Let’s be clear about this: the facts as they exist really should be enough to send him down the river for bribery, but it’s easier to show that he took, and did not report gifts.<\/p>\n
We have disinterested parties like a contractor testifying that Veco<\/span> specifically told a contractor<\/span> to avoid sending a 13 grand bill<\/a>: <\/p>\n Mr. Paone<\/span> said Mr. Allen told him to “eat” the final bill and suggested that he “should look at it as a political contribution.”<\/p>\n Mr. Paone<\/span> said he never alerted Sen. Stevens to the incident because he was concerned it would be “business suicide” to cross Mr. Allen, who was a powerful businessman in Alaska.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n We also have his friend who managed the renovations of his chalet that Stevens never asked for a bill or invoice<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stevens should not be a particularly sympathetic figure, what with his claiming that if anything was done wrong, it was his wife who screwed up<\/a>, and his decision, because no lawyer in his right mind would put him up there, which showed, as Dana Milbank<\/span> says<\/a>: <\/p>\n Ted Stevens once told his Senate colleagues that he’s “a mean, miserable SOB.” Yesterday, he set out to prove it.<\/span> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n (See also here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>)<\/p>\n Considering the degree to which the reports all agree that he was contemptuous, evasive, and just plain awful<\/strong> as a witness, I have to conclude that his testifying was Stevens’ and not his Attorney’s idea.<\/p>\n In closing arguments, the prosecutor got to the most damning evidence in the case<\/a>, the fact that Stevens acknowledged what he was doing could get him into legal trouble.<\/p>\n That pretty much shoots down the argument that it was an “innocent mistake”.<\/p>\n Of course, considering how badly the prosecution has handled this, I get the sense that the judge wants to slap them silly for good cause, there are no guarantees,<\/p>\n