Stevens brings in some famous friends to testify

[October 10, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican Sen. Ted Stevens is relying on some of his famous friends to vouch for his honor and honesty in a corruption trial in which he is accused of lying about gifts received from an Alaska oil services company.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was scheduled to take the stand on Friday for Stevens, who is accused of lying on Senate forms to conceal more than $250,000 in renovations on his cabin and other gifts from Bill Allen, the former chief of VECO Corp.

Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii on Thursday emphatically testified to Stevens' honesty as the Alaska senator's first witness.

"His reputation for truthfulness and honesty is what, sir?" defense attorney Brendan Sullivan asked.

"Absolute," Inouye answered.

Inouye is one of Stevens' best friends, with the two World War II veterans calling each other "brother" and the Democratic senator going so far to as to hold a fundraising lunch for the Republican senator in Washington in April.

It remained unclear whether Stevens, the plainspoken, longest-serving Senate Republican and patriarch of Alaska politics for generations, would take the stand in his own defense. He has languished in the federal courtroom as a Democratic opponent back home mounts a strong challenge to the seat he's held for 40 years.

Defense lawyers insist that Stevens was too busy in Washington to pay close attention to the renovation of the home near Anchorage, which his wife oversaw. They also say their client assumed that the $160,000 they paid to another contractor covered everything.

Justice Department lawyers, who rested their case Thursday, relied on testimony by several VECO workers who, starting in 2000, labored for months to transform Stevens' modest A-frame cabin into a two-story home with wraparound decks, new electric and plumbing, sauna and a master-bedroom balcony.

Prosecutors called as their star witness Allen, who has pleaded guilty to bribery in a corruption investigation resulting in convictions of several Alaska legislators.

A self-made multimillionaire who has known Stevens for more than two decades, Allen testified that the senator came up with the idea for the renovations to make room for visiting grandchildren. As the work progressed, Stevens sometimes asked him for invoices, but Allen said he ignored the requests because he liked his old fishing and drinking buddy too much, and the senator never paid VECO.

If convicted, Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each of seven charges, though under federal sentencing guidelines, he probably would receive much less prison time, if any.

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On the Net:

Justice Department documents:
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/us-v-stevens/

[Associated Press; By JESSE J. HOLLAND]

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