Paul Kiel August 31, 2006, 11:08 PM

Yesterday, the FBI raided the office of Ben Stevens, who’s president of the Alaska State Senate — and son of Sen. Ted “King of Pork” Stevens (R-AK). Investigators searched his office (and those of five other legislators) for evidence of any ties (“financial information and gifts”) between the lawmakers and VECO Corp., “an Anchorage-based oil field services and construction company whose executives are major contributors to political campaigns,” according to the AP. VECO, a reader notes, is one of father Ted Stevens’ biggest campaign contributors. Its employees donated $45,750 during his career. This is the second time in a week Ted Stevens’ name has made headlines at TPMmuckraker — earlier, readers will recall, he was unmasked on this site as being the GOP “masked holder” who held up the Obama/Coburn porkbusting transparency bill. Update: Is this part of what the Feds want to know about? From an April 28 article in the Anchorage Daily News: “Veco, an Alaska oil field services and construction company whose executives are major contributors to Republican political campaigns, paid [Ben] Stevens $57,000 last year for unspecified ‘business services,’ according to Stevens’ most recent disclosure.” And more, from a Nov. 3, 2005 AP article: “Ben Stevens’ business relationship with the oil field service company Veco, which has paid him $243,000 since 2000, was cited as an example of ‘corruption’ in the recall petition brought against Stevens by Republican Moderate Party founder Ray Metcalfe.”

Ted Stevens, Veco