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Senator Stevens' Corruption Trial

"TED GETS HYSTERICAL WHEN HE HAS TO SPEND HIS OWN MONEY"

Today the jury and Alaskans heard examples of Senator Ted Stevens' scheme to not pay for renovations on his Girdwood chalet. Phone conversations between former VECO Chief Executive Bill Allen and Stevens' close friend and neighbor Bob Persons were played to highlight that Stevens knew what was going on, but still didn't pay for the work.

Senator Ted Stevens

Stevens Spoke To Allen About Renovations, And Was Thankful For VECO's Work. "Allen testified that Persons told him Stevens' repeated requests for bills were attempts to 'cover his ass' in case of future legal troubles. Allen, whose testimony concluded midday Tuesday, testified that Stevens told him outside the Double Musky Inn, a popular restaurant in Girdwood, that the senator knew VECO's extensive home renovations exceeded the amount that the senator paid. He previously testified that Stevens never paid him a dime for home improvements that constitute the bulk of the $250,000 worth of gifts Stevens is accused of knowingly failing to reveal on his Senate financial disclosure forms. Senate rules require lawmakers to report gifts worth more than $250." [Tapped Phone Record Pals of Sen. Stevens Discussing Ways to Disguise Freebie, CQ, 10/7/08]

Stevens' Friends Tried To Cover Up The Lack Of Payments For His Girdwood Chalet. "Bill Allen and Bob Persons are heard on tape fretting in February 2006 over a $1,000 plumbing bill that says, 'Labor paid for by Bill,' after Stevens contacted them. 'We need to make that disappear from (the plumber's) records,' Persons says in one conversation captured by an FBI wiretap of Allen's phones. 'Tell him Ted's paying for everything. I mean, that's the safest thing, Bill.' Allen, the government's star witness, and Persons, a neighbor who helped oversee the cabin makeover, agree that Allen should get a check from Stevens for the work. But they also decide that instead of cashing it, it should be photocopied and saved in case the senator was ever investigated for ethics violations. 'If it ever comes up, you say, 'Bull--. He paid me for that,'' Persons says. [Stevens jurors hear tape of scheme to hide free work, AP, 10/7/08]

Why Wouldn't Stevens Want To Pay His For The Remodeling? "In a February 2006 telephone call, Persons and Allen said they needed to be discreet with the bills. Persons suggested authorities were looking at 'raking [Stevens] over the coals over anything they have.' 'Catherine says Ted gets hysterical when he has to spend his own money,' Persons said on the call, referring to the senator's wife and a racehorse he and Allen co-owned with the senator." [Friends say Stevens didn't want to pay for renovations, The Hill, 10/7/08]

Allen And Persons' Discussion Of Stevens Home Remodeling Brings The Case Together. "The telephone conversations, played in court Tuesday near the end of the prosecution case against the senator, came as close to a smoking gun as Stevens' corruption trial has had... Prosecutors have been working to establish a case that time after time, Stevens took gifts even though he knew he should have paid his own way." [Stevens' friends sought to hide helping senator pay bills, Anchorage Daily News, 10/7/08]

From a Alaska Democratic Party press release

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