TPMMuckraker | Talking Points Memo | September Trial Date Set For Sen. Ted Stevens

September Trial Date Set For Sen. Ted Stevens

By Andrew Tilghman - July 31, 2008, 4:28PM

A federal judge has granted Sen. Ted Stevens' request for a speedy trial -- calling for jury selection to begin just weeks before the elections this fall.

Stevens (R-AK) is set for trial Sept. 24 on seven counts of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms, court documents show.

Accused of taking more than $250,000 in undisclosed gifts from the CEO of an Alaska-based oil services firm, Stevens said he wants to "clear his name" before voters decide whether to give the 84-year-old lawmaker a seventh term.

The schedule outlined allows less than two months for all pretrial preparations, a remarkably quick turnaround for a federal case.

For now, the case is scheduled for trial before Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington, DC. The judge has not yet ruled on Stevens' attorney's request that the case be moved to federal district court in Alaska, where Stevens is a popular political patriarch.

Comments (5)

This says to me that Stevens has no intent to withdraw from his re-election campaign.

He's banking on a speedy trial and a speedy acquittal...which he can then use to go to the public and say that all of this was bunk, and look what I've gone through for the people of Alaska.

It's quite the gamble. Stevens isn't taking a plea, and isn't quitting the Senate. They'll have to convict him and elect the other guy.

Posted by Old 33
July 31, 2008 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink

As far as moving the trial to Alaska, I think that should be a non-starter.
Where did he make the financial filings in question? Washington, I would suspect. Therefore, that is where the alleged crime was committed.

Posted by yellowdogD
July 31, 2008 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink