We told you yesterday about Chris Matthews' flub on the Ted Stevens news -- telling viewers that the decision by Justice to drop the charges, thanks to prosecutorial misconduct, means that "the charges should never have been brought."

But it looks like Matthews was just the tip of the iceberg. Since yesterday morning, the self-appointed guardians of the Beltway discourse, in Congress and the press, have been lining up to express their sympathy for Stevens and lament the way the case has unfairly "besmirched" his sterling reputation.

Please.

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Chris Matthews says a lot of things. So it's to be expected that sometimes they're smart and insightful, and sometimes they're embarrassingly wrong.

Just now, the MSNBC anchor, opining on the news that DOJ is dropping the charges in the Ted Stevens case, declared that the decision means "the charges should never have been brought, there should never have been a prosecution."

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NPR:

The Justice Department will drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, NPR has learned.

It added that Attorney General Eric Holder decided the conviction could not be defended thanks to problems with the prosecution.

The news of the case being dropped has now been confirmed independently by the AP and CNN.

Read more »

Oe of our favorite wide-ranging probes, the one into corruption in Alaska state government, grinds relentlessly on.

The Justice Department just announced that Beverly Masek, a former member of the state House of Representatives, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bribery, in connection with cash payments she received from oil-services contractor Bil Allen, in exchange for using her position to take actions that benefited Allen's company.

Masek faces a maximum of five years in prison, and is due to be sentenced in May.

The wide-ranging probe, of course, has already netted Ted Stevens -- the Republican former U.S. senator, who was convicted last fall of making false statement on his Senate disclosure forms in connection to gifts he received from Allen. -- as well as several Alaska state lawmakers in addition to Masek.

This just gets worse and worse...

Last week, as we told you, defense lawyers for Ted Stevens formally asked the judge in his case to hold the prosecution in contempt, after a string of incidents in which the government was found to have withheld information from the defense.

And now Judge Emmet Sullivan has done so, reports the Associated Press.

Last month, Sullivan ordered prosecutors to turn over FBI documents concerning a whistleblower complaint against the agent leading the investigation into the former Alaska senator.

But they didn't, provoking the wrath of Judge Sullivan:

"That was a court order," he bellowed. "That wasn't a request. I didn't ask for them out of the kindness of your hearts. ... Isn't the Department of Justice taking court orders seriously these days?"

He said he didn't want to get "sidetracked" by deciding a sanction immediately and would deal with their punishment later. But he ordered them to produce the material by the end of the day.

"That's outrageous for the Department of Justice -- the largest law firm on the planet," he said. "That is not acceptable in this court."

This is just the latest embarrassment for the Justice Department in the case. In late January, the head of the department's Public Integrity Section admitted in writing to Judge Sullivan that he erred when he said that a group of government employees, who were cited in the FBI agent's publicly-filed complaint wanted their story to be made public. Some didn't, it turned out.

Stevens, the former Alaska GOP senator, was convicted last fall of filing false disclosure reports to hide gifts from an oil-services contractor. He is appealing the conviction.

Those Ted Stevens prosecutors are just looking more and more clueless.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that William Welch, the head of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, wrote a letter to the judge January 30, admitting that he erred when he said last month that a group of government employees, who were cited in an FBI agent's publicly-filed complaint, alleging improprieties by government officials, "want their story to be made public."

In the complaint, the FBI agent, Chad Joy, had accused a fellow agent and prosecutors of violating FBI policy and fair-trial rules. But Welch has now acknowledged that not all of the employees had agreed to have their names released.

This latest screwup comes on the heels of another slip, in which prosecutors have gone back and forth on whether Joy meets the technical definition of a protected government whistleblower.

As the ADN puts it

:
"Initially, when prosecutors sought to keep the complaint secret, they said he was a protected whistle-blower. When they sought to make the complaint public, they said he wasn't.

The defense has also filed a complaint alleging that a female FBI agent on the case had an improper personal relationship with one of the key witnesses for the prosecution, former oil-services exec Bill Allen.

And even before Stevens, the former Alaska GOP senator, was found guilty in late October of concealing gifts from Allen on his Senate disclosure form -- a conviction he is appealing -- prosecutors were reprimanded by the judge for not turning over key evidence to the defense.

Stevens' defense team has already filed a motion that the charges be dismissed, on account of government misconduct. And in a new filing made yesterday, they went further, arguing that the government should be held in contempt.

"The government still does not get it. Over and over again, it has been caught red-handed making false representations to the Court and the defense," defense attorney Robert Cary wrote.

Former senator Ted Stevens (yes, now actually former) is keeping up the fight against his guilty verdict -- and now Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid has lent him a hand.

Reid told Politico that he believes Stevens shouldn't serve jail time.

My personal feeling, you guys, I don't know what good that [would do]... He was a real war hero too, you know. He's been punished enough.

Reid said he thinks Stevens was simply behind the curve of modern ethics standards in not disclosing the $250,000 in gifts he received from VECO CEO Bill Allen, saying of the famously internet-unsavvy Uncle Ted that "it's a different world we live in, and Stevens did not understand that."

Sentencing for Stevens had tentatively been scheduled for next month, but it's unlikely that he'll be sentenced any time soon. Last month, lawyers for Stevens asked for a new trial, claiming that the prosecution had presented false evidence and withheld information that could have helped the defense.

Last week we told you about a letter sent to the judge in the Ted Stevens trial, from a witness claiming that he lied on the stand when he said he had no immunity deal with prosecutors.

Now, reports the Washington Post, the judge, Emmet Sullivan, has scheduled a hearing for Monday to consider a request from Stevens' lawyers to question the witness, David Anderson, a welder who worked on Stevens' home.

Anderson also alleged in his letter that prosecutors allowed him to look at documents he wasn't supposed to see.

Based on Anderson's claims, defense lawyers last week filed documents accusing prosecutors of "suborning perjury and making intentionally false statements." The Justice Department has denied the allegations.

Stevens was convicted last month of making false statements on his Senate disclosure forms, hiding $250,000 in gifts from Bill Allen, the owner of an oil-services contracting company -- and Anderson's uncle. Shortly afterwards, he narrowly lost his Senate reelection bid.

And speaking of Uncle Ted, at last the wait is over. We've updated our "Ted Stevens' Road To Ruin" timeline, so you can now see in glorious technicolor just how the curmudgeonly lawmaker got to this point. Check it out...

Sen. Ted Stevens took the stand yesterday, along with his wife Catherine, to testify in his trial on seven counts of false statements.

He continues that testimony today, so we'll be bringing you context on relevant facts, quotes and happenings from what looks like it will be the final day of this historic trial of a sitting senator.

Morning testimony. . .12:01: One might call Uncle Ted a "traditionalist" after reading this quote on the power dynamic in his household.

From RollCall:

Ted Stevens testified that when Catherine agreed to take charge of the project, "I was happy about that" because she is generally much more concerned than he is about the maintenance and decoration of their homes.

"What goes on in the house is Catherine's business; what goes on outside is my business," he said.

Politico says Stevens read the jury an e-mail he sent to the man who produced architectural drawings for the renovation project in August 2000.

"Now I want you to give us a bill for your work," Stevens wrote to John Hess -- a VECO employee and one of the first witnesses for the defense, but never received a bill. "Under our Senate rules, I must pay you for what you have done," he added.

Direct continues . . .12:44 pm : Well the Stevens' defense has made it pretty clear -- their primary defense is throwing Mrs. Stevens under the bus:

"Who had the check book?" Sullivan asked his client.

"Catherine," Stevens said.

"Who got the bills?"

"Catherine," Stevens responded.

"Catherine maintained the checkbook?"

"She did," Stevens said. "She got all the bills and paid all the bills."

As you can see from the focus of the defense questions, they're looking to defend the senator on two fronts: 1) that he tried to pay his bills, even asking for them from the architect while citing Senate rules; and 2) that he didn't even know what was going on in the house anyway! That was women's work!

No Free Lunch Edition . . . 1:13 pm: This just in from the AP, Stevens wouldn't even let his buddies pick up the tab on lunch! Let alone hundreds of thousands in home renovations.

"I pay my bills wherever I am," Stevens said. "I don't let people buy my lunch or buy my dinner. Wherever I am, I pay my bills."

Sadly, Stevens also turned on the testimony of former VECO CEO Bill Allen -- who was one of his best friends until he decided to testify against Ted.

Stevens blames Allen, his one-time friend and drinking buddy, for adding freebies to the project without telling him. Stevens sat stonefaced Friday as he accused Allen of lying on the witness stand. Allen testified that Stevens knew he wasn't getting billed for everything and just wanted invoices to protect himself.

"That's just an absolute lie," Stevens said. "I heard it. It's an absolute lie."

Flashback to Catherine's testimony Edition . . .1:43pm: TPM Reader ML points out an interesting moment in Catherine's testimony yesterday:

Morris also questioned Mrs. Stevens about her husband's Senate staff walking their dogs, paying their credit card bills, cutting their grass and doing other personal work for her family.

"Sometimes," said Mrs. Stevens, who added that if they did, the staffers were paid. [emphasis ours.]

Hmmm . . . who does that remind you of?

Cross examination is coming Edition. . . 3:13pm: Roll Call is reporting that direct questioning will be wrapping up this afternoon and cross examination will probably start before they recess for the weekend. Disappointing that this won't be wrapped up by the end of the day.

Crocodile Tears Edition. . . 5:13pm : Apparently, even though Sen. Stevens and his attorneys haven't hesitated to sacrifice Catherine Stevens to the DOJ wolves, the seven-term senator still gets misty-eyed over her, Roll Call reports.

"I was happy that she was going to get a chance to be home" and to spend time with their daughter, Stevens said, referring to his wife's decision to leave work and its impact on their household finances. Fighting back tears, Stevens said that his wife had been traveling a great deal for her job with a foundation, and "she had worked awful hard. ... She deserved the rest."

Politico has some great color on the senators' cross examination, in which the prosecutor sharply questions Stevens' ignorance and passivity when it came to the home renovations.

"You were a lion of the Senate but you didn't know how to prevent another man from putting items in your house?" Morris asked.

"You're making a lot of assumptions that are unwarranted. There are no gifts there, ma'am," Stevens said.

Stevens is known for his temper and has even embraced that reputation, wearing Incredible Hulk ties on the Senate floor when he knows he has a tough debate ahead. He's not wearing any Hulk garb today.

Stevens, a former U.S. attorney before he served 35+ years in the Senate, got a little testy as questioning continued, deigning to offer his expertise.

"I think you better rephrase your question," he told Morris as she continued her questioning. "That question is tautological."

Things broke up around 4:45 pm. We'll be back on Monday bringing you the best in reporting on the final days of the Stevens' trial.

The judge in the Ted Stevens trial today threw out two major pieces of evidence, after it was revealed that prosecutors failed to provide the defense with crucial information.

According to Politico:

Judge Sullivan is throwing out a portion of the business records from Veco Corp., whose former CEO, Bill Allen, allegedly spent $188,000 renovating Stevens' home in Girdwood, Alaska. Two former Veco employees, Rocky Williams and Dave Anderson, are on the company's records as having spent significant time working on Stevens' home in late 2000 and early 2001.

But prosecutors never presented testimony from Williams, who was suppose to be the foreman on the home project, and instead shepherded him out of Washington right before the trial started, all without informing Stevens' attorneys.

And Anderson told the grand jury that he was in Portland, Ore., not Alaska, in late 2000, when Veco's records have him as working on Stevens' home. Prosecutors knew that Anderson had told the grand jury that and did not tell the defense team.

So Judge Sullivan excluded the portion of Veco's records that reference Anderson and Williams' work on Stevens' home, and he will instruct the jury that the government knowingly used false evidence in its case.

And:

Judge Sullivan will also exclude all evidence from a 1999 car swap between Allen and Stevens in which Stevens got a new Land Rover from Allen in return for a beat-up 1964 Mustang and some cash.

Prosecutors failed to turn over to Stevens' defense team a copy of the check which Allen used to pay for the Land Rover. Defense counsel alleged that they their case had been hurt when they cross-examined Allen over the transaction, which they only did because -- they asserted -- they didn't have Allen's original check.

Tomorrow, Stevens' lawyers are expected to offer a motion for a mistrial, based on prosecutorial misconduct.

With the juicy audio recordings between Sen. Ted Stevens and former VECO CEO Bill Allen concluding Allen's direct testimony, the once-close-friend of the 84-year-old senator took the stand for cross examination.

From Roll Call:

Under cross-examination by Stevens' attorney Brendan Sullivan, Allen acknowledged that the week after he was first contacted by the FBI, he sold VECO for about $380 million to contracting giant CH2M Hill. He also acknowledged that his plea agreement with the government suggested that prosecutors would view his cooperation as VECO's cooperation.

About $70 million of the sale price was held back because of concerns about legal liability the company might have faced because of the ongoing investigation, as well as potential tax and environmental issues that are more routine in such sales, Allen said.

We already knew that the defense would be making this argument. Just a few weeks ago, they claimed that Allen's government cooperation would mean he received a windfall of $40 million from the company that bought Allen's oil pipeline company, VECO. The claim was disputed by the company itself in subsequent filings.

But, in general, Allen's soft fall from grace, despite guilty pleas on conspiracy and bribery have been well documented.

Despite 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

If the headline seems familiar, it should. Just last week, Sen. Ted Stevens' attorneys lost a motion for a mistrial. By our count, this is the fourth attempt by the defense to toss out the case against the seven-term senator, but we could have missed a few along the way.

From the AP:

"Until today, defense counsel have refrained from alleging intentional misconduct by the government," [Stevens'] lawyers wrote in court papers. "We can no longer do so in good conscience."

. . .The latest mid-trial motion to end the trial says the newly disclosed documents show Allen originally told investigators that he believed Stevens would have paid for work on a mountain cabin if billed -- proof, the defense says, that the senator never intended to hide anything.

Rather than turn over the first statement to the defense as required by rules of evidence, the government "intentionally procured from Allen a contradictory statement" and then "concealed its actions" from the court, the defense papers say.

Late update: It's important to note that the prosecution is stepping up to make sure their "human error" that led to last week's defense attempt for a mistrial, is being properly investigated. The government requested an internal probe with the Justice Deparment's internal investigators (Office of Professional Responsibility) to look into their delay in turning over FBI reports to opposing counsel.

Late late update: Judge Emmet Sullivan said the trial would go on today as planned, with the jury hearing recorded phone calls between Stevens and Allen. Sullivan ordered the prosecution to file a formal response by the end of the day in response to the defense's motion, the AP reports.

The 26 year friendship of indicted Sen. Ted Stevens and former VECO CEO Bill Allen has been on display while Allen testifies as the prosecution's key witness in the sitting senator's trial.

Allen described his annual fishing trips (pictured at left) and visits with the senator, where they would walk and smoke cigars and drink wine "now and then."

"We really liked each other, you know?" Allen reminisced, yesterday. "Ted really worked hard. Ted loved Alaska and I loved Alaska."

Besides recounting his history with Stevens in his testimony Tuesday, Allen spent much of the afternoon detailing a transaction where he traded a new Land Rover for Stevens' 1964 Mustang convertible. The Land Rover was worth approximately $44,000 while Stevens' Mustang -- including a $5000 payment to Allen -- was worth a little over $32,000.

In their decades of friendship, Allen gave Stevens over $250,000 worth of gifts -- everything from grills to home renovations -- gifts that Stevens failed to include on his Senate disclosure forms. Stevens claims that he was unaware of all of the work that Allen was doing on his home, and that he never asked Allen for free work or favors.

This morning, the prosecution submitted thank-you notes from Stevens to Allen, in an attempt to prove that Stevens knew that he was receiving favors from Allen.

"You continue to amaze me, the way you can keep so many balls in the air at one time," Stevens wrote in an August 2000 note, the AP reports. "It was great to see you at the Bogart movie and I thank you for all that you are doing on the house."

Allen's testimony was cut short this afternoon when the judge recessed early to accommodate a juror's schedule. The trial will resume tomorrow with the prosecution expected to wrap up its case before Friday.

Former VECO CEO Bill Allen, whose work on Ted Stevens' home is at the center of the senator's ongoing trial, is set to testify for the prosecution this afternoon.

Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing Alaska state lawmakers, has been the jewel in the FBIs crown, providing testimony in trials against many of the legislators he once paid for votes.

Stevens' attorneys have worked hard to try to disqualify Allen's testimony, demanding medical records for Allen and accusing him of receiving $40 million for his cooperation with the government.

Allen is expected to testify to the $250,000 worth of gifts and services he and VECO provided to Stevens, which included home renovations, a car, a new grill and interior furnishings.

The trial of Sen. Ted Stevens has officially begun, with attorneys making their opening statements at 9:30 this morning to the jury of mostly white-collar professionals.

It has been just under two-months since the sitting senator was indicted on seven counts of false statements for allegedly lying on his financial disclosure reports on gifts he received from the oil pipeline company, VECO. Stevens demanded a speedy trial and attempted to have the case moved to Alaska in part to accommodate his ongoing re-election campaign in Alaska. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan complied with a quick court date, but declined to move the trial out of the jurisdiction in which the charges were filed -- Washington, D.C.

Among the witnesses scheduled for today, is John Hess, a former VECO engineer whose initials are on the renovation plans to Stevens' home, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

The star witness in the case is former VECO CEO Bill Allen. In attempts to discredit Allen, Stevens' attorneys have requested his medical history and recently alleged in court filings that Allen is receiving a windfall of $40 million for his cooperation with the case, a charge which has been disputed in subsequent filings.

Stevens own appearance on the stand has been the subject of much debate, with Stevens saying he intends to testify but will follow the advice of his lawyers.

We'll be bringing you updates throughout the day on this historic trial, so stay tuned.

Attorneys for Sen. Ted Stevens are doing their best to discredit Bill Allen, the former VECO CEO and key witness in the government's prosecution.

In documents filed yesterday, the defense claimed that Allen would receive a windfall of $40 million in return for his cooperation with the investigation.

"Defense counsel have recently learned that Mr. Allen stands to gain an additional $40 million of a total of $70 million in 'hold back' cash from the sale of Veco to CH2M Hill if he continues to cooperate with the government and if Veco continues to avert indictment," court documents filed Monday said.

But CH2M, the company that acquired the VECO from Allen, rebutted Stevens' attorneys' claims stating that the defense "misconstrues the terms" of CH2M's agreement with Allen.

From court documents filed today:

The principal purpose of the holdback, which is a common provision in the context of typical acquisition transactions, is to cover CH2M HILL for undisclosed liabilities, such as those relating to tax, environmental, and human resources.

Use of the holdback in connection with a breach of Mr. Allen's cooperation agreement or an indictment of VECO is available only upon a showing of damages, and then only in the amount of the damages resulting from the event.

The Allen family's right to the holdback funds is not conditioned, as the defense suggests, on Bill Allen's cooperation or VECO not being indicted.

The trial of Alaskan Sen. Ted Stevens on seven counts of false statements begins today in Washington, D.C. Stevens, a seven term Republican, arrived in court this morning for jury selection. Opening statements are expected to begin either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.

The trial, which Stevens requested be as speedy as possible, is expected to last a month, ending shortly before the election. Originally, Stevens attempted to have the trial moved to Alaska, to accommodate his campaign for re-election. The motion was overruled, but the judge has stated that the trial will recess for Fridays, to allow the sitting Republican time to return to the campaign trail in Alaska.

Potential witnesses in the trial include Stevens himself, as well as former-VECO executive Bill Allen. Democratic Senators Ted Kennedy (MA), Patrick Leahy (VT) and Daniel Inouye (HI), as well as Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and former Secretary of State Colin Powell were also listed to jurors as possible witnesses this morning.

Stevens pleaded not guilty to making false statements on his financial disclosure forms relating to gifts he received from Allen for renovations on his home in Girdwood, Alaska, among others. Between 1999-2006 he accepted gifts from VECO, include substantial amounts of material and labor in his private residence. These allegations include addition of new first floor, new bedrooms and bathrooms, a grill, as well as failing to report other gifts, such as a $29,000 bronze statue of a fish. The total amount of gifts is valued at over $250,000.

As part of a wide-ranging probe of corruption in Alaska politics, the FBI secretly taped over 100 phone calls involving indicted GOP senator Ted Stevens.

The revelations were contained in court filings made last night by Stevens' attorneys. Some of the FBI's recordings of phone conversations had already been made public during the corruption trials of other Alaska politicians, but the number of calls involving Stevens had not previously been known.

Stevens faces charges that he lied about gifts worth more than $250,000, including renovations to his home, that he received from Bill Allen, an oil contractor.

Stevens' attorneys appear likely to argue that the calls should not be admitted into evidence. They write in the filing that only conversations relating to people or topics named in a warrant can legally be recorded by the FBI, and Stevens was not named as a target. The FBI did not tap Stevens' phone, but did tap the phones of several contractors in the case.

McClatchy notes another strategy being pursued by the defense:

His lawyers also continued to press their case for throwing out the indictment based on the speech-or-debate clause of the U.S. Constitution, which bars government prosecutors from using speeches and legislation introduced by members of Congress as evidence. Prosecutors said that evidence protected by legislative immunity granted by the Constitution was not shown to the grand jury that ultimately indicted Stevens.

Jury selection for the trial begins September 22, and the trial itself starts two days later. Stevens is also facing a tough re-election fight against Anchorage mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat.

We learned over the weekend, via Newsweek, that there's a Dick Cheney connection to the Ted Stevens case. But are federal prosecutors looking the other way?

In a phone conversation recorded by the FBI and included in a court filing by prosecutors, Sen. Stevens (R-AK) told oil-services executive Bill Allen that he would try to get some "bigwigs" from Washington to weigh in on a bill pending in the Alaska legislature, that would have given the go-ahead to a pipeline Allen wanted. Two days later, Newsweek notes, Cheney sent a letter to Alaska lawmakers urging them to pass the bill. Stevens told Newsweek that Cheney's letter had been sent at his urging.

But we were curious about one thing. Why didn't prosecutors mention Cheney's letter in their filing? Although technically Stevens is being prosecuted for giving false statements on disclosure forms, demonstrating that Stevens took action on Allen's behalf is still at the heart of the case.

And in citing another example of Stevens using his influence on Allen's behalf, prosecutors did include chapter and verse on the results Stevens got. Consider this passage from the filing:

Stevens added: "I'm going to try and see if I can get . . . the Secretary of Energy and also the head of, of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [("FERC")] up there to explain why it's necessary that they act before we act."

On July 7, 2006, Senator Stevens traveled to Alaska and addressed the Alaska Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, urging it to cease infighting and pass the pipeline legislation before liquified natural gas monopolizes the marketplace. Three days later, on July 10, 2006, the FERC issued a report similar to the message delivered by Stevens.

But when it comes to Stevens calling on Cheney, the prosecutors -- who are from the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section, and the U.S. attorney's office in Alaska -- go strangely silent.

One former government prosecutor we spoke to said he could see little reason why the link to Cheney wouldn't have been mentioned. The most charitable explanation, the ex-prosecutor said, is that the government thought that bringing in Cheney would unnecessarily bog the case down. The least charitable is that they were "trying to protect Cheney."

Another former federal corruption prosecutor agreed, writing in an email to TPMMuckraker:

"If the government has the evidence that Stevens asked Cheney's office to intervene/write a letter, I can see no strategic or tactical reason not to have cited that evidence in their motion. They specifically argue for the admission at trial of evidence regarding Stevens' attempts to influence the executive branch on behalf of VECO. Citing the Cheney evidence could only bolster that argument and help educate the judge on the extraordinary lengths Stevens was going to help out VECO, which just happened to be providing him with undisclosed personal benefits at the time.

The source cautioned, however, that prosecutors may not have had evidence that Stevens was behind Cheney's letter, before Stevens confirmed it to Newsweek.

A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately return a call for comment.

The corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is already yielding some interesting fruit.

Newsweek reported Saturday that, in a 2006 conversation secretly recorded by the FBI, Stevens and Bill Allen -- the oil-services executive who allegedly provided Stevens with $250,000 in financial gifts -- discussed how to get a pipeline bill through the Alaska legislature.

Stevens told Allen: "I'm gonna try to see if I can get some bigwigs from back here and say, 'Look ... you gotta get this done'." Two days later, Vice President Cheney took the unusual step of contacting Alaska lawmakers directly, urging them in a letter to "promptly enact" the legislation. Stevens confirmed to Newsweek that he had indeed asked Cheney to write the letter.

Newsweek notes that the former executive director of Cheney's energy task force had gone on to work as a lobbyist for BP, which would have built the pipeline. The magazine doesn't name the task force director, but it appears to be Andrew Lundquist. And it's worth pointing out that Lundquist -- who had worked as the Bush-Cheney campaign's energy expert in 2000, earning the nickname "Lightbulb" from the president -- has also worked as a top aide to Stevens.

Newsweek also reports that DOJ prosecutors did not include Cheney's letter in their motion and did not respond when the magazine asked why.

BP appeared unfazed by allegations that it may have helped cover costs related to Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) home renovations, and declined to say whether they were investigating the matter, or discuss it in any way with TPMmuckraker.

"We have done a significant amount of business with VECO over the years. They were one of the largest oil contractors in the state, and we don't discuss our business with our contractors," a BP press representative said this morning.

As we previously reported, the Anchorage Daily News published a Sunday expose of two former VECO employees who oversaw construction on Stevens' home. One of those employees, David Anderson, claimed that a VECO client, BP Exploration, had "possibly" borne the costs of some of the Stevens' renovations.

But curiously, Anderson himself backpeddled on his statements in a second story, published late last night, by the ADN:

Last week, Anderson said some of the labor charges were passed on to an oil company that was paying Veco to build a North Slope module at the time in its shop, probably BP, though not necessarily with the knowledge of the oil company. He affirmed that Saturday.

But on Sunday, Anderson said he was mistaken and only knew for sure that Veco covered the costs, not that they were passed through to a Veco client. That accounting took place in a Veco office outside the scope of his job, he said Sunday.

Stevens was indicted last week on seven counts of false statements, stemming from his failure to disclose the $250,000 worth of renovations made to his home by the oil company VECO. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, and his trial is scheduled for September 24, where Anderson may testify.

Two VECO employees shed new light on who was behind the idea to renovate the home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), the Anchorage Daily News reported yesterday.

The two employees, David Anderson, the nephew of former VECO CEO Bill Allen, and Robert "Rocky" Williams, a trusted VECO worker, told the ADN that they met with Allen over drinks at the Alyeska Prince Hotel in the spring of 1999 or 2000. It was during this meeting that the three men first discussed plans to renovate the Stevens' home.

Stevens was indicted last week on seven counts of false statements, stemming from his failure to disclose the $250,000 worth of renovations made to his home by the oil company VECO.

Anderson, who had a falling out with Allen over the construction and once claimed that his uncle threatened his life, told the ADN that there were numerous projects that Stevens was not billed for -- and Anderson would know, since he handled the billing:

Among the electricians' tasks was to wire up a switch for a generator that would automatically turn on whenever the power went out, Anderson said. Allen told him to buy an oversized power plant to install in the back yard. It was so heavy that Anderson had to order in a Veco crane from the shop to lift it over the garage from the driveway and set it in place in the back.

It was another gift that Stevens got for free, Anderson said. "I know, because I ran the paperwork -- I did all the purchase orders."

The generator is not mentioned in the indictment.

Anderson and Williams worked closely with Stevens' wife, Catherine Stevens, who had a say over much of the renovations:

Williams said Catherine Stevens wanted to put her touch on the place, which she and Stevens had bought as a 12-year-old house in 1983.

"So she picked out the carpet, she picked out the tile," Williams said. "She made it her place and that was what Ted wanted . . ."

In addition to shedding light on the work done to the Stevens' home, the ADN also speculates about the likely identities of two of the three anonymous parties in the Stevens' indictment, stating that Person A is Bob Persons, a local business owner who diligently oversaw the renovations, and Company A is Christensen Builders, a local construction company owned by Augie Paone, already known to have done work on the Girdwood chalet.

Anderson initially told the ADN that the "at least some" of the costs for the renovation were passed on to VECO clients, like "BP Exploration." Late yesterday, ADN ran a second story, saying that Anderson backed away from those statements.