Prosecutors scoff at Ted Stevens’ defenseWASHINGTON (AP) — Prosecutors ridiculed Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens on Tuesday, closing their corruption case by dismissing as “nonsense” his efforts to explain away hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts. Prosecutor Joseph Bottini told jurors that Stevens surrounded himself with wealthy, generous friends who could be counted on to give gifts and who could be trusted to keep it quiet. Stevens testified for three days and said he never asked for the rope lighting, furniture, gas grill, fully stocked tool chest or other items that kept appearing at his house. He said he repeatedly pressed his friend, contractor Bill Allen, to remove them. “Does anybody really believe that the defendant really can’t get Bill Allen to stop giving him all this free stuff?” Bottini asked. Stevens, 84, is charged with lying on Senate disclosure forms about $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from Allen and his oil services company, VECO Corp. Bottini repeatedly questioned Stevens’ credibility and remarked that the Senate’s longest-serving Republican looked uncomfortable answering questions on the witness stand. In particular, Bottini seized on an awkward exchange that occurred Monday, in which Stevens said an expensive massage chair was a loan, not a gift, from another friend. “Does anyone really believe he thought that chair was a loan? It’s been in his house for seven years,” Bottini said. “What were the terms of this loan? Zero percent interest for 84 months? Simply saying, ‘We’re going to call this a loan and I don’t have to report it,’ is nonsense.” Speaking casually to jurors as he summarized the case, Bottini went item-by-item through the list of renovations and gifts and ridiculed Stevens’ explanations for them: — “Ridiculous.” — “Does that make any sense whatsoever?” — “Is there any doubt he cooked up a story?” — “That’s not what happened and you know it.” Defense attorney Brendan Sullivan accused the Justice Department of twisting the case to make an honorable senator appear corrupt. When prosecutors “look at life through a dirty glass,” he said, “then the whole world looks dirty.” Sullivan told jurors to focus on the many letters and e-mails in which Stevens asks to be billed for his home renovations. Stevens says he assumed the bills were sent and that his wife paid them. Prosecutors say Stevens wrote the letters to cover himself. To believe that, Sullivan told jurors, “You’ve got to think he’s some mastermind of a conspiracy, who writes something so it’ll protect himself seven, eight years later.” “That’s sick,” Sullivan said. “That’s sick thoughts. That’s not real life.” Stevens and his wife paid $160,000 for the remodeling, and Sullivan told jurors that more than covered the cost of the project. He urged jurors to rely on appraiser reports and not on VECO’s business records, some of which have been called into question and redacted by the judge. “The evidence is overwhelming that what they paid was fair,” Sullivan said. “They believed they were paying their debts and they didn’t think they were getting anything for free.” Sullivan’s closing arguments were scheduled to continue late into Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors, by rule, get the final chance to speak to jurors before they begin deliberating. This process was scheduled to begin Wednesday. Stevens asked for an unusually speedy trial that he hopes will clear his name before Election Day. He is fending off a tough Democratic challenge for a seat he’s held for 40 years. Democrats have invested heavily in the campaign, sensing an opportunity to unseat a legendary Republican figure and perhaps capture a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. The monthlong trial has been a distraction for Stevens during the crucial final weeks of the campaign. His opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, has had the state all to himself while Stevens has been tethered to the Washington courtroom. |
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