During the July 31 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, anchor Chris Cuomo reported that “FBI and IRS agents have visited the home of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens,” adding, “The agents are reportedly focusing on records related to the Stevens[es]' relationship with a contractor jailed in a corruption investigation.” But Cuomo did not identify Stevens as a Republican. In fact, Stevens is the longest-serving senator in the history of the Republican Party. A July 31 New York Times article reported that Stevens is the “only senator known to be under criminal investigation, and he continues to wield power on the Appropriations Committee, which controls how the federal budget is distributed.”
According to a July 31 Washington Post article, Stevens' home was raided as part of an investigation concerning “his ties to an Alaska energy services company, Veco, whose chief executive [Bill J. Allen] pleaded guilty in early May to a bribery scheme involving state lawmakers.” The Times article reported that in 2000, Allen helped Stevens renovate his Girdwood, Alaska, home and that “contractors have said that bills for their work went to VECO before they were passed on to Mr. Stevens.” The article went on to report that Stevens' son Ben was one of six state lawmakers whose homes were also raided last year as part of an investigation into their relationships with Allen and Veco and that at the time, Ben Stevens was president of the Alaska state Senate.
From the July 31 edition of ABC's Good Morning America:
CUOMO: FBI and IRS agents have visited the home of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. The agents are reportedly focusing on records related to the Stevens' relationship with a contractor jailed in a corruption investigation. Stevens is under federal investigation for a renovation project on his house back in 2000. That project was overseen by the imprisoned contractor. Stevens has had no comment on the searches.