WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii strongly defended the honor of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens at the Alaska senator’s corruption trial Thursday, saying he’s never heard of his friend telling a lie.
“His reputation for truthfulness and honesty is what, sir?” defense attorney Brendan Sullivan asked.
“Absolute,” Inouye answered emphatically.
Stevens, 84, is accused of lying on Senate forms to conceal more than $250,000 in renovations on his cabin and other gifts from Bill Allen, his friend and former chief of an Alaska oil-services and construction company, Veco Corp.
It remained unclear whether Stevens, the straight-talking, longest-serving Senate Republican and patriarch of Alaska politics for generations, would take the stand in his own defense. He has languished in the federal courtroom as a Democratic opponent back home mounts an election challenge to the seat he’s held for 40 years.
The GOP icon’s lawyers started their defense of him by calling his friends and constituents to testify in front of the jury to the senator’s reputation of truthfulness. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to testify today.
Inouye is one of Stevens’ best friends, with the two World War II veterans calling each other “brother.”
Defense lawyers insist that Stevens was too busy in Washington to pay close attention to the renovation of the cabin near Anchorage, which his wife oversaw. The prosecution, which rested its case earlier Thursday, relied on testimony by several Veco workers.
