The release last week of the FBI file of the late Sen. Ted Stevens painted a colorful portrait of the long serving Alaska Republican. But noticeably absent from the file were documents from the federal corruption investigation that ended his political career. Not to worry — the FBI says that part of the file is still in processing and will be released down the line.
An FBI spokesman told the Associated Press that the investigative files were still pending. The news service said it wasn’t clear when the new investigative files would be released.
The majority of the 3,600-page file consisted mostly of press clippings (including TPM stories) on the 2008 corruption trial as well as unrelated FBI records about the Senator dating back to the 1950s. As The Hill reports, “FBI documents detail one alcohol-fueled episode that Stevens had with a federal judge in Fairbanks, Alaska, as a U.S. attorney in 1954” and even an (apparently unsubstantiated) allegation from a drug dealer in 1988 that he bought cocaine on three occasions.
The file also detailed an allegation that the owner of the Fairbanks Daily News Miner said in his will that Stevens should get his $400,000 yacht when he died due to the senator’s support for “various federal spending projects.” Another FBI memo details an interview with an anonymous source claiming Stevens used a Lincoln Town car purchased with his campaign funds from his 1990 run for Senate, which as The Hill reports is possibly in violation of federal law.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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