Doubling Down On Stevens

Sen. Collins' willingness, as recently as June, to help bankroll Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) reelection campaign raises important questions.

But first, we need a little context.

In June 2007, when Collins funneled her first $5,000 to Alaska's senior senator, the move was defensible if sketchy: The federal probe of Stevens appeared to be gathering steam. But information about the case had only recently started to trickle out, and many facts still weren't known.

It seemed at least possible, at that point, that he was a peripheral player.

But by June 2008, the investigation was pretty much an open book: By then, we knew that Stevens was being probed by both the FBI and the IRS; that his home had been searched by federal agents; that a Washington grand jury had been looking into his actions for more than a year; and that the key witness against him had publicly admitted to paying for work on Stevens' house.

In short, by June 2008 it was clear that Stevens was in the cross-hairs of a serious multi-agency federal corruption investigation, that the case against him was being pursued vigorously and that the central allegation had been corroborated by a key participant.

Why a lawmaker--let alone one who presents herself as above the fray--would look at this set of facts and respond by doubling her investment in Stevens' candidacy is hard to fathom.

It's the Republican equivalent of sending five grand to Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) after the FBI found $90,000 in his freezer.

So back to the questions:

1. Why Stevens? Why $5,000? What was the contribution meant to accomplish?

2. Why didn't Collins disclose the donation when her financial ties to Stevens were receiving scrutiny back in July--a little more than a month after the donation had been made?

3. Has Collins asked Stevens to return the funds?

4. Has Collins donated to Stevens' legal defense fund, which isn't required to disclose donors until January?