The recent indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is up in TPMmuckraker’s document collection, but here’s a quick and dirty summary of the seven counts of false statements which are based on his personal financial disclosure forms from 1999 to 2006.
According to the indictment, Stevens concealed “things of value,” estimated at around $250,000, from his publicly filed personal financial disclosure forms over the past seven years. It is this concealment, and not the legality of accepting those “things of value,” that is at issue.
We’ve reported extensively on those gifts from VECO and VECO’s former CEO Bill Allen which are the primary exchanges named in the indictment.
While Allen pleaded guilty to bribery charges over these gifts in 2007, it’s important to note that no bribery charges are being filed against Stevens.
For the DOJ comments on the indictment, check out our video of the press conference.