THE CORRUPTION TRIAL of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is not getting a lot of attention these days. Between the election and the financial crisis, people don’t have much time to follow the testimony in the trial.
But Stevens is on the stand now, and an exchange Monday, as reported by The Associated Press, is worth noting:
Stevens has said he never sought gifts and wouldn’t even accept a free lunch, much less expensive remodeling services. But prosecutors say he had a history of accepting gifts — including an expensive massage chair from a friend — and omitting them from the financial disclosure forms.
He said he considered that chair a loan.
“And the chair is still at your house?” prosecutor Brenda Morris asked.
“Yes,” Stevens said.
“How is that not a gift?”
“He bought that chair as a gift, but I refused it as a gift,” Stevens said. “He put it there and said it was my chair. I told him I would not accept it as a gift. We have lots of things in our house that don’t belong to us.”
Playing to the jury, Morris appeared confused.
“So, if you say it’s not a gift, it’s not a gift?” she said.
“I refused it as a gift,” Stevens replied. “I let him put it in our basement at his request.”
Stevens’ testimony is not as compact as Bill Clinton’s “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” but as a classic political sidestep, it deserves its own bronze plaque in the National Archives.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor
trainrech (anonymous) says...
I listened to that portion of his trial on NPR yesterday and thought the same thing about his sidestepping of the issues at hand.
What you didn't add was Steven's also wrote a thank you note to that friend for the "loan" of the chair...
October 21, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jibberish66 (anonymous) says...
I detest corruption from our elected officials, and this is no exception. However, how is it that Rep. Jefferson of Louisiana has never been prosecuted for having $90,000 in his freezer that was videotaped being taken as a payoff from a wealthy businessman? Could it be that, since he's a Democrat, and Speaker Pelosi promised that the Republican "culture of corruption" would be weeded out, he was just forgotten?
There's no place in Congress for either of these guys, and anyone that stands up for one and gives the other a pass because of his party affiliation should be drummed out as well.
October 21, 2008 at 6:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
USNretired (anonymous) says...
maybe it depends on what "is" is.
October 21, 2008 at 6:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
open_eyes (anonymous) says...
Good point, jibberish66. I'm guessing it is because the chair in the Republican basement must have cost far more than $90,000 - LOL
Of course, we all know which story Mr. Kelley decided was newsworthy, and which one wasn't. At least no surprises there.
October 21, 2008 at 10:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OutsiderJ (anonymous) says...
Jibberish and open_eyes--
Before you go crying foul, you should know that Rep. Jefferson plead not guilty and is awaiting trial. The most recent article I found was from July and gave a Dec. 2nd trial date, which may be moved back again pending appeal. While the bureaucratic system is sometimes a nightmare, I think it safe to say that no one has forgotten about Mr. Jefferson or his dispicable "congressman for sale" tatics. Just because you don't see it on TV anymore doesn't mean it went away.
The funny thing is that it took me less than two minutes to find this information. So, Jibberish, maybe next time instead of going to the right wing knee jerk reaction of "the democrats buried it" or "the democrats did it"; maybe you could type his name into your favorite seach engine (like I did), find out what is going on, and make an informed post. Instead of trying to depict all democrats in the same corrupt light as Mr. Jefferson.
Here is the link...
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/20...
October 22, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kseyetie (anonymous) says...
Blaming the other party is always much more fun than knowing what one is talking about. Senator Ted is an old bull who may get stung on this one. Frankly, there are bigger fish to fry and I'm more interested in the ones who corrupt public policy and mess up the country, but, the trial has been vaguely entertaining.
October 22, 2008 at 9:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tillie (anonymous) says...
I say, string him up! Him AND his governor!!!
October 22, 2008 at 2:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Jefferson has been indicted so it's just a matter of time. Here's an interesting article that should make us all feel better about the Jefferson family. Other members of his immediate family have also been indicted on local fraud in LA. What a family of crooks! I'm surprised they haven't been hunted down and strung up.
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Louisia...
October 23, 2008 at 7:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )