So, the
Alaska GOP is claiming Senator Begich (D) should resign since Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder, dropped the indictment against former Senator Stevens (R). Stevens lost to Begich in a close election in 2008, one no doubt that was impacted by Stevens' conviction on seven counts of lying and corruption. Holder took the action due to issues involving prosecutorial misconduct (such as the then prosecutors not turning over all evidence to the defense), and Stevens' lawyer railed against "the improper influence of the corrupt Department of Justice".
Never mind the irony of a GOP Senator praising Obama's DOJ, while slamming Bush's DOJ for being too political and corrupt. The real issue here is Ted Stevens is still corrupt. The man wasn't just cleared of all charges and vindicated, as some in the GOP are trying to pretend. Holder rightfully dropped the case as the prosecution had violated its legal and ethical standards. But lets not forget that a long FBI investigation showed that Stevens was accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of home renovations from an oil contractor he had aided politically with contracts and other favors, and then tried to conceal it.
The amazing part of this to me was even after he was convicted on 7 counts brought by a Republican Justice Department, Alaska voters still almost voted him back in (he lost the 2008 election by 1%, or about 4,000 votes). I guess it takes more than a mere series of convictions on corruption charges to turn off Alaska voters.
And for anyone who missed the classic Ted Stevens' "series of tubes" rant, enjoy....
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=85391&title=sen.-ted-stevens
Ted Stevens filed this week for the 2014 Senate election, although his campaign people say its not necessarily a sign he is running, but instead so he can accept contributions. Sure, now he cares about making sure all his contributions are legal.
