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Stevens Trial Expedited In Gift Case

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The Washington Post

Published: August 1, 2008

WASHINGTON - Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges of making false statements about more than $250,000 in renovations to his Anchorage-area home and was granted an unusually early trial date after requesting the chance to win acquittal before this fall's election.

Stevens' attorney, Brendan Sullivan, requested the accelerated schedule to allow the 84-year-old senator to "clear his name" before the general election on Nov. 4. "This is not a complex case, and it should move quickly," he said.

With no objection from prosecutors, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan set Stevens' trial date for Sept. 24.

A federal grand jury indicted Stevens on Tuesday on seven counts of concealing information on his financial disclosure forms about lucrative home renovations and gifts, including a wraparound deck and a Viking gas grill, that he allegedly received from executives of oil services company Veco.

Randall Eliason, a former head of the public corruption unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., who now teaches white-collar criminal law at local universities, said defense attorneys rarely make such a request. He said, however, that Brendan Sullivan probably is prepared for trial because the investigation has gone on for several years.

"They have had a lot of time during the grand jury investigation to be preparing," Eliason said.

Prosecutor Brenda Morris, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice's public integrity section, said her team has wiretap evidence and would take about three weeks to present its case at trial.

Jennifer Duffy, a Senate analyst for the Cook Political Report, said the indictment had made the race favorable for Stevens' Democratic opponent. But she noted that an acquittal before Election Day would produce a huge "sympathy vote" for Stevens.

Stuart Rothenberg, founder of the Rothenberg Political Report, said that prospect is too uncertain and that GOP leaders should try to move Stevens out of the race by the September deadline.

The indictment charges Stevens with violating the Ethics in Government Act, which requires elected officials to disclose gifts that exceed a few hundred dollars and debts that exceed $10,000.

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