Ted Stevens testifies that he always paid his own bills
The Alaska senator says at his corruption trial that he took out a mortgage to pay for renovations on his house. His lawyers introduce e-mails in which he insisted he'd pay for escalating costs.
WASHINGTON -- Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens sought to portray himself at his corruption trial today as an honest, bill-paying citizen who took special pains to comply with Senate financial disclosure rules.
"I don't allow people to buy my lunch or buy my dinner; wherever I am, I pay my bills," Stevens said. The long-serving Republican is on trial for failing to disclose more than $250,000 in home improvements and gifts.
Testifying for the second day, Stevens described how he and his wife liquidated a personal trust and took out a mortgage to proceed with a long-planned overhaul of their home in Girdwood, Alaska, southeast of Anchorage.
His lawyers introduced e-mail exchanges that they said showed his intent to pay. In one such exchange while work was in progress, a Girdwood restaurant owner and friend who was bird-dogging the renovation project expressed concern about its escalating cost.
"I keep worrying about the cost because we've added so much," said Bob Persons. "I am doing my best to keep expenses down."
Stevens e-mailed back: "Don't worry ... I expected it when we started making changes, and we arranged for a mortgage to pay for all the costs right away."
Stevens denied on the witness stand today that such exchanges were a ruse.
Another Stevens associate, oilman Bill J. Allen, testified earlier in the trial that Stevens' expressed desire to pay was a cover story; Allen said he was told in a conversation by Persons that "Ted was just covering [himself]" with a paper trail.
"Did you ever tell Mr. Persons anything that would lead to the conclusion that you were trying to cover [yourself]?" Stevens' lawyer, Brendan V. Sullivan, asked Stevens today.
Stevens said that he had not.
Stevens also attempted to rebuff testimony from Allen that he had once told the oilman that he recognized that he was getting more work done on the project than he was paying for.
"That is another falsehood," Stevens testified.
Sullivan also asked Stevens about an October 2002 e-mail exchange with Allen, after some employees of Allen's now-defunct company, Veco Corp., had made further improvements on the home, including a new first-floor deck, more than a year after the bulk of the renovation project at Girdwood was completed.
In the e-mail, Stevens told Allen "You owe me a bill," and alluded to the case of former New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli, who left the Senate after being investigated for receiving illegal gifts.
