Stevens' Strained Relations With Justice

As a federal corruption probe further ensnares Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, ThinkProgress.org has dredged up a Seattle Times column from late last year in which a former U.S. attorney for Alaska suggests President Bush would have to sign off on an FBI raid on the office of Stevens' son, Ben.

The Times column references an Anchorage Daily News article from earlier that year in which a spokesman for Stevens said the senator "was furious at the way the attorney general handled this" after acknowledging the Justice Department ignored his recommendations for a new U.S. attorney for the state.

I'm still looking for the specific Daily News piece, but this article gives some background on the Justice Department's decision to coordinate the investigation from Washington.

The folks at ThinkProgress also confirmed that the son of a top executive at the oil-field services company embroiled in the scandal remains on the payroll of the senator's Washington staff.