Stevens has until Jan. to report legal expenses

The Hill | October 17, 2008

By Kevin Bogardus and Manu Raju
Posted: 10/17/08 01:45 PM [ET]

Sen. Ted Stevens will not have to disclose who is footing his mounting legal expenses until after the Nov. 4 election, according to the Senate Ethics Committee.

The lag time protects Stevens from Democratic attacks over the financiers of his high-priced Washington attorneys, who are defending him in federal court from charges of failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts. The Alaska Republican is in a tight race with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) for his Senate seat.

Stevens has not filed his first report with the Senate Office of Public Records. That is because senators do not have to file their first quarterly report until after the legal expense fund has been in operation for at least one full quarter.

Since Stevens created the fund earlier this summer, he did not have to meet the Oct. 15 deadline on Wednesday this week. Instead, expect Stevens’s first report on his legal expenses on Jan. 15 — more than two months after Alaskans head to the polls.

According to the Senate Ethics Manual, a legal expense fund is deemed to have started its fiscal year on the day of the first calendar quarter after it is established. Since Stevens created his fund on Aug. 20, that first quarter started on October 1.

Appearing on Alaska Public Radio on Aug. 19, Stevens said he would disclose the donors to the fund at a “specific time” as required by Senate rules.

“Again, I tell you, I pay some out of my own pocket, but there is a legal defense fund and it will be reported when the time comes,” Stevens said on “Talk of Alaska.” At the time, Alaska Democrats criticized the Senate veteran for not disclosing the fund’s donors.

“Stevens has a pattern of keeping his ties to special interests hidden from the public,” said Bethany Lesser, spokeswoman for the Alaska Democratic Party. “Alaska voters deserve to know who is paying Stevens’s legal bill before they go to the polls in November.”

William Canfield, an attorney at Williams & Jensen who represents Stevens, said in an e-mail that the initial report is not due until January per Senate Ethics Committee’s regulations and will be filled then.

Lawyers from Williams & Connolly are representing Stevens in his federal trial. Stevens reported spending between $15,000 and $50,000 to Williams & Connolly in legal fees, according to his latest financial disclosure form.

Contributions are limited to $10,000 per year for senators’ legal expense funds. Lobbyists, foreign nationals, corporations, unions and all lawmakers’ campaign committees are banned from making donations.