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.

The recent indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is up in TPMmuckraker's document collection, but here's a quick and dirty summary of the seven counts of false statements which are based on his personal financial disclosure forms from 1999 to 2006.

According to the indictment, Stevens concealed "things of value," estimated at around $250,000, from his publicly filed personal financial disclosure forms over the past seven years. It is this concealment, and not the legality of accepting those "things of value," that is at issue.

We've reported extensively on those gifts from VECO and VECO's former CEO Bill Allen which are the primary exchanges named in the indictment.

While Allen pleaded guilty to bribery charges over these gifts in 2007, it's important to note that no bribery charges are being filed against Stevens.

For the DOJ comments on the indictment, check out our video of the press conference.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) was indicted today for accepting more than $250,000 in undisclosed renovations and repairs for his home in Girwood, Alaska, according to Stevens' indictment.

Stevens' friend William Allen, the head of VECO company, was providing most of the labor and some supplies for the projects, but never charged Stevens for the work, according to the indictment today.

In 2000, Stevens and Allen began discussing renovations for his home, putting together a plan that would eventually include a full basement, first-floor addition with multiple bedrooms and a bathroom, the indictment said.

It was a massive undertaking. Workers took the small home and jacked it up on stilts, then built a new first floor underneath with two bedrooms and a bathroom, the indictment said.

Then workers added a garage with a workshop and a second-story wraparound deck. VECO employees and contractors also installed electrical, plumbing, framing, heating, and flooring materials, the indictment said.

In 2001, Allen gave Stevens some furniture, a new Viking gas grill and a new tool shed full of tools, according to the indictment.

In 2002, VECO continued work on the outside of the house, installing a first-floor wraparound deck, a plastic roof between the first- and second-floor decks, and a lighting system worth a total of about $55,000, the indictment said.

In 2004, VECO installed some kitchen appliances in the house, the indictment said.

In 2005, the company did some repairs to the roof and gutters, the indictment said.

In 2006, Stevens called Allen and asked him to repair his boiler system. Allen instructed the contractor to divide the bill into two parts, supplies and labor. Allen told the contractor to send the bill for supplies to Stevens and the labor to Allen, the indictment said.

Stevens knew this, and at least once asked Allen to send him the invoice for the labor, but Allen never did and Stevens never reimbursed him, the indictment said.

The home renovations were not the first time Stevens had accepted favors from Allen.

Back in 1999, Stevens mentioned to Allen that he wanted to get a new car for his daughter. That led to a deal in which Allen gave Stevens a new 1999 Land Rover Discovery, worth $44,000. In exchange, Stevens gave Allen a 1964½ Ford Mustang and $5,000. Prosecutors say the Mustang was worth less than $20,000.

In September 2000, Stephens wrote Allen an email about the work:

"we've never worked with a man so easy to get along with as [a VECO employee], Plus, everyone who's seen the place wants to know who has done the things he's done. . . . You and [PERSON A] have been the spark plugs and we are really pleased with all you have done. hope to see you and the chalet soon. best teds."

From Reuters:

Sen. Ted Stevens from Alaska, the longest serving U.S. Republican senator ever, was indicted on seven counts related to his holding of public office, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday.

Late update: It's worth noting that this comes a few days before the one year anniversary of the date federal agents raided Stevens' Girdwood home.

Ted Stevens, 84, has been a frequent character on TPMmuckraker. For a good profile on the indicted Senator, see here.

No one answered at Stevens' Senate Office in D.C. and the answering machine recording said that the office was closed. In a call to his Anchorage campaign office, the staffer who answered responded, "What?" when asked for a comment on the indictment, followed by a long silence. The staffer would not give further comment on whether or not the office knew that the indictment was handed up today.

Late late update: From McClatchy:
The Justice Department will be making a statement at 1:20 to announce the indictment.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that the indictment comes from a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C.

Late late late update: The AP is reporting the indictments are seven counts of false statements.

Our calls to Brendan Sullivan, Steven's attorney, were not immediately returned.

We have a copy of the Stevens indictment titled, United States of America v. Theodore F. Stevens, it can be viewed here.

The seven counts of false statements appear to be referencing seven years of false statements made on his financial disclosure forms relating to gifts he received from former VECO CEO Bill Allen for the renovations on his home in Girdwood, Alaska, among others.

Allen pleaded guilty to giving more than $400,000 worth of "illegal benefits" to politicians and their families in late 2007.

The DOJ Presser just started.

"As a member of the US Senate, Sen. Ted Stevens was required to file financial disclosure forms. . . to monitor or deter conflicts of interest within the US Senate and its membership."

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.

The total amount of gifts is valued at over $250,000.

In a Q&A, it was revealed that Stevens will be turning himself in and will not be arrested. Stevens' attorney received a call earlier today informing him of his client's indictments.

Filing false financial disclosure statement can result in civil and criminal penalties, including up to 5 years in prison.

The DOJ is not alleging bribery or any kind of quid pro quo, and mentioned that the investigation is continuing.

There are only two elected officials left standing in the musical chairs among those publicly tied to the state's massive political corruption scandal: current U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R) and his son, former State Sen. Ben Stevens (R).

The indictment of Alaska State Sen. John Cowdery (R) last Thursday, means all of the state legislators whose offices were raided in August of 2006 (except Stevens) -- Cowdery, Vic Kohring (R), Bruce Weyhrauch (R), Pete Kott (R) and Don Olson (D) -- are now either cooperating with federal investigations, convicted or indicted. The FBI warrant allowing the search named former VECO executives Bill Allen and Rick Smith.

Allen and Smith were indicted and pleaded guilty. Their testimony at the trials of Kott, Kohring and Weyhrauch helped convict the three indicted state representatives. While Kott and Weyhrauch's convictions are pending appeal, Kohring recently began his 3.5 year prison sentence. Cowdery's recent indictment on two counts of bribery and conspiracy named an anonymous "Senator A" who was later revealed by Cowdery's lawyer as Olson. Olson followed with a statement that he has been cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office for over a year, and is unlikely to be indicted.

That leaves just the Stevens boys without a fall out. Both are under federal investigation for their ties to VECO, but the investigation of Uncle Ted also stretches to his suspicious pet projects.

As one juror at Kohring's trial observed after his conviction, "they didn't get the sharks. They got the minnow." Cowdery appears to be the last of the "minnows," but does that mean federal prosecutors will be going after bigger game in the near future?

And don't forget the other big fish: Seemingly more tenuous, but still present is the ongoing federal investigation into U.S. Rep. Don Young (R), for his own ties to VECO.

Convicted former-State Rep. Vic Kohring didn't seem to be the least bit fazed that today is his last day of freedom for 3 and 1/2 years.

Before turning himself over to federal marshals, Kohring spent the morning standing next to a home-made sign on the Glenn Highway in Alaska, waving to pedestrians and sipping hot chocolate (picture at left):

He said he's not scared of going to prison, but has been Googling the Southern California facility he'll live in for up to 3 and a half years. He could rattle off the population of the nearby town and the high temperature last week (103 degrees).

Said he might write an autobiography while in jail, call it "Absolutely Innocent." Plans to read a lot. Write a lot of letters.

. . . He said he spent the weekend with his family, and has been doing things like stopping mail to his mail box and closing his bank account. Packing.

"It's almost like going away on a vacation. A .... Government sponsored vacation," he said.

Kohring was convicted in November 2007 and sentenced last month for accepting bribes to advocate a natural gas pipeline. His trial was central in bringing Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) into the VECO scandal, with the testimony of VECO CEO Bill Allen. Allen testified that he was blackmailed by his nephew, who was doing home renovations for Stevens, which were paid for in part by VECO.

[Late Update]: The ADN has obliged us with some great video from Kohring's roadside debacle and a heckler who stopped by to tell him to "give it up and go prison". . . which he does at the end of the clip. Enjoy.