Inouye: Stevens does not lie

Daniel Inouye, the Senate’s third-most senior Democrat, testified Thursday that he trusted Sen. Ted Stevens with his life and that the two men had developed such a close friendship over four decades that the Alaska Republican’s daughter called him “Uncle Dan.”

“I can assure you his word is good; it's good enough to take to the bank,” Inouye, 84, said as his close friend sat across a crowded Washington courtroom and listened to the proceedings with an electronic hearing aid.

{mosads}As the first witness called by Stevens's legal defense team, Inouye recalled the start of his Senate career in 1963 and how he and Stevens — both senators from newly established states outside of the Lower 48 — instantly bonded when the Republican joined the upper chamber in 1968.

“In fact we were considered as foreigners for a long time,” Inouye said.

The two were so close that Stevens's daughter, Lily, even considers the Hawaii Democrat an uncle.

“I take that very seriously,” Inouye said.

The defense is trying to portray Stevens as an honest senator with integrity, as he faces seven felony charges for lying on his annual Senate financial disclosure forms by failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to vouch for the senator's character Friday afternoon. The senator, 84, has pleaded not guilty and is seeking to win a seventh full term in next month's election.

Inouye recalled Stevens’s responsibilities in the Senate, where they served together as the heads of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. After his criminal indictment last summer, Stevens was stripped of his ranking member positions on those committees.

Inouye said their collaborative work putting together annual bills appropriating hundreds of billions of dollars for the Pentagon shows that the Senate “has a lot of faith in Ted Stevens.”

“I cannot imagine Ted Stevens tell a lie,” Inouye said.

Under cross-examination, Nicholas Marsh of the Justice Department tried to pin down Inouye on whether he would judge a hypothetical person as credible if he or she lied under oath. But he failed to give a straightforward answer other than to say it “would have an effect upon my judgment.”

“I'm not inclined to respond to hypothetical questions,” Inouye added.

Inouye also admitted that the Senate's financial disclosure forms are one of the most important documents that come across a senator's desk, pointing out that they cannot be validated by a stamped signature like many other forms.

Under redirect examination, Brendan Sullivan, Stevens's defense lawyer, brought the attention back to Stevens's character.

“Would you trust him with your life?” Sullivan asked.

“Yes, sir,” Inouye responded.

As he left the witness stand, Stevens gave Inouye an affirmative hand signal.