Judge accuses lawyer of signaling to client in Stevens case

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The judge in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens said Tuesday he saw an attorney for the government's star witness trying to communicate with his client while he was on the stand Monday.

"I know what I saw. I know exactly. I saw someone attempting to communicate with a witness to suggest how to answer. There's no doubt to me at all," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told the court before the jury arrived.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," he added. "The thought occurred to me -- that's borderline obstruction of justice."

Sullivan was referring to defense attorney Robert Bundy, who represents Bill Allen, the former energy company executive who was back on the stand Tuesday.

"I didn't do a g------ thing," Bundy told CNN outside the courtroom at the end of the morning session. The court recessed for lunch and was to reconvene Tuesday afternoon.

Lead prosecutor Brenda Morris said she never saw the exchange.

Stevens' lead attorney, Brendan Sullivan, said one of his colleagues also saw the behavior Monday. Bundy did not appear in court Tuesday.

After the jury was seated Tuesday and Allen was on the stand, the defense attorney directly asked him whether he saw his attorney nodding Monday.

"No, he did not do that," Allen testified.

Testimony ended for the day shortly after 4 p.m., and will continue Wednesday.

Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, is on trial for allegedly failing to report as gifts hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations to his Alaska home arranged by Allen and the energy services firm he headed, Veco Corp.

Although the company was not known for residential construction, former Veco employees have testified Allen and top aides directly asked them to work on Stevens' home in Girdwood, a ski town outside Anchorage, Alaska.

Attorneys for Stevens have said Allen withheld bills for the work without the lawmaker's knowledge.

Stevens' federal trial resumed Tuesday with his defense team continuing to attack prosecutors for deliberately hiding evidence.

In court documents released Tuesday, defense attorney Sullivan criticized prosecutors for their late disclosure of additional evidence that he said could help clear the Republican senator from Alaska.

Sullivan said the government belatedly turned over a grand jury transcript that contained "highly significant" material that previously was undisclosed to the defense.

The latest disclosure came Monday as Sullivan cross-examined Allen.

Allen, according to Sullivan's interpretation of the grand jury transcript, "blames himself for his failure to provide bills not only for home repairs, but for the entire renovation itself."

Sullivan, who filed the document as part of a pending motion to dismiss the case, said the latest revelation "goes to the heart of Sen. Stevens' defense," which asserts Allen deliberately kept bills from Stevens.

The defense attorney said the revelation of the grand jury transcripts was the latest example of the government's violations of the rules of evidence and "other misconduct."

Sullivan has not yet ruled on the defense motion.

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