Professional Documents
Culture Documents
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/10/will_d
ems_get_a_brakefree_sena.html
Alaska (R - Stevens) -- Justice Department prosecutors who have
succeeded in making the judge in Ted Stevens' corruption trial
furious, and it's clarified one truth about Stevens' bid for another
term: If he's acquitted, Stevens is the favorite. If he's convicted,
Democrat Mark Begich will be a U.S. Senator. This race could
either shoot up the list or drop off completely in the next two weeks.
RCP Average: Begich +3.2.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95913067
Nation www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95913067
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=95913067&m=
95913039
All Things Considered, October 20, 2008 · The jury has heard the cases of federal prosecutors and
defense attorneys in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. The Republican is charged with
seven counts of failing to report a quarter of a million dollars in gifts and services provided by an oil
industry executive and other friends.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 2 of 30 pages
http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2008/10/meanwhile-at--
2.html
Stevens, a Senator from Alaska, is accused of accepting gifts and then failing to report them on his
financial disclosure forms. (Stevens says his family paid every bill that was sent to them.) Closing
statements are expected tomorrow.
I really liked this exchange between the prosecutor and Stevens, who disagree on the meaning of "gift"
...
Stevens has said he never sought gifts and wouldn't even accept a free lunch, much less expensive
remodeling services. But prosecutors say he had a history of accepting gifts — including an expensive
massage chair from a friend — and omitting them from the financial disclosure forms.
"And the chair is still at your house?" prosecutor Brenda Morris asked.
"He bought that chair as a gift, but I refused it as a gift," Stevens said. "He put it there and said it was
my chair. I told him I would not accept it as a gift. We have lots of things in our house that don't
belong to us."
Posted by James Hart on Monday, October 20, 2008 at 02:23 PM in Frauds and hoaxes | Permalink
TrackBack
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 9 of 30 pages
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Ted Stevens's lawyers rested their defense to charges he hid more
than $250,000 in gifts, after the senator said improvements to his home in Alaska ``just happened''
without his knowledge or consent.
The 84-year-old senator, seeking election on Nov. 4 to an eighth term, is accused of failing to report
home improvements and other gifts from Veco Corp., an Alaska oil-services company, and Bill Allen,
the company's founder and chief executive officer.
Stevens, testifying for a third day at the close of the four-week trial, said his family never used a gas
grill or two hot-water faucet attachments that he said were installed at his home in Girdwood, Alaska,
without his knowledge. He also said he didn't ask for heat tape that was installed on the roof to melt
snow.
``I didn't call anybody to come out and put heat tape on in the first place,'' Stevens said under cross-
examination by prosecutor Brenda Morris. ``It just happened.''
Jurors will hear closing arguments tomorrow. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he will give
final instructions the following day before the jury begins deliberations.
Prosecutors say Veco and Allen provided free labor and materials to install a new first floor, garage
and other improvements to the home in Girdwood. Defense lawyers say Stevens paid every bill he was
aware of and believed his Senate financial disclosure forms were accurate.
Stevens said that while he knew Allen had Veco employees working on his home, Veco itself wasn't
providing the work.
`One's a Corporation'
``One's a human, one's a corporation, ma'am,'' Stevens told Morris. ``Veco was not involved in
working on my house.''
David Anderson, Allen's nephew, told the jury Oct. 9 that he performed hundreds of hours of work on
the house over many months, and that Veco paid his salary and for all materials. Other Veco
employees also worked on the house, he said.
Catherine Stevens, the senator's wife, testified last week that she gave Veco employee Robert ``Rocky''
Williams a bonus of $2,000 and two domestic airline tickets for his efforts, even though she believed
his salary and expenses were covered by the project's general contractor, Christensen Builders Inc.
Stevens also is accused of not reporting other gifts on his Senate financial disclosure forms, including a
$2,700 massage chair that a friend testified he gave to the senator as a ``loan'' because he wanted to
avoid Senate disclosure rules.
``We have lots of things in our house that don't belong to us,'' Stevens said today when Morris asked
him about the chair.
`Stole My Furniture'
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 10 of 30 pages
When asked why Stevens hadn't removed the chair that's still in his Washington, D.C., home, Stevens
said Allen ``stole my furniture'' in Girdwood and that he and his wife decided not to send anything
back to Alaska.
``It never crossed my mind to call the police at that time'' to report the theft, Stevens said. ``It might
now.''
He also said a small power generator that Allen had installed at the Alaska home at this request was
``not a gift.''
``It was not a gift for me,'' Stevens said. ``I asked him to rent one and not buy one'' for temporary use
over the New Year's weekend in 2000, in case a widely predicted computer problem with the
millennium changeover caused power blackouts, he said.
Stevens said he asked for the generator to be removed and then asked Allen for a bill when it was not
taken out.
``Is it your testimony that because Bill Allen put in a much nicer generator than you asked for, you
didn't have to pay for it?'' Morris asked.
``Yes, at that time, Y2K, that's correct,'' Stevens said. He later said he thought the generator was
included in billing done for other work on his home in Alaska.
The case is U.S. v. Stevens, 08cr231, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avU1ymwZg4R4&refer=home
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 11 of 30 pages
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jurors were offered conflicting views of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens during a
four-week corruption trial: a cantankerous but credible senator who didn't know he was being lavished
with free gifts, or a sour-faced, scheming one who thought he knew how to quietly get undisclosed
freebies.
Stevens completed three days of testimony Monday with lawyers still trying to convince jurors of their
portrait of the longtime Republican lawmaker, who has been charged with lying on financial disclosure
forms about $250,000 in renovations and other gifts he received from oil services contractor VECO
Corp.
Closing arguments were scheduled for Tuesday and jurors were to begin deliberating Wednesday.
Stevens has said he never sought gifts and wouldn't even accept a free lunch, much less the expensive
remodeling services that changed his A-frame Girdwood, Alaska cabin into a large, modern home with
a sauna, wine cellar and wraparound porches. He and his wife Catherine paid for everything they knew
of, Stevens insisted.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 12 of 30 pages
"Catherine paid for the work that was done at our house, she paid the bills and that's all there is to it,"
said Stevens, the last words he left the jury with before leaving the stand.
But prosecutors say he had a history of accepting gifts — including an expensive massage chair in his
Washington, D.C. home — and omitting them from the financial disclosure forms. Stevens has insisted
repeatedly that the chair was a loan from a friend, although it has been in his house for seven years.
"He bought that chair as a gift, but I refused it as a gift," Stevens said. "He put it there and said it was
my chair. I told him I would not accept it as a gift. We have lots of things in our house that don't
belong to us."
Playing to the jury, Morris appeared confused. "So, if you say it's not a gift, it's not a gift?" she said.
"I refused it as a gift," Stevens replied. "I let him put it in our basement at his request."
Once an untouchable political force, Stevens faces a tough re-election fight and he's hoping for an
acquittal before Election Day. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, has sought to capitalize on
Stevens' legal woes in the tight race.
Morris grilled Stevens repeatedly about things VECO founder Bill Allen added to the senator's
Girdwood residence, including a new porch, a balcony, a fully stocked tool chest, a gas grill, a steel
staircase, rope lighting, a generator and leather furniture.
Stevens has said he didn't ask for those things, and even tried to get Allen to take them away. Stevens
added Monday that Allen, who has pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers, "stole" the furniture out
of his cabin and replaced it with the leather furniture.
"Why didn't you call the police when Bill Allen stole your furniture?" Morris quickly asked.
"It never crossed my mind to call the police at that time. I might now," Stevens said.
The gifts and the Girdwood renovations are at the heart of Stevens' corruption trial. The Alaska
Republican appeared as his own star witness, trying to convince jurors that he paid every bill he
received for his 2000 home renovation project and didn't know he was getting any freebies from the oil
services corporation.
Stevens said he saw a clear difference between getting help from Allen and getting help from VECO.
"One's a human, one's a corporation, ma'am," he said.
"You're saying you don't have to disclose gifts from a human?" Morris replied. Stevens replied again
that he didn't get any gifts.
Though gruff, Stevens kept his temper in check despite needling from Morris. Through back-and-forth
jousting with Morris, the senator did confirm for jurors the combative and cantankerous reputation of a
man known in the Senate for his "Incredible Hulk" neckties.
"Now, you go right ahead with your questions, miss," Stevens shot at Morris once.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 13 of 30 pages
And when Morris asked him why an expensive fish statue Stevens has said is intended for his
memorial foundation is sitting on his front porch, Stevens replied icily: "Ms. Morris, I have not died
yet."
On the Net:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5je6Pw1sViz24JRo9F0PNhoqMtzTwD93UEJS80
Artist rendering from the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, Monday, Oct. 20, 2008, at U.S. District
Court in Washington. Top row, from left are: Defense attorney Brendan Sullivan, prosecutor Brenda
Morris, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, at the bench, and Sen. Stevens, at right on the witness stand. At
bottom, from left are: Robert Cary, FBI Special Agent Mary Beth Kepner, Joe Terry, Nicholas Marsh,
Joe Bottini, and Grace Williams. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 14 of 30 pages
Testimony ends in Sen. Ted Stevens corruption trial
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said closing arguments by the government and Stevens' lawyers
would be heard Tuesday; Sullivan indicated that the federal jury would begin deliberations
Wednesday. Stevens is charged with failing to disclose more than $250,000 in home improvements
and gifts, including a gas grill, bronze art work and a reclining massage chair, to the Senate.
Morris asked Stevens about a $2,700 Brookstone massage chair that was delivered to his home in
Washington in 2001. Stevens has taken the position that the chair was a loan from a friend. But he
acknowledged on cross-examination that it remains in his home to this day.
"We have lots of things in our house that don't belong to us, ma'am," Stevens replied. Asked later what
these things included, Stevens said they included items owned by his daughter and friends of his wife,
Catherine. Stevens also said it was not practical to ship the chair back to the owner, who lived in
Alaska.
Stevens said the status of the massage chair was not unlike that of a Viking gas grill that an Alaskan
oilman, Bill J. Allen, had delivered to the Stevens home in Girdwood, Alaska, after the renovation was
complete in 2001. The government alleges that the grill was a gift to Stevens. The lawmaker says the
grill is still owned by Allen, even though it remains on the deck of the home; he has also said that he
and his wife never use it.
Allen and Stevens were long-time social companions, although Allen, who is alleged to have made the
free home improvements and other gifts that Stevens failed to report, was the star prosecution witness
at the trial.
Morris also asked Stevens today about other furniture that Allen delivered to the Alaska home. Stevens
has said that he was unaware that he was getting the furniture, and that in any event, he did not like it.
He has testified that Allen also removed the existing furniture in the home.
"Why did you not call the police when Bill Allen stole your furniture?" Morris said.
"It never crossed my mind to call the police at that time," Stevens replied. "It might now."
Catherine Stevens previously testified that she wrote $160,000 in checks for the home makeover, but
tens of thousands of dollars in labor done by
the government contends that
employees of Veco Corp., Allen's now-defunct oil services
company, were never paid for.
She and Ted Stevens have testified that they believed those labor costs were included in the bills they
received and which they paid to their contractor.
Both have conceded that Allen may have withheld some bills
without their knowledge. The government contends that they turned a blind eye to the
fact that Allen was doing them a favor.
"If Bill Allen gives you something," Morris said, "you don't have to report that on your financial
disclosure forms?"
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 16 of 30 pages
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-stevens21-2008oct21,0,3251682.story
http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6074270&page=1
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 17 of 30 pages
By JASON RYAN
Prosecutors grilled Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, at his federal corruption trial Monday, attempting to
prove that the lawmaker concealed gifts and a major home renovation project.
Lead prosecutor Brenda Morris went through a series of e-mails and memos with Stevens that he'd sent
to a friend and a former oil services company executive.
The prosecution has claimed in court that Stevens, 84, concealed $250,000 worth of gifts and home
renovations by not reporting them on financial disclosure forms required by the U.S. Senate. A now-
defunct oil services firm, Veco, and its ex-CEO Bill Allen paid for the overhaul to the senator's
Girdwood, Alaska, home, according to the prosecution.
The defense has countered that the Stevenses paid more than $160,000 for the renovation project, but
prosecutors attempted Monday to establish a solid connection between Stevens and Veco.
Morris noted that Stevens never once referenced another firm, Christensen Builders, which the defense
has said was the general contractor on the Stevens' home renovation project. Instead, Morris said,
Stevens referred numerous times to a project foreman who was employed by Veco.
The prosecution questioned Stevens about his wife's communications with Veco employees.
Prosecutors entered into evidence a FedEx package receipt from 2001 sent to Bill Allen "attention
Rocky Williams," a company employee who had worked as the foreman on the project.
During his testimony, Stevens maintained that the foreman had been employed by Veco at times and
worked for Allen on other projects. While he was working on his house project, the foreman was not
there with Veco.
Morris said to the senator, "Your wife knew ... your staff knew but you didn't."
Stevens was also shown a January 2006 invoice for plumbing work done at his house for $1,118,
which was addressed to him but noted that Allen clearly paid for the labor with "Labor paid by Bill" on
the invoice.
Stevens maintained that he'd asked for a bill from Allen in writing and told the prosecutor, "I didn't
know what it cost. ... I tried to get Bill Allen on the phone and via e-mail."
Morris zeroed in on gifts that the senator had been given that the government claims he never
mentioned on his financial disclosure forms. Concerning a $2,695 massage chair that a friend bought
for Stevens in 2001, Morris asked Stevens, "And the chair is still at your house?"
"How is that not a gift?" She pressed the senator. "He bought that chair as a gift, but I refused it as a
gift. ... I told him I would not accept it as a gift. We have lots of things in our house that don't belong to
us," Stevens said.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 18 of 30 pages
Morris said to the senator, "You better be careful. ... So, if you say it's not a gift, it's not a gift?"
Stevens said, "I refused it as a gift. ... I let him put it in our basement at his request."
Stevens said he only used the chair a few times and had been in pain after a series of medical
procedures and a bout of bronchitis.
Asked about the $29,000 giant fish statue on the deck of the home, which was given to him after a
charity event, Stevens testified that it was destined for the Ted Stevens Foundation. Morris pointed out
that the foundation does not have a building yet, to which Stevens said, "I have not died yet. ... You go
right ahead with your next questions, miss."
As the prosecutor continued questioning him about the large bronze statue of three salmon, Stevens
reverted to his defense of blaming his wife: "Catherine decides what goes to the foundation."
The senator concluded testifying in his defense Monday, appearing more subdued than during his
feisty testimony last week. Stevens' third day on the witness stand completed testimony in the four-
week trial; both sides will present closing arguments before the jury of 11 women and 5 men Tuesday,
which are expected to take the entire day.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/10/20/ST2008102002520.html
Sen. Stevens Wraps Up Testimony in His Trial
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 19 of 30 pages
By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 21, 2008; A15
In his final appearance on the witness stand, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) yesterday denied lying on
financial disclosure forms to hide gifts including a lavish massage chair and hot-water faucets.
The senator, who testified earlier that he never received free home renovations, told jurors in his
federal corruption trial that he wished he had called police when a business executive replaced
furniture in his Alaska home with bulky items damaged by cigarette burns.
Stevens, 84, one of the most powerful Republicans in the Senate, added that he tried to refuse the
$2,700 massage chair as a gift from another friend in 2001. The Brookstone chair remains in the
basement of his Washington home -- on loan, Stevens said.
"We have lots of things in our house that don't belong to us," said Stevens, who is seeking reelection to
a seventh full term. "I let him put it in our basement at his request."
Although dour at times, Stevens was less confrontational than he has been in previous testimony. He
was the last witness in his month-long trial on charges that he lied on financial disclosure forms to hide
more than $250,000 in gifts and renovations to his house in Girdwood, Alaska, from 1999 through
2006. The Justice Department alleges that many of the gifts and renovations were financed by an oil
services company or its top executive, Bill Allen, the government's chief witness.
Closing arguments are scheduled for today, and jurors could start deliberations as early as tomorrow.
Prosecutors have not introduced any evidence that appears to be a "smoking gun." Instead, they have
relied on a treasure trove of e-mails and handwritten notes and on testimony from Allen to build a
circumstantial case that the senator tried to hide gifts and renovations from public scrutiny.
Though e-mails between Stevens and a family friend from 2000 to 2002, prosecutors have tried to
show that Stevens was aware of the progress of renovations on his home. In the e-mails, the friend,
who lived in Girdwood and kept an eye on the job for Stevens, lauded Allen and one of his Veco
employees for their efforts.
Veco employees testified that they performed extensive work on the house, which Stevens calls "the
chalet," and said they were paid by their company, not the senator. Veco records estimated that the
firm spent tens of thousands of dollars on the project, which doubled the size of a small cabin by
adding a new first floor, two wraparound decks, a garage and a whirlpool.
Prosecutors also presented handwritten notes in which the senator requested bills from Allen for
remodeling work. They argue the notes show that Stevens was trying to create a paper trail, pointing to
Allen's testimony that a mutual friend told him to ignore the lawmaker's requests because the lawmaker
was just "covering" himself to avoid ethics problems.
Jurors heard tape recordings of calls between Stevens and Allen in 2006. On one call, Stevens told
Allen that, at worst, they could expect a fine and maybe some jail time if convicted.
Stevens's attorneys contend the evidence supports their argument that the senator paid every bill he
received, that he requested invoices and that he was not aware Veco played a role in the work.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 20 of 30 pages
Stevens testified that he paid all of the laborers through a contractor, brought onto the job by Allen. His
wife wrote that contractor about $132,000 in checks, records show. The couple paid other contractors
about $30,000, the senators' attorneys have said.
Stevens testified that he never sought free gifts and tried to return many of them.
Defense lawyers also have pointed out that Stevens repeatedly denied any wrongdoing on tape-
recorded phone calls. They have attacked Allen's credibility, noting he pleaded guilty to federal bribery
charges in a broad probe of Alaska political corruption.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/10/20/ST2008102002520.html
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Mr. Stevens is facing seven felony counts charging that he deliberately concealed on Senate ethics
forms some $250,000 in goods and services he received, largely from a friend, Bill Allen, and Mr.
Allen’s company, Veco, to remodel his home in Girdwood, Alaska.
Brenda Morris, the prosecutor, sought to take apart Mr. Stevens’s assertions that he was unaware that a
variety of expensive goods and services he received were gifts from Mr. Allen, an Alaskan oil services
tycoon, and other friends.
Ms. Morris confronted Mr. Stevens with several e-mail messages and notes he had written or received
that praised Mr. Allen’s contributions to the renovation of the Stevens home. She concluded each
reading with a variation of this question: “So, is it still your testimony to this jury that you did not
know” that Mr. Allen and his company were showering you with gifts?
Mr. Stevens, 84, insisted each time that although he had known that many of the workers at his home
were employees of Veco, he had not known that Veco played any role in the renovation. “Veco was
not involved in renovating my house,” he said angrily. He thought the workers were employed by a
different contractor who had been paid by his wife, he said.
Although he was testy, even hostile, with Ms. Morris in their first encounter last week, he was more
subdued Monday as he seemed to be laboring to keep his temper in check. Lawyers for both sides will
make closing arguments Tuesday, and the jury is set to begin considering its verdict Wednesday.
Mr. Stevens and his wife, Catherine, have testified that they paid $160,000 to contractors other than
Veco for the renovation and thought that covered the entire cost.
Prosecutors had apparently decided not to play a tape of a telephone conversation recorded by the
F.B.I. in which Mr. Stevens tells Mr. Allen that all the money Mr. Allen put into the house could land
them in legal trouble.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 21 of 30 pages
But Ms. Morris did highlight two other issues intended to damage Mr. Stevens’s credibility. She
challenged Mr. Stevens about his possession for seven years of an expensive massage chair bought for
him in 2001 by another friend, Bob Persons.
Mr. Stevens did not list the chair on his Senate disclosure forms as a gift, he said, because it was a
loan.
Mr. Stevens said Mr. Persons “bought the chair as a gift but I refused it as a gift.” He said he agreed to
have the chair stored in his home for Mr. Persons.
“So, if you say it’s not a gift, it’s not a gift?” the prosecutor asked. She then confronted Mr. Stevens
with a note he had written to Mr. Persons thanking him for the chair, saying how much he loved using
the chair and even sometimes fell asleep in it.
Ms. Morris also challenged testimony by Mr. and Mrs. Stevens that furniture placed in the Girdwood
home by Mr. Allen was of little value because it was used and damaged. On the stand, Mrs. Stevens
had pronounced it tasteless. But Ms. Morris noted that the Stevenses had wanted to give it to a recently
married son to furnish his new home.
“Aren’t you trying to regift to your son the furniture you found so hideous?” she asked.
Mr. Allen, who was the prosecution’s chief witness, had once been close friends with Mr. Stevens. He
has already been convicted in Alaska for bribing state lawmakers and is still awaiting sentencing. Mr.
Allen’s sentence could depend on a recommendation from prosecutors as to how cooperative he is in
the Stevens trial.
The chief defense lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, suggested in his cross-examination of Mr. Allen that he
had turned on his longtime friend Mr. Stevens to please prosecutors who had also agreed not to
prosecute his grown children nor Veco itself.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/21stevens.html?ref=politics
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 22 of 30 pages
Testimony ends in Sen. Ted Stevens corruption trial
Los Angeles Times, CA - 3 hours ago
Jose Luis Magana / AP Daughter Beth accompanies Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens to court. Tapes indicate that
his friends were concerned about billing records for ...
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 23 of 30 pages
A Showdown, and Some Final Evidence, Before a Senator’s Case Goes ...
New York Times, United States - Oct 19, 2008
By NEIL A. LEWIS WASHINGTON — The ethics trial of Senator Ted Stevens heads to what should be a dramatic climax
on Monday: a courtroom confrontation between ...
• Sen. Stevens Testifies Oil Services Firm Did Not Renovate House ...
Washington Post, United States - Oct 18, 2008
By Del Quentin Wilber A feisty Sen. Ted Stevens sparred with a federal prosecutor yesterday, testifying at his corruption
trial that he always paid his ...
Sen. Stevens insists his family paid for all chalet renovations
CNN - Oct 17, 2008
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens returned to the stand in his corruption trial Friday and described how
he paid for home renovations that ...
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 24 of 30 pages
On Stand, Stevens Flashes Temper
ABC News - Oct 17, 2008
By JASON RYAN In a defiant and occasionally testy appearance in court today, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-
Alaska, forcefully denied charges that he had accepted ...
Sen. Ted Stevens: “Lots of Stuff in Our House That Doesn’t Belong ...
The BLT, DC - 5 hours ago
Sen. Ted Stevens: “Lots of Stuff in Our House That Doesn’t Belong to Us” It was a line that caused government prosecutor
Brenda Morris to pause. ...
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 25 of 30 pages
It was a line that caused government prosecutor Brenda Morris to pause. Morris was grilling Alaska
Sen. Ted Stevens about the expensive massage chair in his D.C. home. A Stevens friend bought the
chair as a gift. Stevens accepted it as a loan. Six years later, he has not returned it.
“We have lots of stuff in our house that doesn’t belong to us, ma’am,” Stevens told Morris in court
today during cross-examination. “Really?” Morris asked. Stevens is accused of accepting more than
$250,000 in gifts and home renovations and not reporting the items on Senate financial disclosure
forms.
Morris asked Stevens to rattle off the other things in his home that he does not own. He mentioned
stuff his daughter owns and then said his wife Catherine, a Mayer Brown partner in D.C., would be
better to answer the question. Stevens has testified that his wife was the bill-payer and home decorator.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 26 of 30 pages
Catherine Stevens testified last week. “Catherine paid the bills and that’s all there is to it.,” Stevens
said today.
Stevens vowed he did not ask for anything and the stuff he got—tools, artwork, and a dog, among
other things—were not gifts. “If you say it’s not a gift, it’s not a gift?” asked Morris, principal deputy
chief of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. Stevens said he asked a friend to install a
small generator at the Stevens home in Alaska before New Year’s Eve in 1999 in case Y2K fears came
true. Stevens ended up with a giant, expensive generator. “I requested a generator,” Stevens testified,
“not that generator.” Stevens recalled telling his friend to remove the generator. He didn’t.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 27 of 30 pages
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http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/index.jsp
ONLINE EXTRA
The fate of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, will be in the hands
of a federal jury on Wednesday. The defense team from Williams & Connolly wrapped up its case
Monday with Stevens testifying under cross-examination for two hours.
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 28 of 30 pages
NEWS SPOTLIGHT
Now, It's All About Stevens
By Joe Palazzolo and Mike Scarcella
After 40 years in the Senate, Ted Stevens is more accustomed to commanding respect than betraying
humility, and that showed as he challenged the government's chief prosecutor for more than an hour on
cross-examination Friday afternoon.
http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/index.jsp
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http://www.aksuperstation.com/news/local/31407079.html
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 29 of 30 pages
Sen. Stevens Grilled about Massage Chair and $29,000 Fish Statue
By Jason Ryan
The jury deciding the future of Sen. Ted Stevens will begin deliberations in the case as early as
Wednesday. The Senior Alaska Senator concluded testifying today in his defense, appearing more
subdued than his feisty testimony last week. Stevens’ third day on the witness stand finished testimony
in the 4 week long trial; both sides will present closing arguments before the jury of 11 women and 5
men Tuesday which are expected to take the entire day.
Under continuing cross examination by lead prosecutor on the case Brenda Morris went through a
series of e-mails and memos with Stevens that he sent to his friend Bob Persons and former VECO
CEO Bill Allen. Morris noted in the messages that Stevens never once referenced that Christensen
Builders was the general contractor on the Stevens’ home renovation project but referred numerous
times to Rocky Williams, one of the foreman, who was employed by VECO.
The prosecution questioned Sen. Stevens about why his wife was sending items to people at VECO’s
offices if VECO was not involved in the project including a FedEX package from 2001 sent to Bill
Allen “attention Rocky Williams.” http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/us-v-
stevens/exhibits/oct/16/GX0463-001.pdf
During his testimony Stevens has maintained that Williams had been employed by VECO at times and
worked for Allen on other projects but that while he was working on his house project he was not there
with VECO. Morris said to the Senator, “Your wife knew…your staff knew but you didn’t.” Stevens
only responded about Williams, “That’s where his office was…
Stevens was also confronted with a January 2006 invoice for plumping work at his house for $1,118
which was addressed to him but noted that Allen clearly paid for the labor with “Labor paid by Bill”
on the invoice. Stevens maintained that he asked for a bill from Bill Allen in writing and told the
prosecutor “I didn’t know what it cost…I tried to get Bill Allen on the phone and via e-mail.”
Morris zeroed in on gifts that the Senator had been given that the government claims he never
mentioned on his financial disclosure form. Concerning a $2,695 massage chair that Bob Persons
bought for Stevens in 2001 Morris asked the Senator, "And the chair is still at your house?"
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October 19, 20, 21 News Clippings Packet - US v. Stevens Page 30 of 30 pages
Morris said to the Senator, “You better be careful…So, if you say it's not a gift, it's not a gift?"
Stevens said, "I refused it as a gift... I let him put it in our basement at his request."
Stevens said he only used the chair a few times and had been in pain after a series of medical
procedures and a bout of bronchitis.
Asked about the $29,000 giant fish statue on the deck of the
home which was given to him after a charity event Stevens
testified that it was to be for the Ted Stevens Foundation.
Morris pointed out the Foundation does not have a building
yet to which Stevens said, “I
have not died
yet…you go right ahead with your next
questions, Miss.”
As the prosecutor continued questioning him about the large bronze statue of 3 salmon Stevens
reverted to his defense of blaming his wife, “Catherine decides what goes to the Foundation.”
Closing Arguments are set for 9:30am on Tuesday. The lawyers have a procedural hearing later this
afternoon to review final evidence that will be submitted to the jury when then deliberate.
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