Key Govt. Witness 'Wanted to Help' Stevens

Oct. 1, 2008— -- The government's key witness in its corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens told the court he never sent the Alaska Republican a bill for the massive home renovation at the heart of the case because he "wanted to help" and that he "liked" the senator.

Bill Allen, the former CEO of now-defunct oil services firm VECO, took the stand for the second day in a row Wednesday, telling the court about his company's involvement in the renovation project carried out at Stevens' Girdwood, Alaska, home, as well as his efforts to bribe various Alaska state lawmakers in order to benefit his business.

Stevens, 84, the longest-serving Republican U.S. Senator, is on trial for allegedly concealing $250,000 worth of gifts, including the renovations, on financial disclosure forms required by the Senate. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Under questioning from prosecutors, Allen testified about his conversation and correspondence with Stevens about expanding his simple one-level A-frame home into a three-story house. Allen provided testimony which may play into the defense's argument that Stevens' wife Catherine was the main director of the renovation project when he told the jury, "[Sen. Stevens] told me Catherine wanted to be in the middle of it… she was interested in having a bigger house."

The VECO architect's design "really pleased Catherine," Stevens noted in one e-mail.

The prosecution then provided several notes from Stevens from 2002. In one of the letters, Stevens asked Allen for a bill. "You owe me a bill… remember Torricelli, my friend," Stevens wrote, in reference to former Sen. Robert Torricelli, who was ousted from the U.S. Senate amid an ethics investigation.

"Friendship is one thing Congressional... ethics rules entirely different," Stevens also noted.

Asked by prosecutors why he never sent a bill to Stevens, Allen, after a long pause said, "I don't know why… I really didn't want to."