A STORY THAT IS OH SO COMMON IN OUR GOVERNMENT!
A STORY THAT IS OH SO COMMON IN OUR GOVERNMENT!
Friend turns on Sen. Stevens in gift-giving trial
By MATT APUZZO and TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A longtime friend of Sen. Ted Stevens has taken the stand as the star witness in the Alaska Republican’s corruption trial. Wealthy oil contractor Bill Allen once was a trusted confidant of the senator. Now he’s working with the Justice Department. The former friends barely looked at each other as Allen took the stand Tuesday in federal court in Washington.
Allen is expected to testify that his company, VECO Corp., performed more than $250,000 in free renovations on Stevens’ home in Alaska. Stevens allegedly concealed that on Senate documents.
The trial has weakened one of the Senate’s storied figures. Stevens faces a tough Democratic challenge to a seat he’s held for 40 years.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the star witness against Sen. Ted Stevens due to testify Tuesday, prosecutors denied allegations they secretly shuttled another key witness back to Alaska so he wouldn’t hurt their corruption case against the lawmaker.
The government claims in newly filed court papers that Robert Williams — manager of a makeover of Stevens’ cabin that’s central to the case — needed to go home before the trial started last week to get medical help.
When prosecutors met with the 58-year-old Williams to discuss his possible testimony at Stevens’ trial, he “appeared jaundiced, his face was gaunt, he had substantially aged, he had chronic coughing spells and he was frequently short of breath,” the papers said.
Stevens’ attorneys have accused prosecutors of trying to hide Williams after realizing he had information that could help the defense. On Monday, the judge demanded an explanation of why they didn’t tell anyone that the witness, who was subpoenaed by both sides, was gone.
Prosecutors, in their papers, said that Williams left messages with the defense team before leaving Washington, and still might return if cleared by doctors.
“The government was primarily concerned with Mr. William’s health,” the papers said.
Stevens, 84, is charged with lying on Senate financial disclosure forms about more than $250,000 in work done on his hillside cabin and other gifts he received from VECO Corp., a powerful Alaska oil pipeline contractor.
Among the first witnesses Tuesday was a reporter with a small Alaska newspaper chain, Heather Resz, who told the jury about receiving a tip in 2004 that free work had been done at the cabin. Then-press secretary Courtney Boone “assured me the senator was an ethical man,” and would come up with a statement, she said.
Boone testified that when she went to her boss with the inquiry, his response “was the same as mine — ‘What?’ Shock.”
The senator “said I would have to talk to Mrs. Stevens about it because she handled the work on the house,” Boone said, adding that the spouse showed her home-improvement receipts.
Though Boone also learned VECO owner Bill Allen was involved in project, she decided not to disclose that because she didn’t consider it “essential information.” A statement was issued by the couple insisting they had paid for “the modernization of their chalet.”
Allen is scheduled to take the witness stand later Tuesday in what will likely be the highlight of the trial of the Senate’s longest-serving Republican. He is expected to testify that he lavished Stevens with the free house renovations — a balcony, a new roof, a custom steel staircase with handmade railings — and other gifts.
Stevens didn’t report any of it on his Senate financial disclosure forms, an omission that has landed him in a Washington courtroom while his Democratic opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, is campaigning against him in Alaska.
Just as Allen’s testimony is key to the government’s case, discrediting him is essential for Stevens. The senator insists he never asked Allen for any free work and thought his friend was sending him every bill for the job. Stevens and his wife say they paid $160,000 for the project and assumed that covered everything.
Stevens says that if freebies were tacked on to the job, Allen did so without telling him. Because the senator’s wife handled all the finances, he says there’s no way he could have known Allen was adding on work.
NEXT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now as you read this please bear in mind that these two issues are relevant whether you know it or not, And yes they Mentioned the White House on down, Yep the Bush/Cheney tag team in the lead. Read heed and learn, “ WE THE PEOPLE “ Stop being so Stupid.
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The Bailout Defeat: A Political Credibility Crisis
By MICHAEL SCHERER / WASHINGTON Tue Sep 30, 1:35 PM ET
There was a lack of trust, a loss of confidence, a popular revolt.
Nearly every major political leader in the U.S. supported the $700 billion financial-bailout bill. The President. The Vice President. The Treasury Secretary. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Democratic and Republican nominees for President. The Democratic and Republican leadership of the House and Senate. All of them said the same thing: vote yes.
But a majority of those politicians anointed by the Constitution to reflect the will of the people voted no. This is a remarkable event, the culmination of a historic sense of betrayal that Americans have long felt for their representatives in Washington. The nation’s credit crisis on Monday exposed a much deeper and more fundamental problem: a crisis of political credibility that now threatens to harm our nation further, should the markets freeze up and more companies begin to fail, as many experts predict.
The problem has been growing for years. Roughly 28% of Americans approve of President Bush. Roughly 18% of Americans approve of Congress. Now those low numbers and majority of bad feelings have manifested themselves in the starkest of terms.
Asked to take a leap of faith regarding a dizzyingly complex problem, a critical mass of voters refused to trust their leaders, turning down the medicine that was offered. And so the politicians who are most exposed to popular whims have run for cover. With an election on the horizon, 95 House Democrats and 133 House Republicans opposed the bill. Some portion voted no for clearly ideological reasons. But many more were simply doing what politicians do - responding to the will of the people.
An analysis by statistician Nate Silver, who runs FiveThirtyEight.com, made this clear. Of the 38 incumbent members of Congress from both parties who are considered vulnerable in the coming election, 30 voted against the bill (eight supported it). By contrast, members of Congress from relatively safe districts were evenly divided - 197 for it to 198 against it.
“What this showed more than anything else was that not even members of Congress can ignore a switchboard system of Capitol Hill that is so totally jammed,” said Peter Sepp, a conservative opponent of the bill with the National Taxpayers Alliance.
If the experts are right, the nation now risks great financial hardship, because there was no one to stand up and explain the situation. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 778 points on the news. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson warned Monday afternoon that car loans and student loans were likely to tighten. Other economists have warned of the possibility of widespread corporate failures and unemployment, if the short-term credit markets freeze up. Bank failures, or mergers, are likely to continue. The taxpayer costs of federal insurance on deposits could increase.
In a worst-case scenario, economic historians may find that all of Paulson’s predictions come true, leaving the cost to the Federal Government far greater than the risky $700 billion investment in the private sector. If this comes to pass, the historians will find many people to blame: Paulson and President Bush for failing to explain the plan better. The House leadership for failing to whip enough votes. Even the presidential candidates for failing to use their bully pulpit to force the issue.
But those historians should not forget that roots of the failure predate the vote on Monday, and even the mistakes of Wall Street. Years ago, the trust between the people and their politicians was broken. Credibility was lost. The reserve of goodwill went bankrupt. And when they needed it most, our nation’s leaders found that they had squandered their ability to exert influence over the people who chose them to lead.
So where are our Leaders when they have to stand and deliver, no where, just waiting for there pay checks, (plural) .
Rich
richmartinphotographer@yahoo.com