Reid, Inouye clash over Stevens staying

Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and a member of his Democratic caucus clashed over
whether Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) can continue to serve despite his
conviction on federal corruption charges.

Sen. Daniel
Inouye (D-Hawaii) said on Saturday that he was certain Stevens’s conviction
would be overturned on appeal and that he would be allowed to remain in the
Senate.

{mosads}“As the Senate
has done in every other instance in its long 220-year history, I am absolutely
confident that Ted Stevens will be sworn into the Senate while he appeals this unjust
verdict,” Inouye said.

The Democrat’s
statement of support was e-mailed to reporters by Stevens’s reelection
campaign. The two senators, both World War II veterans, served together on the
Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and have long been friends and Inouye testified
on Stevens’s behalf during his trial.

But Reid rejected
any notion that Stevens could stay in the Senate.

“While I respect
the opinion of Sen. Daniel Inouye, the reality is that a convicted felon is not
going to be able to serve in the United States Senate,” Reid said in a
statement. “And as precedent shows us, Sen. Stevens will face an ethics
committee investigation and expulsion, regardless of his appeals process.”

Reid noted that
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has also said that a convicted
felon would not be allowed to serve. Reid then chastised Stevens for looking to
Inouye to defend him.

“This is not a
partisan issue and it is unfortunate that Sen. Stevens has used his long time
friendship with Sen. Inouye for partisan political gain,” Reid said.

Both parties’
presidential nominees, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.),
plus McConnell and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) have called on Stevens to step
down. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), the chairman of the 2008 Senate GOP campaign
efforts, said that Stevens’s career has ended “in disgrace.”

A federal jury on
Monday found Stevens guilty for taking gifts from an Alaska businessman and failing
to report them. Stevens has vowed to win a seventh full Senate term, but he is
trailing his challenger, Democrat Mark Begich, in polls.

Senate rules do
not prohibit a convicted felon from serving. But the Senate could expel a
member by a two-thirds vote.