Poor John McCain really didn’t think this through very well. Or maybe he did. I can’t decide which would be worse. Either way, the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate got him a weekend of nonstop press coverage, and made the right wing nuts in his party very happy. But things appear to be turning around now as the media and the blogosphere have begun digging into who Sarah Palin really is.
Then there is the very interesting information about Palin’s membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. The AIP wants Alaska to secede from the United States. And the McCain campaign will have a hell of a time denying this one, since Palin recorded a message to the 2008 AIP Convention.
OOPS! One might wonder if someone who doesn’t want her state to be part of this country should really be Vice President. This might be a problem.
And don’t forget “Troopergate,” Palin’s ongoing problem concerning her firing of Alaska’s chief public safety officer for refusing to fire the ex-husband of Palin’s sister.
ABC News points out that Congressman Don Young (R - AK) is under investigation for dealings with Veco, the same company that Senator Ted Stevens got in trouble for dealing with. Young has also been tied (though not charged) to Jack Abramoff; a former staffer plead guilty in relation to the Abramoff scandal.
It’s not the crime that gets you, it’s the coverup. Looks like that holds true for Ted Stevens. The indictment is for seven counts of false statements.
Lesson: when you commit a crime, do not lie about it if telling that lie is breaking the law as well. Remember, “you have the right to remain silent.”
Here’s the press release from DOJ:
WASHINGTON – United States Senator Theodore F. Stevens of Alaska was charged today in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia with seven counts of making false statements related to Stevens’ financial disclosure forms, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced.
The seven-count indictment charges Sen. Stevens, the former chairperson of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, with engaging in a nearly eight-year scheme to conceal his receipt of more than $250,000 in things of value from VECO Corporation, formerly a multi-national oil services company based in Alaska, and Bill J. Allen, the Chief Executive Officer of VECO at the time. According to the indictment, Stevens concealed these things of value from his publicly filed United States Senate financial disclosure forms. The things of value that Stevens allegedly received included: substantial home improvements to property Stevens owns in Girdwood, Alaska; automobile exchanges in which Stevens received new vehicles worth far more than the used vehicles Stevens provided in exchange; and household goods. The indictment also alleges that Sen. Stevens, during the same time that he was concealing his continuing receipt of these things of value from VECO and Allen, received solicitations for official actions from Allen and other VECO employees, and that Sen. Stevens used his position and office on behalf of VECO during that same time period.
Mr. Stevens, 84, was indicted on seven counts of falsely reporting income. The charges are related to renovations on his home and to gifts he has received. They arise from an investigation that has been under way for more than a year, in connection with the senator’s relationship with a businessman who oversaw the home-remodeling project.
…
Republicans on Capitol Hill were already jittery over a lobbying and influence-peddling scandal related to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is now in prison. Mr. Stevens’s troubles are not linked to that affair. Instead, they stem from his ties to an oil executive whose company won millions of dollars in federal contracts with the help of Mr. Stevens, whose home in Alaska was almost doubled in size in the renovation project.
Just what the GOP needed, a reminder of how corrupt they are. This will hurt the Republicans far beyond Alaska. As if people needed another reason not to vote Republican this year…
AS 15.25.110. Filling Vacancies By Party Petition.
If a candidate of a political party nominated at the primary election dies, withdraws, resigns, becomes disqualified from holding the office for which the candidate is nominated, or is certified as being incapacitated in the manner prescribed by this section after the primary election and 48 days or more before the general election, the vacancy may be filled by party petition. The central committee of any political party or any party district committee may certify as being incapacitated any candidate nominated by their respective party by presenting to the director a sworn statement made by a panel of three licensed physicians, not more than two of whom may be of the same political party, that the candidate is physically or mentally incapacitated to an extent that would in the panel’s judgment prevent the candidate from active service during the term of office if elected. The director shall place the name of the person nominated by party petition on the general election ballot. The name of a candidate disqualified under this section may not appear on the general election ballot.
In other words, the party can replace Stevens if he withdraws within 48 days of the general election. That would be sometime mid-September. Only problem for the GOP — they’ve got no one clean in the state. The Palin abuse-of-power scandal looms even larger today.
Update IV: The 48-days date is September 17. Now looking into whether Stevens can be replaced by his party without his consent. It seems that would be hard to impossible, but much depends on what state law and GOP party bylaws say. Note that no replacement can happen before the primary since there isn’t a nominee. In theory, one of Stevens’ primary opponents might win, but the anti-Stevens vote is split among 2-3 candidates, and none of them are high profile.
Obviously if Stevens stays in this race moves to Strong Democratic. Even with a Stevens withdrawal though I think Begich is highly likely to win this race now. Alaska is not a big state, and it seems pretty much every Republican there is tied to one scandal or another these days.
Sen. Ted Stevens from Alaska, the longest serving U.S. Republican senator ever, was indicted on seven counts related to his holding of public office, a federal law enforcement official said on Tuesday.
The U.S. Justice Department has scheduled a news conference for 1:20 p.m. to make an announcement “regarding a significant criminal matter.” The official said the news conference would announce the criminal charges against Stevens that have been returned by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C.
Poor John McCain really didn’t think this through very well. Or maybe he did. I can’t decide which would be worse. Either way, the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate got him a weekend of nonstop press coverage, and made the right wing nuts in his party very happy. But things appear to be turning around now as the media and the blogosphere have begun digging into who Sarah Palin really is.
