WASHINGTON — Writing to an old friend in October 2002, Sen. Ted Stevens offered effusive praise -- and a caveat -- for work the friend was overseeing on Stevens' home in Alaska.
"Thanks for the work on the chalet," Stevens wrote to the friend, oilman Bill J. Allen. "You owe me a bill -- remember Torricelli, my friend. Friendship is one thing. Compliance with the ethics rules entirely different."
Stevens even ordered Allen to consult with a mutual friend about how to resolve the issue. "Don't get p.o.'d at him," he wrote, adding that it "just has to be done right."
On its face, the note appears to buttress the position of Stevens and his lawyers that the long-serving Alaska Republican took seriously Senate disclosure rules about the receipt of gifts and did not violate federal law. Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) left office after an investigation into allegedly illegal campaign contributions.
But the government has a sharply different view. Allen, its star witness, testified Wednesday that the letters were part of an elaborate ruse constructed to mask the fact that Stevens was knowingly and illegally getting gifts and improvements worth more than $250,000 free from Allen and others.
Allen recounted how, at Stevens' suggestion, he discussed the billing issue with their friend, restaurant owner Robert Persons, who was also involved in the renovation, and that Persons told him to ignore it.
"Bill, don't worry about getting a bill," Allen said Persons told him. "Ted's just covering his. . . . "
"Did you send Sen. Stevens a bill or invoice after receiving this?" prosecutor Joseph W. Bottini asked Wednesday. Allen replied that he had not.
Allen's credibility is crucial to the prosecution, which is expected to wrap up its case against Stevens by Friday.
He testified Wednesday that Stevens had mentioned the bill to him on another occasion, about a month after the first note, in which Stevens had commented on an elaborate outside lighting display that Allen had installed for the lawmaker. The government says that the lights cost about $20,000 and that Stevens never reported them.
"The Christmas lights top it all," Stevens enthused. "(Don't forget we need a bill for what's been done out at the chalet.)"
Allen testified that he still did not send a bill, citing the advice he had received from Persons. "I really didn't want to," he testified, "because I wanted to help Ted."
