A leading U.S. Republican Party senator has pleaded not guilty to
charges he lied about hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts
from an oil services company.
Ted Stevens of Alaska entered the plea Thursday at a federal court in Washington.
Stevens
has been indicted on seven felony counts of making false statements on
financial disclosure forms mandatory for U.S. senators.
Prosecutors
say Stevens did not report $250,000 in gifts and services
he received from an oil services company (VECO) whose executives have
pleaded guilty to bribing lawmakers in the senator's home state.
The
U.S. Justice Department alleges that while he was receiving the gifts,
Stevens was asked by the company to do certain things in his position
as a U.S. senator. However, the indictment does not charge Stevens
with bribery.
Stevens is one of the longest serving senators in
U.S. history. He has been a senator since 1968 and has long been a
member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. The 84-year-old
politician is up for re-election in November.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.