Jury hears audio of Stevens fretting about FBI inquiry
Originally published Monday, October 6, 2008 at 6:06 a.m.
Updated Monday, October 6, 2008 at 1:47 p.m.
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To see Justice Department documents relating to Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' trial, click here.
WASHINGTON -- In October 2006, a longtime loyalist of Sen. Ted Stevens called him up with a big problem: The FBI, he said, was breathing down his neck about a makeover of the senator's mountain cabin.
Stevens responded by cautioning the friend, Bill Allen, that they "ought to lay really low right now" and "stick this out together."
Unbeknownst to the veteran Alaskan lawmaker, Allen had already agreed to work with investigators and secretly tape their phone calls - evidence made public for the first time Monday at Steven's corruption trial.
Stevens, 84, is charged with lying on financial disclosure forms to conceal more than $250,000 in cabin renovations and other gifts from Allen and his oil pipeline firm, VECO Corp.
On tape, the senator tells his old drinking and fishing buddy he's worried about the appearance of wrongdoing and even warns that they might be under surveillance.
"I think they're probably listening to this conversation right now," he says.
"We might have to pay a fine and spend a little time in jail," he continues. "I hope it doesn't come to that."
But Stevens also repeatedly asserts his innocence.
"I don't think we've done anything wrong," the senator says in one conversation. "I'm not afraid of them at all."
While the senator exudes defiance on tape, Allen sounds downtrodden.
"I'm sorry this whole thing is happening," he tells Stevens at one point.
The audiotapes were played for the jury during testimony by Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers and agreed to testify against Stevens in exchange for immunity for his family and a possible break at sentencing.
There are no bribery charges against Stevens - a point that defense attorney Brendan Sullivan sought to drive home during a cross-examination of the government's star witness that ate up the afternoon and was expected to continue on Tuesday morning.
"You never sought to bribe Sen. Stevens, did you sir?" he asked.
"No," Allen replied.
The attorney also flustered Allen by challenging his testimony last week that one reason he ignored Stevens' requests to bill him for renovations - aside from their friendship - was that a mutual friend told him the senator only wanted to "cover his ass" on ethics rules, not really pay up. The defense has sought to cast that claim as a fabrication extracted by prosecutors only two weeks before trial.
"When did you tell the government?" Sullivan asked. "It was just recently wasn't it?"
"No. No," Allen said. "... I don't know."
Stevens says he asked Allen to oversee the project while he was in Washington, but insists he sought to pay all the bills and had no idea his friend was absorbing most costs himself.
Allen admitted Monday he added some features like gaudy Christmas lights and a stainless steel grill without checking with Stevens first.
"It was too much," Allen said of the lights. "I shouldn't have done that."
The witness testified that he didn't always pay close attention to the project. But he told jurors it was ultimately his responsibility.
"What's the old saying? The buck stops here?" he said.
Earlier Monday, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered the government to file a formal response at the end of the day to repeated defense claims that prosecutors intentionally withheld evidence favorable to their client. In an initial filing late Sunday, prosecutors wrote, "Contrary to all of the theatrics and hyperbole from the defense, no one has attempted to hide evidence or hold back any discoverable item."
Sullivan said he would take up the issue as prosecutors near the end of their case, possibly Tuesday afternoon or early Wednesday.
Stevens, a patriarch of Alaska politics for generations, hopes to clear his name with an acquittal before voters go to the polls next month to vote on whether to return him to a seat he's held for 40 years.
Community Discussion
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As much as I hate corruption in our congress...I havent read where Uncle Ted has done anything against the law. He may have broke the spirit of the law, but I think he will be found innocent of the charges.
Go Uncle Ted. We all know your innocent!!!
Yukonjohn, I agree with you, but I think he should just let the trial run its course instead of demanding a mistrial every other day....
Welcome home Ted!
Prosecutors have insisted that they made an honest mistake in not following rules of evidence requiring the government to share information that could help criminal defendants prove their innocence, and pleaded with the judge to let the trial go on. He agreed on condition they turn over the additional documents that could prove valuable in cross-examining Allen.
Cost taxpayers millions $$$$$$$$$$$ Prosecuters loose their licenses? or be fined by the court?
In the end Senator Stevens will win this battle and get back to being our Senator again....He is guilty of doing a great job for Alaska for most of his adult life...We need him to continue his work. We are all being shown how out of control our justice department has become.
I agree, doesn't sound like he did anything illegal. He asked for the bills, wasn't given them to pay. Not much you can do about that. They need to quit wasting our money on this trial.
If I was Sen. Stevens I would want this trial to play out. A mistrial gives the Prosecution the chance to re-tri him at a later date. The way they have bungled this case, I would think the jury could not possibly find him guilty.
Stevens is a rich politician and will get special treatment, just like all the others.
If the best prosecutors the government can get can't follow the rules, would someone explain to me why anyone else should? Stevens is being prosecuted for not following the rules....right?
It's not clear from the reporting how much the jury knows about the skullduggery of the prosecuters. If they know as much as we do there is no way Stevens will be found guilty. The worst that can happen to him at this point is a hung jury. I suspect that the judge will allow it to play out so the jury can acquit.
"If the best prosecutors the government can get can't follow the rules, would someone explain to me why anyone else should?"
The old "It's ok for me to do something wrong because that other guy is doing something wrong" defense. Thanks for making this a better society.
We're in big trouble when citizens see no problem with their representatives engaging in unethical behavior...
He will be found not guilty,only to trigger random violence,and looting in Spenard,and then vowing to search for the real liar for the rest of his senatorial career. Then thirteen years to the day he will be found guilty of ripping a tag off a mattress,and he will pass on in the big house.
He is guilty of not following the law regarding financial disclosure. That is the narrow charge he is facing. He will be found guilty and will spend time in prison.
I wish he would have resigned this summer so we could have thrown a parade for him and honored him like he deserves.
Ted Stevens was a prosecutor for years. He knows the tricks and did what he could to minimize the chance that he would be caught, or if caught that he would be punished.
There is no law preventing the owner of the mattress from pulling the tag off. After you have purchased and paid for the mattress in full...after you have recieved all the bills for the mattress, you can, in fact remove the tag, BUT, only after such time as you have recieved and paid for all the invoices presented to you. If you were not charged the full amount for the mattress even though you asked to...even if you really didn't mean it. Pull the damn tag off.
Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to the law.
este: "He is guilty of not following the law regarding financial disclosure"
xxxxx
He cannot disclose what he does not know. Allen admitted that he kept the facts from Ted, didn't bill him for many items, and did not tell Ted about the omissions.
Oh please said "We're in big trouble when citizens see no problem with their representatives engaging in unethical behavior..."
Im concern about what our government is doing to Senator Stevens.
It troubles me more to think what they can do to a citizen , like me or you.
The DOJ has no proof, and still took it to trial.. Some top level DOJ lawyer should get some prison time for this sad politicaly motivated abuse of power. You can bet it was a elitist liberal Obama supporter.
Sad
Niceguy, your analogy of the mattress tag is incorrect, but the truth of it sure points out a valid point in Ted Stevens' case.
The mattress tag is put on there for the seller, to be sure the buyer has all the information required by law.
If Allen (the "seller") had followed this principle, and had been up-front with Ted, Ted would be out on the campaign trail today, where he belongs.
I bet all you folks that bad mouth Sen Stevens are Obama lovers. If not I apologize. If so you got to be kidding the world.
Wonder why ol' Ted is having so much trouble sleeping? Getting only 4 hours per night... words out of the old coot's mouth.
Ted's worried. Worried about jail. Innocent people don't lose sleep over falsehoods or at least someone as wealthy and connected as Ted Stevens is.
Those tapes have guaranteed he is toast.The bimbo queenie isn't the brightest but at least she had enough street smarts to stay clear of this thing.
dog
The newsminer is not reporting fairly on this subject. I suggest you read the Adn version, it is more complete and leaves the reader with a different impression.
"The newsminer is not reporting fairly on this subject. I suggest you read the Adn version, it is more complete and leaves the reader with a different impression."
Exactly. It's only fair journalism unless you agree with it.
mackie1: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
That was funny, bro!
The title of the article: "Jury hears audio of Stevens fretting about FBI inquiry." According to other reports, Ted's language was a bit, uh, gruff.
All I can say is, that's nothing. You should hear the audio of me fretting about Stevens.
I believe prosecutors take their job seriously.
They did not pick on Ted Stevens out of the clear blue sky.
He apparently misused his office for personal gain.
He did a good job as a senator, what I don't understand is people who act like he is the only person on the planet who could do his job.
He is a liability to the state now and it was his choice to be that liability.
His case is a good argument for term limits for public office.
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