Sen. Ted Stevens' Buddy Takes the Stand
By Matt Apuzzo and Tom Hays
Associated Press Writers
October 1, 2008
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - When he first took the witness stand, oil contractor Bill Allen told a federal court jury that he really liked Sen. Ted Stevens. That said, Allen now is expected to start pointing fingers at his old friend.
Allen spent about 90 minutes testifying Tuesday afternoon, beginning what is expected to be the highlight of the government's corruption case against Stevens. The personal strain was obvious as Stevens didn't acknowledge his former fishing and drinking buddy and Allen appeared wistful over the fallen friendship.
"We really liked each other, you know?" Allen said. "Ted really worked hard. Ted loved Alaska and I loved Alaska."
Because Allen took the stand late Tuesday afternoon, however, prosecutors didn't have time to ask about the crux of the case: a massive construction project in which Allen helped renovate the senator's house.
That testimony was scheduled to come Wednesday. The founder of oil services company VECO Corp., Allen was expected to testify that his employees spent hundreds of hours transforming the senator's small A-frame cabin into a two-story home with a garage, sauna, wine cellar and wraparound porches.
Prosecutors say Stevens didn't pay for any of VECO's work on the project and didn't disclose it as a gift on Senate financial forms.
There were other favors too, Allen said. In late 1999, he recalled Stevens fearing that the Y2K computer bug would crash the power grid and leave his house in the dark.
"So I went and got a generator and put it in," Allen testified.
"Did he ask you for this?" prosecutor Joseph Bottini asked.
"Yeah, he said he needed a generator," Allen responded, his head lowered, as he told jurors that Stevens never paid for the $5,000-to-$6,000 generator.
The charges have weakened a once-dominant political force and threaten to send the Senate's longest-serving Republican to prison.
Stevens, 84, steadfastly maintains his innocence. He hopes for a speedy verdict that will send him back to Alaska victorious in time for his Election Day fight against the Democratic mayor of Anchorage, Mark Begich.
Stevens says he never asked Allen for any free work. In fact, he says he made it clear he wanted his friend to send him every bill for the job. If freebies were tacked on, he says, Allen did so without telling him.
Stevens, who spends more time at his home in Washington than in Alaska, says he paid little attention to the project that his wife oversaw. He says he assumed the $160,000 they paid for the project covered everything.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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