Judicial Watch Statement Regarding the Conviction of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement today in response to the criminal conviction of Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens:

The criminal conviction of the longest serving Republican in the Senate demonstrates to all Americans that the rule of law applies to everyone, no matter how powerful and well connected. Ted Stevens’ resignation from the Senate is long overdue. If Stevens fails to resign, the Senate should stop protecting him and move quickly to expel him.

The American people have an overwhelming concern about political corruption, and for good reason. Corruption not only undermines the integrity of our institutions of government, but it has also contributed to the global economic meltdown. In this last week before Election Day, candidates would do well to pay serious attention to the political corruption issue.

According to a recent survey of likely voters, conducted by Zogby International and sponsored by Judicial Watch:

• 69.2% said they "strongly agree" with the statement that corruption is a "significant problem in Washington, DC," while an additional 22.7% said they "somewhat agree" with that statement.
• 30.5% said Congress has become "more corrupt" since Democrats took control of Congress away from Republicans. Another 8.5% said Congress had become "less corrupt," while 55.9% said corruption had "remained about the same" since Democrats took control.
• 62.6% said they "strongly agree" with the statement, "…political corruption played a major role in our nation’s recent financial crisis." An additional 19.1% said they "somewhat agree" with that statement.

The Judicial Watch – Zogby survey, conducted October 16-19, 2008, included 1,211 likely voters and had a margin of error of +/- 2.9%.