Stevens knew VECO renovated Girdwood chalet for free

Phone Conversations, Emails, Notes Mount In Corruption Case - Stevens Has Pattern Of Accepting And Not Reporting Gifts

As the Department of Justice prepares to rest their corruption case against Senator Ted Stevens, the jury and Alaskans heard from an FBI investigator who detailed correspondences with Stevens and the lack of disclosure of the seven years of gifts on Stevens' Personal Financial Disclosure forms.

Stevens Was Intimately Involved In The Remodeling Of His Girdwood Chalet. "The government introduced into evidence dozens of e-mails and other correspondence to and from Stevens written in 2000 and 2001, highlighting several items in which Stevens discusses the progress of a massive addition that added a new first floor to his once modest, A-frame cabin. Prosecutors also showed the jury e-mails Stevens sent and received in which he discussed additional improvements to his house in 2002 as well as a $2,700 vibrating massage chair and a sled dog prosecutors contend Stevens' friends Bob Persons gave him as gifts. Evidence showed Stevens and Persons spoke at least every few weeks about the addition, sometime exchanging several e-mails in a 24-hour period.. FBI agent Michelle Pluta, who read portions of the e-mails on the witness stand, also read portions of an Oct. 19, 1999 e-mail from Stevens to friends in which he writes that he asked VECO Corp. chief executive Bill Allen 'to hook up a generator to our chalet for Y2K - just in case.'" [Prosecution Details Stevens' Involvement in Renovations, CQ, 10/8/08]

Stevens Was So Involved, He Was Consulted On Fixture For His Free Jacuzzi. "In one series of e-mails from September 2000, Persons - who was overseeing the renovations for Stevens - told the Senator about preparations to have a plumber and electrician begin work at the house after the exterior walls were complete, and described the location of the Jacuzzi. "Please ask Catherine if she is OK with white fixtures," he wrote." [Prosecution Details Stevens' Involvement in Renovations, CQ, 10/8/08]

In Fact, Stevens Used His Senate Staff To Monitor His Home Bills. "The government also introduced memos that were periodically prepared by Stevens' staff for his review and approval detailing expenditures from his various checking accounts, including cable television bills and exterminator fees." [Prosecutors Show Stevens' Awareness of Renovations, Roll Call, 10/8/08]

Sometimes Stevens Included His Wife In Decisions. "Several of the e-mails are messages that Stevens forwarded to his wife, Catherine. Defense attorneys argue that she was the chief family overseer of the addition -- a claim those forwarded e-mails may erode." [Prosecution Details Stevens' Involvement in Renovations, CQ, 10/8/08]

Stevens Was Thankful For VECO's Work, Tried To Cover Himself. "Allen. testified last week that Persons told him that the senator was 'just covering his ass' in asking for bills. In an August 2000 e-mail, Persons. told the senator that his only expense for some of the renovations was workers eating some leftover cookies, chocolate truffles and cake. 'You still have cookies and some of the cake,' Persons wrote in an e-mail, which was admitted as evidence Wednesday. In addition to the installation of two decks, a new staircase, a brand-new power generator, new plumbing and electrical wiring, reworked rooftops and the addition of an entire floor, Stevens also failed to report a $2,000 Jacuzzi and a $2,965.50 massage chair as gifts. 'For a lot of reasons I can't wait until I get home, the house will be the frosting on the cake,' Stevens told Persons in a September 2000 e-mail. After learning of the work status from Persons, Stevens sent Allen a note lavishing him with praise. 'You continue to amaze me the way you keep so many balls in the air at one time,' Stevens said in an August 2000 thank-you note to Allen for arranging the renovations." [E-mails show Stevens aware of home improvements, The Hill, 10/8/08]

Stevens Knew VECO Paid For Remodeling, But Didn't Report It. "Prosecutors also introduced financial disclosure forms from the same period that required Stevens to report gifts to himself or immediate family. The senator listed items like a gold coin worth $1,100 and a sled dog valued at $250 but didn't mention VECO or the cabin project." [Prosecution conclude case against Stevens, AP, 10/8/08]

Senator Ted Stevens' Corruption Trial It Set To Go On Despite His Defense Team's Delay Tactics To Try And Throw It Off Course. "For the third time, [Judge] Sullivan rejected the defense's motion to dismiss the case." [Judge Refuses to Dismiss Stevens Case, Roll Call, 10/8/08]

From a Alaska Democratic Party press release

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