Stevens Conviction Is Only The Tip Of The Iceberg
Now that Senator Ted Stevens has been found guilty of lying about gifts from oil industry executives, it will be interesting to see whether federal prosecutors will finally go after his son. As the longest serving Republican in Senate history, the 84 year old Stevens is the poster boy for political corruption. While other politicians have abused their power to support lavish lifestyles for themselves, Stevens seems to have focused the bulk of his efforts on his son Ben.
The Senator is famous for pork barrel spending on notorious projects like the famous Bridge To Nowhere, but he has also been very effective in securing federal tax dollars for projects that directly benefit Ben. After Stevens earmarked $30 Million for the creation of the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board, Ben Stevens was selected as the chairman of the newly formed body. When Stevens secured $10 Million to bring the Special Olympics World Winter Games to Anchorage in 2001, Ben was paid over $700,000 to run the games.
With no experience or credentials other than his father’s name, Ben Stevens has collected millions of dollars in bogus consulting fees. He has also been the subject of a federal investigation into corruption in the Alaska State Senate, a body to which he was appointed with no prior political experience. Many of his colleagues have already been indicted or convicted, but so far no charges have been brought against Ben.
Prosecutors are usually reluctant to press charges unless they are confident that they can win a conviction. Stevens is only the fifth sitting Senator in history to be convicted of a crime while in office. Now that they have proven that they can bring down one of the most powerful members of the Senate, I predict that we will see many more serious charges brought against Senator Stevens and his son. He may be too old to serve any actual jail time, but he will certainly live out the remainder of his life defending himself in court.