Phone conversation may speak to Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' state of mind

"Ted gets hysterical when he has to spend his own money," said one of the callers.

"I know," replied the other.

In a corruption case where the core issue is whether Stevens knowingly accepted gifts in violation of federal law, the conversation, secretly recorded by federal investigators, could be crucial evidence.

On one end was a restaurateur who oversaw the remodeling of Stevens' Alaska home. Prosecutors contend the senator never paid for the improvements.

On the other end was an oil executive accused of helping bankroll the home makeover and showering Stevens and his family with other gifts in violation of federal law.

The recording is part of the evidence that prosecutors hope jurors will hear as Stevens goes to trial this week in federal court in Washington. Jury selection began Monday.

The Senate's longest-serving Republican was indicted in July on charges of failing to disclose in financial reports $250,000 in improvements at his home in Girdwood, Alaska, and other gifts, including a Viking gas grill and a bargain price on a new Land Rover.

Stevens, 84, has said that he never intentionally violated the Senate reporting requirement and that in the case of the home improvements, he paid every invoice he ever received.

Beyond questions of guilt or innocence, the trial could open a window onto the backroom dealings and politics of a state that has come under scrutiny since Sen. John McCain selected its virtually unknown governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate.

The verdict could also decide Stevens' political future. He sought a speedy trial so it would be over before Alaskans vote Nov. 4 on his bid for a seventh term. The senator remains popular; he easily defeated six challengers in last month's GOP primary despite his indictment four weeks before.

But polls show his race against Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, to be far closer, and he will likely be sitting in a courtroom while Begich campaigns. Perhaps hoping to free up some time for electioneering, his lawyers, citing a need for Stevens "to fulfill his Senate duties," asked Monday that he be excused from a rule requiring a defendant's presence every day a federal trial is in session.