Support for Stevens Tepid

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One day after FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents spent 10 hours searching his Alaska home, Sen. Ted Stevens (R) found little comfort Tuesday in the Capitol, where he spent much of the day being chased by reporters and received a decidedly cool reception from the bulk of his colleagues.

Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) was one of only a few lawmakers to quickly come to Stevens’ defense. “We all know Ted Stevens as a good man, a tireless advocate for improving the quality of life in Alaska — a decorated veteran and a true patriot of our country. He’s asked us to await all information during this investigation, and I will, while I’m standing by our longest-serving colleague,” Lott said in a statement.

Most of Lott’s colleagues, however, took a decidedly more measured approach, calling for caution in judgments while avoiding blunt statements of support.

For instance, fellow Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski urged the public to allow the investigation to continue before drawing conclusions. “There is a process underway and no one should jump to conclusions,” she said, though she was quick to add that neither she nor her staff have been contacted by authorities, and she told reporters that she has not discussed the raid or the broader investigation with Stevens.

“No, we have not had conversations” about the issue, she said.

While few Republicans rushed to Stevens’ defense Tuesday, even fewer were willing to condemn their veteran Alaska colleague in the wake of Monday’s raids.

Lott and others dismissed calls by watchdog groups — including Taxpayers for Common Sense and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — for Stevens to step down at least temporarily from his positions on the Appropriations and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees, arguing that such a decision would be premature and that leadership should allow the process to unfold more fully before deciding on his fate.

“How far does this go?” Lott asked. “If you’re accused in a newspaper article, are you expected to step down? In the past, you at least waited until you were indicted” before Members were pulled from committees.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), a close friend and hunting partner of Stevens, agreed. “I think that’d be premature. Sen. Stevens has had a distinguished career and I would think he would have the benefit of any doubt.”

Indeed, Stevens seemed to garner the most sympathy from Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) dismissed any calls for Stevens to be taken off his committees and seemed to downplay the seriousness of the investigation itself. “We have to be very careful about punishing people during an investigation. Many investigations go nowhere,” Reid said, adding, “just because someone is under investigation doesn’t mean they’ll be punished in the United States Senate.”

At the same time, however, GOP Senators acknowledged the allegations surrounding the Stevens scandal are unwelcome after what’s become an endless string of public relations headaches for the party.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said Stevens’ woes and their effects on the GOP are part of a broader problem with the culture in Washington, D.C., and linked the controversy to the ongoing fight over earmarking.

“The real core of the problem — and I mean, Ted Stevens is a friend of mine and I hope none of this stuff is true, obviously — but even in that accusation, at the core of that, is earmarks,” DeMint said. “It has been with [former Rep.] Duke Cunningham [R-Calif.] who basically had a ‘here’s how much you have to give me for a certain level of earmarks’ and that’s just what we discovered. I think for years on some level it’s been going on with staff. As long as we can throw around millions of dollars, that’s where the corruption comes from. You don’t corrupt somebody with a $50 lunch.”