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Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jul 30, 2008

Prosecutors said Stevens "took multiple steps to continue" receiving things from VECO and its founder, Bill Allen. The indictment says Allen and other VECO employees were soliciting Stevens for "multiple official actions ... knowing that Stevens could and did use his official position and his office on behalf of VECO during that same time period."

VECO's requests included funding and other aid for the company's projects and partnerships in Pakistan and Russia. It also included federal grants from several agencies, as well as help in building a national gas pipeline in Alaska's North Slope Region, according to the indictment filed in Washington.

Stevens has maintained he didn't do anything for VECO that he didn't do for any other constituent or pro-Alaska interest. The indictment stops short of charging Stevens with bribery or other traditional corruption crimes.

Had prosecutors been able to prove any special treatment for VECO, that could have triggered much more serious charges.

VECO was once the dominant force in Alaska's oil services industry. Its founder, Allen, and vice president, Rick Smith, have pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers to push legislation to help the company. That initial investigation into VECO spawned the Stevens probe.

Allen agreed to cooperate with the FBI as part of a plea deal for a lesser penalty. That cooperation included letting the FBI tape his phone calls with Stevens, though those calls do not appear as part of the indictment.

Throughout the investigation, Stevens has remained an iconic figure in Alaska. A moderate Republican, he has served almost 40 years in the Senate, where he unabashedly steered money to his remote and sparsely populated home state. He often drew criticism from outside Alaska for going around the traditional appropriations process to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars for pet projects.

The Justice Department has closely followed that money, looking for where it intersects with the senator's son, Ben, who also is under investigation concerning financial ties to a company that stood to make millions off a piece of federal legislation his father wrote.

Tuesday's indictment comes a year after another Republican senator, Larry Craig of Idaho, pleaded guilty to charges arising out of a Minneapolis airport men's room sex sting.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., called Stevens a hero, adding, however, he didn't know any details about the indictment. "All of us have times that we have to deal with that are tough," Warner said. "I wish him the best."

Another GOP colleague, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said, "I've known Ted Stevens for 28 years, and have always known him to be impeccably honest."

The last sitting senator to be indicted in federal court was Republican Sen. David Durenberger of Minnesota, who was charged in 1993 with conspiring to file fraudulent claims for Senate reimbursement of $3,825 in lodging expenses. He eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to one year of probation and a $1,000 fine.