"There was never any suggestion that he would do anything that was improper," said Powell, who told jurors he knows Stevens "extremely well" after having worked with him on military appropriations issues for decades.
It was not clear whether Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and patriarch of Alaska politics, would take the stand in his own defense. But he is calling on some of his famous friends to vouch for him in the court case that has put his Senate seat in jeopardy.
His case has languished in a federal courtroom as a Democratic opponent back home mounts a strong challenge to the seat he has held for 40 years.
Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, a Democrat, on Thursday called Stevens's reputation for truthfulness and honesty "absolute." Next week, defense lawyers want to call other senators, including Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah and and Democrat Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, to testify on Stevens's behalf.
But US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan has ordered the defense list of character witnesses to be cut from 10 to five. In court papers, lawyers had argued they should have been able to call as many witnesses as they wanted to vouch for Stevens.
It is unclear when and if Hatch would testify. Though Kennedy was listed, lawyers said the ailing senator would appear only if his health improves.
Powell, who shook Stevens's hand before the jury entered the courtroom, said he didn't know anything about the charges that Stevens lied on Senate forms to conceal Allen's gifts.
Stevens has always been honest and upfront - "someone whose word you can rely on" - when he worked with him on Capitol Hill, Powell said.
"I had a guy who would tell me when I was off base," Powell said. "I had a guy who would tell me when I had no clothes on." And as people in the courtroom started to chuckle, Powell smiled and added, "figuratively."
"He fights for his state, he fights for his people but he always has the interests of his country at heart," Powell said.
Stevens says he was too busy in Washington to pay close attention to the renovation of the home near Anchorage, which his wife oversaw. His lawyers also say their client assumed that the $160,000 the Stevenes paid to other local contractors covered the work to convert their modest A-frame cabin into a two-story home with wraparound decks, new electricity and plumbing, a sauna and a master-bedroom balcony.
If convicted, Stevens, 84, faces up to five years in prison on each of seven charges, though under federal sentencing guidelines, he probably would receive much less prison time, if any.
