"If Stevens runs, the likelihood of him getting beaten in the primary just went up 100%," said Jennifer Duffy, who analyzes Senate elections for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Reaction to the indictment Tuesday was muted on Capitol Hill, where the Justice Department has been conducting a number of corruption probes.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate's majority whip, described the mood among Democrats as "somber" and said his caucus was thinking of Stevens and his family. "I believe in the presumption of innocence," Durbin added. "At this point, we should just let the courts do their work."
Republicans largely avoided reporters.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared alone before reporters at a regular briefing usually attended by most of the GOP leadership. He appeared grim and spoke briefly on Stevens. "The Republican conference, like you, just heard of this news," McConnell said. "No doubt we'll have more to say about this later." He turned from reporters' shouted questions and walked away.
Stevens is charged with seven counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms for calendar years 2001 to 2006. The post-Watergate Ethics in Government Act requires lawmakers to disclose gifts over a specific monetary amount as well as liabilities in excess of $10,000.
The indictment alleges that, over a six-year period, Stevens failed to report gifts from VECO, in exchange for which he "received and accepted solicitations for multiple official actions," including helping VECO obtain lucrative federal contracts and providing "assistance" with company ventures in Pakistan and Russia.
The indictment does not accuse him of the more serious crime of bribery. Legal experts said that may reflect difficulty that prosecutors had in identifying specific legislative favors that Stevens performed for VECO. Bribery law requires that there be an identifiable exchange, known as a quid pro quo, between a thing of value and an official act.
The charges culminate a multiyear influence-peddling investigation that has led to the convictions of several Alaska state officials and the chief executive of VECO, Bill J. Allen, who last year admitted that he made more than $400,000 in payments to government officials. Stevens' son, Ben, a former president of the Alaska state Senate, remains under federal investigation, as does Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young of Alaska.
