Sen. Ted Stevens is trying to get re-elected in the midst of a major distraction: his criminal trial. Stevens claims he paid his bills and was honest and upstanding. Will the jury buy it? Will the electorate buy it?
By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R) paid every bill sent to him for extensive renovations to his home and did not lie about the work on financial disclosure forms, his attorney told jurors this morning.
“The evidence will demonstrate that you are dealing here with a man who is honest and would not have intentionally violated the law,” the lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, said in opening statements in Stevens’ corruption trial in federal court.
