Senate Leaders Mum on StevensThe Senate is certainly a kinder place to mucked-up pols than the House.
Despite testimony last week from former Veco CEO Bill Allen that he bribed Sen. Ted Sevens (R-AK) and news that the FBI taped two of their phone conversations, Senate leaders haven’t commented on the legal woes plaguing the longest-serving Republican senator.
That’s in stark contrast to how the House leadership has reacted to news of investigations. House Republicans apparently put the squeeze on Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) to remove him from his committee spots. Democrats gave Rep. William Jefferson (D-CA) the same treatment. Senate Republicans did react aggressively to news of Sen. Larry Craig’s (R-WY) guilty plea, but apparently this is a much different case.
Roll Call asked Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) if Stevens should be removed from his committee assignments in the wake of the scandal. McConnell referred back to a July 31 statement, in which he referred to Stevens’ “four decades of service” in the Senate and said he didn’t have “any announcements today.”
On the other side of the aisle, Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) was similarly tight-lipped:
“I didnât comment on [Sen.] Larry Craig [R-Idaho]. Iâm not going to comment on this. … Iâm not going to get into that.â
