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Sen. Stevens Says Repeated Gifts Were Unwanted

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The Associated Press

Published: October 18, 2008

WASHINGTON - Some people worry, when they've been away from home, that they might return to find something missing.

Sen. Ted Stevens described a very different problem. Time and again, he testified Friday, he returned home to find something new and expensive.

"I literally walked in and found all new furniture," Stevens testified Friday. "All of our furniture was gone."

Stevens testified that he didn't want any of those things and never asked for them. His friend, oil pipeline contractor Bill Allen, just kept giving.

"All of these things kept appearing over the years at your chalet?" prosecutor Brenda Morris asked.

"That's right," Stevens replied, trying to keep his famously short-fused temper in check.

Stevens is charged with lying on Senate disclosure forms about $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from Allen and his company, Veco Corp.

Prosecutors say Stevens had a long history of accepting gifts from Allen.

"You were the lion of the Senate, but you didn't know how to stop this man from putting big-ticket items at your home?" Morris said, teasing the Senate's longest-serving Republican.

As Morris repeatedly needled him on his relationship with Allen, Veco and the new things at his home, Stevens shot back with: "You're not listening to me, I've answered it twice," "I'm not going to get into a numbers game with you," "You're making a lot of assumptions that are unwarranted," and "That question is tautological."

Stevens, taking the stand as his own star witness Friday, strongly rejected the idea that he had his hand out looking for favors. He said he wouldn't even let someone pick up the tab at a restaurant and certainly wouldn't let somebody tack on freebies to his home renovation project.

Allen served as the Justice Department's key witness, testifying that his employees performed countless tasks at the senator's house. Allen told jurors that Stevens, his former drinking and fishing buddy, knew he wasn't getting billed for everything and just asked for invoices to protect himself.

Stevens cast himself as an honest lawmaker who was out of the loop when it came to the things that were going on at his Girdwood home.

Morris will continue questioning Stevens on Monday. Lawyers will then make closing arguments, with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan saying he expects the jury to start deliberating early next week.

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