WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Lawyers for embattled U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska have accused prosecutors of attempting to unfairly try their client by introducing irrelevant evidence.
The Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday that lawyers claim the prosecutors plan to introduce "irrelevant and prejudicial evidence" that has nothing to do with the campaign finance violations with which he's charged.
Defense attorney Robert Cary asserted that new issues raised by the government "are an obvious attempt to smear the senator's character."
Stevens, a Republican, is set to go on trial Sept. 22 in Washington. He is accused of not reporting the thousands of dollars he received in gifts and home renovations from VECO Corp.
The issues were raised in court filings, the day before Stevens faced six challengers in Alaska's Republican Senate primary. Among issues brought up was an allegedly undisclosed $31,000 loan by a developer to Stevens in 2001, which allowed him to turn a $5,000 investment in an unbuilt Florida condo into a $100,000 profit, the newspaper reported.
