Stevens says he plans to testify at his trial

Stevens says he plans to testify at his trial
AP - September 19, 2008 - -http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=9042531


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens says he plans to testify at his federal corruption trial.

Stevens is accused of lying on Senate disclosure forms about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts .........

Because it could be a very bad move on his part :evilgrin:
(sure hope so!)

"I am not a crook"

Repeat over and over and over......

Attorneys debate wiretapped conversations in Stevens case
Posted on Thu, Sep. 18, 2008 - RICHARD MAUER AND ERIKA BOLSTAD
McClatchy Newspapers - http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/692294.html

WASHINGTON -- Defense and prosecutors in Sen. Ted Stevens' criminal disclosure case wrangled over the admissibility of a wiretapped conversation Thursday where two of Stevens' friends spoke of his aversion to opening his own wallet.

"Ted gets hysterical when he has to spend his own money," Alaska restaurateur Robert Persons told the former chairman of oil-field services company Veco Corp., Bill Allen, in a conversation overheard by the FBI and quoted in court by a prosecutor.

Persons, founder of the Double Musky in Girdwood, Alaska, told Allen there was a reason for Stevens' reluctance: the senator "can't really afford to pay a bunch of money," he said.

.............

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan didn't rule on the issue, one of several that defense lawyers and prosecutors argued about in open court ...........

Key players in the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens
By The Associated Press – 8 hours ago - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iY0MYgJE_BoX5-HUjvnt-CtbaJpQD939V1JG0


A look at the key players in the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. Jury selection begins Monday:

THE DEFENSE

TED STEVENS: At 84, Stevens is the Senate's longest-serving Republican and long has been Alaska's political patriarch. He is charged with lying about more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations he received from corrupt oil field services contractor Bill Allen. He faces five years in prison on each of seven counts. Stevens steadfastly maintains his innocence and asked for a speedy trial in hopes of being vindicated before Election Day, which is Nov. 4.

BRENDAN SULLIVAN: Sullivan is among the best and most respected trial lawyers in the country. He has represented several political figures in corruption scandals ... perhaps most famous for representing Oliver North in the Iran-Contra scandal....

THE GOVERNMENT

BRENDA MORRIS: A longtime prosecutor with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, Morris now serves as its principal deputy. She has helped supervise the investigation into disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and has prosecuted corruption cases around the country. She teaches corruption investigations within the Justice Department and is a professor at Georgetown Law School.

...............

On the Hill = The Ill-Timed Trial of Senator Stevens of Alaska
CARL HULSE - September 19, 2008 - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/us/politics/19hillcnd.html?hp

WASHINGTON — In a year of mesmerizing political scenes, one of the most remarkable will begin to play out next week just down Constitution Avenue from the Capitol.

Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who as the longest serving Republican senator has prowled the corridors of Congress since 1968, will go on trial in federal court on charges of failing to disclose $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from a politically connected oil services company.

What makes the proceedings so astounding is not just that Mr. Stevens is a figure of outsize proportions in Alaska and the Senate. Or that the gifts came from a company headed by a longtime friend of Mr. Stevens at a time when the relationship between federal officials and the oil industry is under scrutiny. Or that his state, usually an afterthought in national elections, is now at the center of America’s political conversation because of the selection of Alaska’s little-known governor for the Republican presidential ticket. Or that he is the king of earmarks when such spending is itself on trial on the campaign trail.

No, on top of all that, the criminal proceedings will start about 40 days before Alaska’s voters must decide whether Mr. Stevens, 84, merits a seventh full term. ...............

Stevens upset with Dem campaign ads
'GROSS DISTORTION': Democrats says radio spot is a parody on indictment.
By KYLE HOPKINS - September 19th, 2008 - http://www.adn.com/politics/story/530854.html

Sen. Ted Stevens' re-election campaign called on Alaska radio and television stations to stop showing a pair of political commercials attacking the longtime Republican Senator this week.

The Stevens campaign spent all day Thursday arguing the ads are deceptive, while a national Democratic group battled to keep the commercials on the air.

Except for a collection of Fairbanks radio stations that temporarily pulled the ads, most of the broadcasters had refused to remove them as of Thursday night. .............

:rofl:

Alaska politics never ceases to amaze.

Palin on Ted Stevens: 'I have great respect for him'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YptTFDsktVQ

Where is there a longer version of this huggie/kissie event?

My nipples are puckering audibly at the thought of what Stewart and Colbert will do with the footage.

not sure about nipple reaction . . (looking down)

Mr. Stevens are you guilty of the charges brought against you?

NO! (while simultaneously stamping his feet and wetting his drawers)