That famous batch of wiretaps that has been both the most important and most amusing source of evidence against Alaska legislators caught up in the Veco Corp. bribery scandal apparently includes about 100 of Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) phone calls. The taps caught legislators and Veco CEO Bill Allen at his most corruptly candid -- what will they reveal about Stevens if they're played in court?  We'll know when Stevens' trial starts later this month.

In honor of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), it's "series of tubes" joke day here at PCAF. We've been following the many shady-sounding escapades of Alaska's long-serving for some time now, right up to yesterday's 7-count indictment against Stevens for failing to properly disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from oil services company Veco, the central corporation in the wide-ranging Alaska bribery investigation that has landed several state legislators in jail.

Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), long the subject of a federal investigation into his ties to the oil services company VECO has been indicted on seven counts of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms. The wide-ranging VECO bribery scandal has already landed several Alaska legislators in in jail, and a handful more are awaiting trial.

Let's hope for Alaska State Sen. John Cowdery's (R) sake that former Rep. Vic Kohring was right about prison being a long vacation because Crowdery is the latest Alaska lawmaker to be indicted in the extensive VECO Corp. bribery scandal. Crowdery was indicted for conspiracy and bribery following revelations by Rick Smith, the CEO of VECO that he had bribed state lawmakers in exchange for legislation that would benefit the company.

Monty Python told us to always look on the bright side of life, but former Alaska state Rep. Vic Kohring took it a bit far on his last day before beginning a three and half year prison sentence for taking bribes from Veco Corp. to advocate for a pipeline project. TPM Muckraker has the highlights from Vic's last day on the outside, his bizarre roadside thank you to the people of Alaska, and his ambitions for life behind bars.

The trial of VECO Corp. CEO Bill Allen in Alaska is pretty much a case-study on the corrupting influence of money in politics. Admitting he used campaign cash to advance the careers of sympathetic legislators -- and rewarded them for a job well done -- Allen is all the evidence we need for a Clean Elections alternative.