Sen. Stevens buddy may have been chatting him up, but the senator had no idea his friend was working with the FBI, recording the conversations.
By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Jurors heard secretly recorded telephone conversations yesterday in which Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) told a chief prosecution witness that the two men had done nothing wrong and that the worst punishment they could expect was a fine and a little jail time.
The tapes, recorded with the consent of the witness, former Veco chief executive Bill Allen, did not appear to be the smoking guns in Stevens’s trial on charges that he lied on financial disclosure forms to hide gifts that included renovations to his Alaska home.
They did reveal, however, that Stevens was aware the FBI was closely scrutinizing the remodeling project. On the calls, Stevens expressed defiance at the federal investigation and told Allen that he would stick by him. He seemed unaware that Allen, a close friend, was helping federal agents.
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