The longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate is indicted on seven
counts of making false statements.

SHOWS: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JULY 29, 2008) POOL -
 U.S. Senator Ted Stevens was charged on Tuesday with concealing
more than $250,000 of gifts, including renovation of his house, from an Alaska
oil services company, the Justice Department said in a news conference. 
    The Alaska politician, who has served 40 years in the Senate, was
charged in a federal grand jury indictment with seven counts of making false
statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms from 2001 to 2006.
    "According to the indictment, the total amount of gifts that
Senator Stevens is to have alleged to have received over the duration of the
offense is greater than $250,000. Also, according to the indictment, these
items were not disclosed in Senator Stevens financial disclosure forms which
he filed under penalties of perjury, either his gifts or his
liabilities," said Matthew Friedrich, an assistant U.S. Attorney
General.
    The indictment says Stevens received the gifts from VECO corporation,
formerly a multinational oil services company based in Alaska, and from its
top executive, Bill Allen. 
    The indictment further accuses Stevens, once the powerful chairman of
the Senate Appropriations Committee, of using his position in the Senate on
behalf of VECO between 2001 and 2006.  The 28-page indictment says Stevens
provided false information in financial disclosure forms filed with the Senate
that required him to report gifts he had received.
    Stevens' office had no immediate comment.