Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly blogs at the SeattlePI.com about "Bribing Ben Stevens."  What a tangled web they've woven in Alaska.  It's a web that federal prosecutors are working through -- and that probably doesn't bode well for Ben Stevens, the former State Senate President, or his father, the current U.S. Senator:

The former boss of Alaska's big VECO oil service company yesterday told an Anchorage trial that he bribed three former Alaska state legislators, most prominently ex-state Senate President Ben Stevens.

Stevens is the son of Alaska's U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, who is under investigation by the FBI. The FBI is probing VECO's role in the remodeling of the elder Stevens' home in Girdwood, south of Anchorage.

Ex-VECO CEO Bill Allen testified in the federal corruption trial of former legislator Pete Kott. Allen and former VECO vice president Rick Smith have pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy, and are cooperating with federal prosecutors.

Allen testified that he bribed Ben Stevens and two ex-legislators, Kott and Vic Kohring, but did not give details. Ben Stevens remains under federal investigation and has not yet been charged with a crime.

Kott is charged with sending a false invoice to Allen for $7,993, which was used to hire Kott's son to manage his reelection campaign. Kott is accused of accepting a check for $1,000 to reimburse him for donating the same amount to Alaska's then-Gov. Frank Murkowski.

The sums are chump change compared to payments made by VECO to Ben Stevens. According to papers filed by federal prosecutors, the junior Stevens took $243,000 from Allen.

Connelly does a very good job of untangling the connections. Definitely worth a read because this scandal is far from over.