Colin Powell lauds Sen. Stevens at trial

Gen. Colin Powell lent his star power to Sen. Ted Stevens's criminal trial Friday, praising the Republican for his “sterling” reputation and fierce advocacy of Alaska's interests.

“I never heard in all these years a single dissenting voice with respect to his integrity, with respect to his forthrightness,” said Powell, an Army general whose long career includes stints as secretary of state under President Bush, national security adviser for President Ronald Reagan and former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under President George H.W. Bush.

{mosads}Powell said he knew Stevens “extremely” well from their work together on defense issues, saying the two men have known each other for 25 years.

Character-witness testimony is a key part of the strategy for the defense team, which is trying to convince the jury that the Alaska Republican is honest and trustworthy. And as one of the most prominent African American public figures in the country, Powell's testimony could be influential to an overwhelmingly black jury. Indeed, his testimony seemed to grip many of the jurors, as Powell went through his long career in public service. He did two tours of duty in Vietnam and was awarded the Purple Heart.

Defense lawyer Brendan Sullivan cited Powell's 35 years in the military.

“Thirty-five years, three months and 22 days,” Powell corrected him, sparking laughter from Stevens.

Stevens, 84, is charged with lying on his Senate financial disclosure forms by not reporting more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations, mainly from his long-time friend Bill Allen. He is trying to get his name cleared before he stands for reelection Nov. 4.

Allen testified against Stevens, turning against his friend of more than a quarter-century. Other friends, like Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Powell, have stuck up for the longest-serving Senate Republican in history.

As he entered the courtroom, Powell pointed to and winked at Stevens's daughter, Beth, and shook hands with the senior senator, who thanked him for testifying.

On the stand, Powell called Stevens “a master appropriator” and “a great defender of Alaska's interests.” He said the senator's reputation could be summed up in one word: “sterling.”

“With Sen. Stevens, I always had a guy who could tell me when I was off-base, tell me when I had no clothes on — figuratively,” he said.

In the late 1980s, Powell said he worked long hours with Stevens, sometimes until “2 or 3 in the morning,” as they worked with Democrats to find ways to support freedom fighters in Latin America. Powell described Stevens as a tough but practical appropriator who forced him to have his facts straight when making a request for more money, including in the late 1980s when the government was trying to build up the Army.

Before his indictment in July, Stevens was the top Republican on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Under cross-examination, Powell said he had never been to Stevens's home in Girdwood and had no personal knowledge of the trial.

Defense lawyers recognize the effectiveness of such testimony and have tried to convince Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to allow them to call as many as 11 such witnesses to the stand.

“This goes to the very heart of the issue, which is his integrity,” said Robert Cary, Stevens's defense lawyer.

The judge said Friday, though, that the defense could call just five character witnesses, including Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who is expected to testify on Tuesday.

Before Powell testified, the defense had been trying to show that Stevens paid a fair price —$160,000 — to renovate his home, saying that whatever was left unpaid was the result of Allen's decision to conceal bills. The government says left unpaid was a $188,000 tab that Stevens never reported as a gift.

Gerald Randall, an appraiser for the National Bank of Alaska, said the total market value of the senator's house was $270,000, after some of the renovations took place. The structure of the Girdwood home itself was worth $194,357, Randall said in a September 2000 appraisal.

But he acknowledged that the value of the house could be worth more than the assessment, which he said did not account for several expensive improvements — like a backup power generator and a steel staircase — added after the assessment was completed.

Also, Don McGee, an assessor for the city of Anchorage, said city records valued the structure of the Girdwood home at $87,000 in 2001 and $192,300 in 2002. But he said the changed value might not reflect the cost of the home improvements.

Attempting to rebut the perception that Stevens worked to benefit his friends, his lawyers called a labor union official to testify Friday about the senator's efforts to get worker protections on a natural gas pipeline project and a pediatrician to testify that Stevens secured an Air Force transport for a dying baby.

"It was beautiful," said Dr. Janice Bowman, a pediatrician in Anchorage.

The defense also has been trying to show that the senator and his wife, Catherine, paid all bills they received.

Jeanne Redmond, a resident of Girdwood for 46 years, said her excavation company worked on Stevens's home for more than a decade and “always” received payments from the senator.
Stevens, who has remained expressionless for much of the trial, smiled during the woman's testimony and waved to her as she left the bench.

On Tuesday, Bob Persons, a key witness who oversaw the renovations at Stevens's home, is scheduled to testify.