More in the Adventures of Bill and TedDespite recent snafus, Sen. Ted Stevens’ trial continues today, with tapes of phone conversations between Stevens and former VECO CEO Bill Allen being played for the jury.
“I think they’re probably listening to this conversation right now,” Stevens presciently says in one of the recordings.
“We might have to pay a fine and spend a little time in jail,” he continues in the recordings from the fall of 2006, the AP reports. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
The friendship between Stevens and the former VECO CEO was laid out in Allen’s testimony against the seven-term senator from Alaska last week. Allen himself pleaded guilty to three counts of bribery and conspiracy in 2007.
“Ted, I love you, you know,” Allen said in one of the tapes, illustrating how close the two once were.
“Let’s get through this and get back to our boot camps again,” Stevens said, referring to trips the friends would take together, The Hill recounts from the trial today.
While seeming to contradict the 84-year-old senator’s defense — that he was unaware that he was not being billed for over $250,000 in gifts and home renovations — many of the recordings are tinged with pathos given Allen’s testimony against Stevens.
“Let’s stick this thing out together, OK?” Stevens says during one conversation mentioned by the AP.
“I don’t think we’ve done anything wrong,” Stevens told Allen in another recorded conversation where he tried to cheer up his longtime friend and encourage him to have a positive attitude and to get some exercise, according to McClatchy. “I can’t think of a thing of anything we’ve done that’s wrong.”
Late update: More highlights from the Stevens’ audio bonanza, include multiple F-Bombs from the geriatric incumbent senator; a rundown of his sleep schedule and the lessons learned from Martha Stewart.
But don’t take our word for it! Listen for yourself:
Ted Stevens Talks with Bill Allen, Fall 2006
Audio Exhibit 1
Audio Exhibit 2
Audio Exhibit 3