TPMMuckraker

Extreme Makeover: Veco Edition

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) jacked his house off the ground, inserted a new first story and placed the old first floor on top, thanks to the help of a top executive at local oil company Veco Corp. who hired at least one key contractor to complete the feat of a job. Veco is entwined in a broad federal investigation that has led to the indictment of four current and former Alaska politicians and ensnared former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens, son of Ted Stevens. Local press concluded that Stevens was state “Senator B,” listed in the charging documents of two former Veco Corp. executives who pled guilty to federal bribery and conspiracy charges, saying they gave the younger Stevens $242,000 in illegitimate consulting fees. Neither Stevens has been charged with a crime. It’s unclear how the senior Stevens’ home doubling is connected to the broader investigation, but the Feds are now eyeing the construction job according to the Anchorage Daily News , which noticed a line in the Veco executives’ plea bargains that could link the senator to the probe:
The sentence, preceded by a listing of a dozen Veco-related enterprises around the world, said: “Veco was not in the business of residential construction or remodeling.”
Maybe they dabbled.
Ted Stevens, Veco

Editor & Publisher

Josh Marshall

Managing Editor

David Kurtz

Senior Associate Editor

Paul Werdel

Associate Editor

Tom Lane

Assistant Editor

Igor Bobic

Reporters

Brian Beutler

Carl Franzen

Sahil Kapur

Eric Kleefeld

Nick Martin

Evan McMorris-Santoro

Jillian Rayfield

Ryan J. Reilly

Benjy Sarlin

News Writers

Kyle Leighton

David Taintor

Pema Levy

Video Editor

Michael Lester

Research Interns

Christopher Hohmuth

Tom Kludt

Publishing Intern

Christopher O’Driscoll

General Manager & General Counsel

Millet Israeli

VP, Ad Sales

Bruce Ellerstein

Waldo Tibbetts

Bob Edmunds

Manager, Ad Operations and Sales Support

Versha Sharma

Deputy Publisher

Callie Schweitzer

Director of Technology

Eric Buth

Designer/Developer

Ni Mu

Matthew Wozniak