Sen. Stevens denies corruption charges at trial

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ted Stevens, the veteran Republican senator from Alaska on trial for corruption, denied in court on Thursday that he ever tried to hide gifts by filing false financial disclosure forms.

Stevens, 84, is accused of lying on forms filed with the Senate from 2001 to 2006 to conceal more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts from Alaska oil services firm VECO Corp and its former chief executive, Bill Allen.

Asked by defense attorney Brendan Sullivan if he believed the forms he signed were accurate and truthful, Stevens answered in a clear voice, "Yes sir."

Asked whether he had intentionally filed false forms, Stevens replied, "No, I did not."

Sullivan next asked whether Stevens, the last defense witness in the nearly four-week trial, ever engaged in a scheme to conceal anything from the Senate.

"No sir," Stevens said as the jurors watched intently.

Stevens, one of the Senate's most powerful Republicans, testified for about 30 minutes, answering Sullivan's three questions about the charges and then telling jurors about his background, including how he has been a senator for 40 years.

The trial could decide the political fate of Stevens, who seeks to keep his seat in the November 4 elections. He is the longest-serving Senate Republican in history.

A guilty verdict would make Stevens's re-election bid more difficult, meaning the trial's outcome could influence the Democratic Party's attempt to tighten its hold on the Senate.

Sullivan said he planned to continue questioning Stevens for two or three hours on Friday, and then prosecutors will get their first chance to question Stevens at the trial.

Putting Stevens on the witness stand is a potentially risky strategy that could open him up to intense questioning by prosecutors about the renovations and what he knows about the work arranged by his longtime friend, Bill Allen.

NO OBLIGATION TO TESTIFY

Before Stevens took the stand, the judge told him he had no legal obligation to testify. Stevens said he understood and added, "It's a privilege and a duty."

Earlier on Thursday, his wife, Catherine Stevens, testified she had been in charge of the home renovations because her husband was too busy with his job.

She said she sent a number of checks to the general contractor and others for various aspects of the remodeling of the couple's cabin in the ski-resort town of Girdwood, near Anchorage.

Stevens said she believed the couple had been billed for and had paid for all of the work on the chalet. She said she thought that work done by two VECO employees had been covered by bills sent by the general contractor.

Prosecutors have introduced testimony in the trial that Allen and VECO arranged for such items as electrical, heating and plumbing work, a new outside deck and roof work.

(Editing by Randall Mikkelsen and Peter Cooney)