Judge deals Stevens another blow

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was dealt his second legal setback of September on Tuesday after a federal judge denied another key claim of his defense — that the corruption case against him is unconstitutional. 

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected Stevens’s argument that the Justice Department cannot prosecute him without violating the Constitution’s speech-and- debate clause.

{mosads}Sullivan’s ruling comes a week after he rejected another constitutional argument by Stevens: that the case against him should be dismissed because only the Senate has the authority to police members’ financial disclosure forms.

Stevens, 84, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, has been indicted for not listing more than $250,000 of gifts and services from Veco Corp., a now-defunct oil-services company, on his Senate financial disclosure forms. As usual, he did not attend Tuesday’s hearing.

Sullivan last week also allowed Justice Department attorneys to keep language in the indictment that alleges Stevens acted legislatively on the oil company’s behalf.

As he did last week, Sullivan on Tuesday attributed reasons for his ruling to the arguments raised by government attorneys.

The speech-and-debate clause stipulates that members of Congress “shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their attendance at the Session of their Respective Houses, and in going to and from the same, and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.”

Stevens has won several pre-trial battles, however, such as an expedited trial schedule and access to evidence the government has compiled against him.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 22, with a potential verdict before the November election. Stevens is running for reelection and won his August primary, which was held after he was charged.

Sullivan said he would wait until Thursday to decide on a request by Stevens to see the medical records for Bill Allen, the former head of Veco and the government’s star witness. Stevens’s attorneys have said Allen sustained substantial brain damage following a motorcycle accident.

Government lawyers have said Allen’s injuries were not substantial, and stated Tuesday that he would be among the first witnesses.