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Indicted Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska
pleaded not guilty on Thursday to accusations of planning to conceal thousands
of dollars worth of gifts from an oil-services company.
Under impeachment and observing that some of his Republican
colleagues are slowly moving away from him, Ted Stevens is relying on
promptness to prevent corruption accusations from prolonging until Election Day
and bringing his political career to an end.
Stevens requested a trial date in September and, according
to Judge Emmet Sullivan, cited by CNN, the trial is due to begin with jury
selection on September 24.
If everything works out according to schedule, voters will
find out in November whether the Senate’s longest-serving Republican covered up
the truth about receiving $250,000 in gifts and home improvements from
contractors.
“I am looking forward to this trial as a way of finally
showing the truth — that I’m innocent,” Stevens said in a written statement
late Thursday, as reported by the Associated Press.
“He’d like to clear his name before the election,” attorney
Brendan Sullivan declared in court Thursday, according to the same source.
However, such a short term before the trial may involve some
treacherous risks. Brendan Sullivan’s law firm, Williams & Connolly, is
acknowledged for gradually analyzing the
government’s case before the trial’s commencement. Thus, the reduced schedule does
not offer sufficient time for conducting such a strategy. Nonetheless, Washington
defense attorney K. Lee Blalack said that the Stevens case will depend more on
discrediting the executives who consented to cooperate against Stevens, rather
than picking apart the government’s case. What’s more, Ted Stevens has been
aware for more than a year that he was under suspicion and his lawyers have
benefitted from enough time in order to collect their own evidence.
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