To the end of testimony, Fumo denies guilt

That Vince Fumo spied on an ex-girlfriend, gave Senate laptops to family and friends, and bagged at least $63,000 in tools and other goodies from the nonprofit he called "my baby" is no longer in dispute.

The former Democratic state senator acknowledged all of that on the witness stand, and much more. He told the court that he cruised for free on yachts provided by the Independence Seaport Museum, and that his staff paid his bills and dealt with rents paid by his tenants. And yes, he told jurors, his aides destroyed his e-mails after he learned the FBI was investigating him.

Even so, Fumo maintained during six grueling days of testimony that ended last week that he did not break any laws.

He apologized for his profane language in e-mails and told jurors that he regretted all the spying, but he defended or downplayed much of what federal prosecutors contend was widespread criminal activity.

Fumo, for example, told the jury that he was "probably wrong" to have allowed his staff to do campaign work out of his district office. But he was quick to add: "It's also a violation to spit on the sidewalk, but I don't know that it's enforced."

And, in a stunning comment during a withering cross-examination, Fumo said: "In retrospect, I wish I never got elected to the Senate."

Fumo also contended, in a heated exchange with Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Pease, that he was the target of a "political" investigation by the Bush administration "because I was the most prominent Democrat in Pennsylvania."

That he was the most prominent Democrat may be debatable, but what is not in doubt is that his testimony was a highlight of the epic corruption trial, which is finally winding down after four months, 105 witnesses, and more than 1,400 exhibits. Closing arguments are expected to dominate most of the coming week, and the jury could start deliberations by Thursday.

From the witness stand, Fumo took jurors through what his aides called "Fumo-world" as he gave his response to the sweeping federal indictment against him.

And what Fumo said from the witness stand during those six days will surely be important as jurors consider the 137 counts against him.

Under questioning by his lead defense attorney, Dennis J. Cogan, Fumo insisted he never intended to defraud the Senate or the nonprofit Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods and never meant to obstruct the investigation.

"Did you ever, at any time, have any intention to do anything wrong, anything that you thought was illegal?" Cogan asked in his final round of questions to his client.

"No," replied Fumo.

Fumo, 65, a senator from 1978 until he stepped down late last year, is charged with defrauding the Senate by using employees for personal and campaign errands on state time and defrauding Citizens' Alliance by getting tools, farm equipment, vacuum cleaners, and other items.

Fumo also is accused of tax violations, obstructing justice, and defrauding the Independence Seaport Museum by getting a dozen free yacht trips worth about $115,000.

His codefendant, Ruth Arnao, a former legislative aide who once headed Citizens' Alliance, is charged with 45 counts, mostly involving fraud charges in connection with the nonprofit. Arnao did not take the stand.

Fumo offered this view of the charges against him:

Fumo told the jury that his Senate staffers, facing heavy demands from his role as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, routinely put in long work hours, far more than the 371/2 per week required by the Senate.

Along the way, he acknowledged, they also tended to his farm, handled his banking, and helped out on campaign work. But such errands, he said, were strictly voluntary - and done beyond their Senate duties.

Everything in his life was intertwined with politics, he said, and it was "difficult, if not impossible, to separate politics from government, particularly in the legislature."

Fumo did express regret for having used a private investigator to spy on a former girlfriend. "It's probably something I shouldn't have done," said Fumo, adding that he had no idea the investigator had billed the Senate for the surveillance.

Fumo disputed the testimony of a former Senate aide, Christian Marrone, who told the jury that he spent about 80 percent of his time during his first 18 months of working for Fumo overseeing renovations at Fumo's Spring Garden mansion.

"Christian knew very little, if anything, about construction," Fumo said of Marrone, who is now his estranged son-in-law.

Fumo acknowledged that he got $63,000 in tools and other items paid for by Citizens' Alliance, which he set up to revitalize South Philadelphia.

He also admitted that a bulldozer, a Ford truck, and other equipment belonging to Citizens' Alliance ended up on his farm near Harrisburg.

But he said he deserved the "perks and gifts" for raising millions in private money - especially $17 million from Peco Energy Co.

Fumo conceded that he didn't want the public to know about the gifts. "I didn't want people outside Citizens' knowing anything except what they had to know," he said.

Fumo also said he was not required to report the gifts on his financial-disclosure forms, or on his taxes, because they were not compensation.

Fumo, a boating enthusiast, acknowledged that he took cruises on yachts provided by the Independence Seaport Museum, on whose board he once served.

But Fumo said that he had raised money for the museum, and that the museum's former president, John S. Carter, had "complete authority" over the use of the yachts. He had Carter's permission for the trips, he said.

Carter, however, ended up with his own problems. In a case that had nothing to do with Fumo, Carter is now serving a 15-year prison sentence for bilking the museum out of $1.5 million.

Fumo admitted that he stepped up computer security after news broke about the FBI investigation, allowing his computer technicians to run sophisticated software programs to permanently purge all e-mail to and from him.

But Fumo insisted that he believed the practice was lawful because he had not been served with any subpoena in connection with that investigation.

Fumo told the jury that he came to that understanding after conferring with two lawyers - well-known defense lawyer Richard A. Sprague, a friend who was representing him, and Robert Scandone, another friend who had once had a Senate contract.

Fumo said that Sprague told him: "As long as you don't have a subpoena, you don't have to save anything."

Not so, said Sprague.

Sprague told the jury that he never made any such remark to Fumo, and that he didn't believe Fumo's claim that Scandone had given him that advice.

When Fumo told lawyers at Sprague's firm that he thought he could do whatever he wanted as long as he had not been subpoenaed, Sprague recalled, another lawyer asked Fumo: "Where did you get that crazy idea?"