By Erika Bolstad, Anchorage Daily News, September 17, 2007

17 Sep 2007 // A citizen watchdog group in Washington D.C. has once again asked that Sen. Ted Stevens step down from his Senate committee posts, based on former Veco CEO Bill Allen’s testimony last week.

The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, asked Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, to have the Alaska Republican step down from his committees, pending the outcome of the FBI investigation. They also asked that the criminal investigation be brought to the attention of the Senate Ethics Committee.

“Given your quick and strong condemnation of Sen. Larry Craig for engaging in disorderly conduct in the Minnesota International Airport, it would be appropriate for the Senate to take a similarly tough stand against a senator who appears to have accepted at least an improper gift, if not an outright bribe,” wrote Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of CREW.

It’s not the first time Crew has called for Stevens to step down from his committee posts. The day after the FBI and IRS raid on Stevens’ home, CREW wrote a letter asking that McConnell, R-Ky., remove the Alaska senator from his role on any appropriations committees.

And when Senate Republican leaders asked Craig, an Idaho Republican, to give up his committee leadership roles, CREW asked why Sen. Stevens and his colleague Sen. David Vitter, R-La., hadn’t been chastised, too.

McConnell’s office had no comment Monday, and pointed to his previous statements outlining why the various Republican senators embroiled in scandals should be treated differently.

McConnell said Sept. 4 that Craig pleaded guilty after a sex sting in a men's airport bathroom, effectively ending any questions of guilt or innocence. Vitter hasn't been charged with a crime, and wasn't in the Senate when he telephoned the so-called D.C. Madam, McConnell said. As for Stevens, the long Senate’s longest serving Republican "maintains his innocence" in connection with the July 30 raid on his home in Girdwood, McConnell said earlier this month. And until the matter is cleared up, he added, they are unlikely to act.

"This had to do with admission of responsibility as opposed to charges or suggestions," McConnell said at the time. "There's a substantial difference between a conclusion to a matter and allegations that are being denied or behavior that occurred before you ever came to the Senate.”

McConnell’s office also pointed to the statement made last month by the Senate Majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada. His remarks were made following the raid on Stevens’ home.

“My personal feeling is that we have to be very careful about punishing people during an investigation,” Reid said. “Many investigations go nowhere. I don't know anything about the Stevens investigation, but I'm not going to be in a position where just because someone's under investigation that they're punished here in the Senate.”