Stevens Takes Stand, Denies Hiding Gifts

Alaska Senator Says Testifying "A Privilege And A Duty"

(AP)  Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens denied scheming to hide $250,000 in home improvements and other gifts from a corrupt businessman, taking the stand Thursday in his own defense at a corruption trial blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

When asked by his lawyer Brendan Sullivan whether he thought his disclosure forms were accurate when he signed them, the Alaska political patriarch replied, "Yes, sir."

Stevens, wearing an American flag pin on the lapel of his dark-colored suit, then responded with a soft "No, sir" when Sullivan asked whether he had engaged in any scheme with anyone to hide any gifts.

Stevens, 84, was the final witness in his defense against charges that he lied on Senate financial disclosure forms to conceal improvements to his modest chalet and other gifts from Bill Allen, a longtime friend and former chief of the oil services company VECO Corp.

Before taking the stand, Stevens — a plain-talking, gruff man whose trademark "Incredible Hulk" tie symbolizes his temper and reputation in the Senate — was told by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan that he didn't have to testify.

"It's a privilege and a duty," Stevens replied while being sworn in.

Defense attorneys have said Allen kept Stevens in the dark about additional work done on Stevens' Alaska home at Allen's expense. Stevens was too busy to notice anything amiss as workers transformed his tiny A-frame cabin into a spacious two-story home.

"He works all the time," testified his wife, Catherine, a lawyer who married Stevens in 1980. "He's a classic workaholic."

Catherine Stevens also testified earlier Thursday that she was in charge of the renovation of their Girdwood, Alaska, cabin and that they paid every bill they received — $160,000 in all.

She described Allen as a friend who volunteered in 2000 to keep an eye on the renovation of their mountain cabin while they were away in Washington. She said she believed employees of Allen she later spotted at the site were being paid by the contractor — not Allen.

The contractor was "the one responsible for all renovations," she said.

---

View Justice Deptartment documents in the Ted Stevens corruption trial

---

During her testimony, the defense displayed invoices from the contractor for tens of thousands of dollars in labor and materials, and the checks she signed to pay them. She claimed Allen often crashed at the home and added some extras, including an expensive gas grill, without her approval.

When she first saw the grill, "I was very angry," she said. "It was a fire hazard and I didn't want it on my deck."

Prosecutor Brenda Morris jousted with the witness about her actual involvement with the renovation, with Mrs. Stevens saying she never interviewed the engineer who drew up the plans for the renovation, accepted the contractor on the word of Allen and never got a contract with the plumbers or electricians.

The work on the chalet was done by "people you didn't contract with, didn't know and assumed were doing the work?" prosecutor Brenda Morris said.

Morris also questioned Mrs. Stevens about her husband's Senate staff walking their dogs, paying their credit card bills, cutting their grass and doing other personal work for her family.

"Sometimes," said Mrs. Stevens, who added that if they did, the staffers were paid.

Allen became the government's star witness after pleading guilty to bribing Alaska state legislators. Earlier in the trial, Allen testified that Bob Persons, a restaurateur neighbor who helped monitor the project, told him the senator's occasional demand for bills was a ruse.

Testifying for the defense, Persons denied making the remark. He told the jury Thursday that he had been bullied by an FBI agent who came to his home in 2006 to grill him about the senator's home.

"It was like being mentally water-boarded," he said.

Stevens, the longest-serving GOP senator, has languished in the courtroom in Washington for more than three weeks as a Democratic opponent back home, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, mounts a strong challenge to the seat the senator has held for 40 years.

[babooph]

He is just like the rest of us-who would notice the wife spending 250,000$& no bill comming??An understandable oversight-my wife does that all the time-she is rarely home in the eve though......

[tejasdemo]

State Prison Senator and I hope it is in Georgia where nobody will know who the he ll you are.

[good4always]

PAKISTAN HAS CREATED THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN USA.

PAKISTAN DOES NOT NEED AMERICA HELP IN ANYTHING ANYWAY. PAKISTAN CAN WIPE OFF AMERICA IN ANY MINUTE ANY TIME IT WISHES.....

....AND THAT IS THE ONLY REASON USA IS SCARED OF PAKISTAN SO BIG TIME THAT IT GIVES MONEY AND ALL KIND OF THINGS TO KEEP THEM FROM NOT ATTACKING USA.

[easeup-2009]

Let''''s see... the Democrats are constantly getting caught cheating on their wives and the Republicans take bribes and influence peddle. Wouldn''''t it be great to vote for a President who had never cheated on his wife and never got caught up in some ethics scandal?

Oh yeah, that would be Obama! :)

Posted by Dustymac2 at 09:25 AM : Oct 17, 2008

Oh please--The Dems are just as crooked. They specialize more in local politics. Here in Cleveland, it seems like EVERY local politician is getting busted. The county commissioners, the county auditor, the head of the county housing authority, the head of the county run hospital, hell even the IT director was building a million dollar lake house on a 100 grand salary. The whole local government is on the take & they''re ALL Democrats.

[czmdm]

Stevens..liar,liar, pants on fire. Are there any sane, ethical politicos in Alaska?

[dustymac2]

Let''s see... the Democrats are constantly getting caught cheating on their wives and the Republicans take bribes and influence peddle. Wouldn''t it be great to vote for a President who had never cheated on his wife and never got caught up in some ethics scandal?

Oh yeah, that would be Obama! :)

[upto1947]

If this guy does noy go tojail. They should for get law and order . As for him and Sarah Palin, somepeople are sick in the way they think. People om here more so then others.

[wherenextnow]

Stevens, taking the tact another Alaska criminal, Sarah Palin took, says, "I declare myself exonerated of all chargers!"

[dustymac2]

Let''s see... the Democrats are constantly getting caught cheating on their wives and the Republicans take bribes and influence peddle. Wouldn''t it be great to vote for a President who had never cheated on his wife and never got caught up in some ethics scandal?

Oh yeah, that would be Obama! :)

[dustymac2]

Let''s see... the Democrats are constantly getting caught cheating on their wives and the Republicans take bribes and influence peddle. Wouldn''t it be great to vote for a President who had never cheated on his wife and never got caught up in some ethics scandal?

Oh yeah, that would be Obama! :)

[nirak2-2009]

Stevens is much too arrogant to hide gifts. He probably thinks he is entitled to all the goodies that came his way.

[apprxam]

Law and Order RePugNaConz...That is all.

[tannerbird]

MR. Stevens what do you have to say well i told bushie i may not get away with the things that you Cheney and Sarah Palin can get away with you know what a winker she has geeees am i in trouble now.

[tannerbird]

250.000 i thought you said 250.00 this will have to be a gift i don''t have that much cash i gave at the office McCain got all my money him and that woman you know the one that can see China no that is not what she can see anyway i did not do it someone else did.

[chetthor]

Joe the plumber did Teds plumbing for free. A friend here, a friend there... and it''s just done!

Sammy (AKA Joe the Plumber) also did the plumbing on Sarah Six Packs $500,000 house... free of course. (Tod may have had a subprime loan to help on that one. I doubt they were earning that much money cleaning up after his dogs.)

Alaska republicans are just very likeable.

[downsteamjim]

How about some before and after photos of the house.

[brianp55]

I believe him. Don''t a lot of people have $250K worth of work performed on their homes by some benevolent patron who never asks them to pay for it? Really, I believe him...this could happen.

[babooph]

I often do not notice an extra 250,000$ in home renovations-too bad I am not a jurist-maybe all the jury is like that though -an "HONEST" faux pas.

[upto1947]

Lie lie lie that is all he knows how to do. He hides $250,000 and says he did nothing wrong. Lie Lie Lie. You need to be in JAIL.

[dowjones20k]

How in the world can a sitting senator think that its ok to let $250,000 in home improvements go for months without being paid ... if he did not think it was free then he would have certainly paid his bill or at least gave a check for some amount ...

Stevens is the epitomy of the crooks we have in congress .. too bad all of them dont get the scrutiny that the media should dedicate ...