes a sense of entitlement. He does not feel he did anything wrong, but that does not make it right.

July 29, 2008 - 2:33pm | watchman

Guilty pleas

No elected officials have yet pled guilty. Allen, Smith, and Bobrick pled guilty. Your point is taken, though. Ted Stevens is in a tough spot. Doesn't he lose his Senate pension if found guilty? And if found guilty, the IRS is waiting with regard to unreported income. And there is the possibility of incarceration at his age. What a way to end up after all that service. What a shame. He could have had a golden retirement in this state.

July 29, 2008 - 5:46pm | palmerbuyer

The IRS issue

is separate.

He doesn't have to be found 'guilty'. They do their own thing.

11 July 29, 2008 - 2:14pm | black33

Palin shares concern

But says it's time to complete important state work

July 29, 2008, Juneau, Alaska – Co-Governor Sarah Palin today released the following statement on U.S. Senator Ted Stevens’ indictment:

“News such as this rocks the foundation of our state. Senator Ted Stevens has dedicated his life to the betterment of Alaska. I share Alaskans’ concern and dismay at this turn of events.

“It is my hope our legislators do not let this distressing news distract them from their critical work in the investigation of the firing of Walt Monegan. This investigation is critical not only to my own political future, but could also help alleviate the moral crisis that is currently devastating my administration.”

"I also hope this news does not distract the Wasilla City Council from considering amendments to its box store regulations."

July 29, 2008 - 6:11pm | Stags_Leap

Palin should be concerned

her national image has just been tarnished:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20080729/pl_cq_politics/politics2928674

10 July 29, 2008 - 2:12pm | Diogenes_lamp

sure Ted's innocent...

first time we've ever heard an indicted politician in Alaska say that....err Vic was innocent, ahh Anderson was innocent, ahh Kott was innocent, Cowdery is innocent...blah blah blah.
Ted is an old crook...his son, Ben is a young crook.
Come to terms with it you mindless followers and minions of the Ruedrich led republican party...how many is it going to take, before you quit living in denial....Don and Ben are next.

9 July 29, 2008 - 2:09pm | paulgrant

It's Made of Tubes!

As in "Down the Tubes". And yes, we should give the airport a proper name.

8 July 29, 2008 - 2:08pm | ruppert

Let's name the airport after a REAL Alaskan

Hey, just think...a November election where you vote for some one other than Ted.

Remember, we only nominate Real Alaskan who have passed. Here's a few:

Jay Hammond
Don Sheldon
Bob Reeve
Noel Wien
Joe Redington
Norman Vaughn

No worries for the loosers...we have public facilities all over Anchorage for them too. How does "Joe Redington Coastal Trail" sound?