Stevens says he has done nothing illegal, unethical

ANCHORAGE - Sen. Ted Stevens on Friday dismissed calls from activist groups that he resign as chairman of the Appropriations Committee and disputed a newspaper report that said he used his powerful position to enrich himself and others.

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"If they think I am going to resign because of a story in a newspaper, they're crazy," he said at a news conference here.

Stevens, an Alaska Republican, said he had done nothing illegal, immoral or unethical.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the senator has grown wealthy from investments with people who benefited from legislation he helped write.

Stevens, 80, said he's been a senator so long - nearly 35 years - that it would be hard to find any Alaska investment that people wouldn't see as a conflict.

"I know this state and I believe in its future, and this is where I want to invest my money when I have it," he said.

A private watchdog group, Project on Government Oversight, said Friday that Stevens should take the "honorable step" and resign his Appropriations chairmanship.

"This story is the most blatant example in recent history of a government official profiting from his power in public office," said Danielle Brian, the group's director. "We do not have confidence in any formal congressional proceedings, given Sen. Stevens' particularly powerful position."

On Thursday, the conservative Citizens Against Government Waste also said Stevens should step down from the chairmanship. The group also wants an investigation by the Senate ethics committee.

"Apparently, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate thinks he can get away with anything in the pursuit of a plush retirement," said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste.

The organization frequently has criticized Stevens, the Senate's senior Republican, for steering billions of federal dollars to his home state.

The Appropriations Committee chaired by Stevens controls spending by all federal agencies and about one-third of the government's $2.2 trillion budget. Stevens has aggressively used his post to funnel money to his home state, as do many members of that committee.

In one instance examined by the Times, Stevens invested $50,000 in real estate partnerships that have grown in value since 1997 to between $750,000 and $1.5 million. Stevens was made a partner in those investments by Anchorage developer Jonathan Rubini.

In a written statement on his real estate investments to the Los Angeles paper, Stevens said, "I am a passive investor. I am not now nor have I been involved in buying or selling properties, negotiating leases or making other management decisions."

In 2000, Stevens helped Rubini keep a $450 million contract with the Defense Department for housing on Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, the Times reported.

Stevens said Friday he got involved only when the project stalled because of military concerns about the contractor's financial backing by local lenders.

"It was a competitive bid and I don't get involved in competitive bids, that's for sure," Stevens said. "But I did get involved in raising a question of whether (the lenders had) a sufficient surety for a bid by an Alaska contractor on a federal contract."

Rubini, who was in California on Friday, said the Times unfairly described the Elmendorf impasse and his other dealings with Stevens, despite the developer's lengthy interviews with reporters.