Testimony gets testy when Stevens is cross-examinedSenator on trial over suspected ethics violations WASHINGTON — Ted Stevens has long been known in the Senate as quick to anger and unwise to provoke. So it was barely 20 seconds into his cross-examination on Friday when he and a federal prosecutor found themselves engaged in a fierce confrontation in the courtroom. Stevens, the 84-year-old Alaska Republican charged with ethics violations, chose to take the witness stand. Brenda Morris, the prosecutor, began an hourlong cross-examination by ridiculing Stevens’ contention that many of the expensive items he received from a friend were not gifts and even regarded them as useless burdens forced on him. “You didn’t want the lights?” Morris asked, referring to devices that Bill Allen, an oil services tycoon, had installed outside Stevens’ home in Girdwood, Alaska. “No,” he said. She went on to list other items — including a steel staircase, a deck, a generator, a toolbox and a gas grill. Didn’t he want these gifts? she asked. “You’re making a lot of assumptions,” Stevens snapped. “There were no gifts at all, ma’am.” Stevens is facing seven felony counts related to the accusation that he knowingly failed to list on Senate disclosure forms some $250,000 in gifts and services, mostly from Allen and his company, Veco. The senator, who will conclude his testimony on Monday, is likely to be the final witness. The jury may begin considering its verdict Tuesday morning. |
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