lkmcgann May 30, 2007, 2:22 PM

Yesterday we talked about how Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) home improvement project has piqued the interest of federal investigators. A local oil company’s involvement in hiring one of the contractors who built the new level to Stevens’ single-story home — underneath the existing ground floor – seems to be the questionable part. The Associated Press followed up today on the story by adding that two sources close to the investigation said “Stevens was not considered a target of the investigation.” That won’t comfort Sen. Stevens. The carefully-crafted language “I’m not a target” has been peddled by other politicians tied to investigations, like former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA). The phrase makes the politician sound practically exhonerated, when really, prosecutors tend to wait to send out a “target” letter until shortly before an indictment is issued. (Feel like pleading guilty? Now’s your chance.) Former number two at the Interior Department J. Steven Griles was named a target in the Abramoff scandal in January; he pled guilty to lying to Congress in March. It’s not clear how entwined Stevens is in the investigation, which has already led to the indictment of four current and former state officials. Two top executives from the oil company at the heart of the controversy, Veco Corp., pled guilty to conspiracy and bribery charges this month. But, both the AP and the Anchorage Daily News mentioned a search in the ski-resort town of Girdwood, where Stevens’ newly doubled home sits. From The Anchorage Daily News:

The wide-ranging federal inquiry surfaced in August when agents raided six legislative offices, including those of then-Senate President Ben Stevens, one of Ted Stevens’ sons. The FBI said at the time that it also had executed a search warrant in Girdwood, among other places, although the location of that search has never been officially disclosed.

The FBI hasn’t said what it searched, but the list of possibilities isn’t very long. Take a look at a map of Girdwood, population 2,000:

Ted Stevens, Veco