On a day he made an emotional speech from the witness stand about his shattered legacy, other revelations spilled out, including that he changed his vote on a new oil tax at the last minute and took $5,000 from former Veco executive Bill Allen as a truck loan that he never repaid.
But, Kott maintained, he never took bribes.
Kott finished testifying late in the afternoon after two grueling days on the stand in his federal corruption trial. While he seemed testy at times during aggressive cross-examination, he didn't lose his cool.
Gov. Sarah Palin quietly popped into the trial for about 10 minutes in the morning. Few seemed to spot her as she slipped into the back row during a little of Kott's testimony on oil taxes. Palin said she took the opportunity to check in during a fire drill in the governor's Anchorage office in the nearby Atwood building.
"This is one of the most important series of trials in Alaska history," Palin said after her courtroom visit.
TRIAL COMES AT GREAT COST, KOTT SAYS
Kott is being tried in U.S. District Court on charges of bribery, conspiracy, extortion and wire fraud. Veco executives Bill Allen and Rick Smith have pleaded guilty to bribing Kott and three other legislators in an effort to influence them on the tax measure in 2006.
Kott told jurors he had to go to trial because he believes he's not guilty, but that it's coming at great cost.
Jurors have seen videos from Suite 604 of the Baranof Hotel in Juneau and heard wiretapped telephone conversations in which Kott, often after drinking, plotted and cussed alongside Veco executives.
Will those videos and newspaper stories about his behavior be his legacy? defense lawyer Jim Wendt asked.
Kott, in the Legislature 14 years, including two as House speaker, choked up a bit during a monologue that lasted several minutes.
"Unfortunately, with all the things I believe I accomplished, the goals that I managed to reach, the legacy will be just that. I think people will forget about the good things and remember the bad things," Kott said.
The video recordings are "extremely embarrassing," Kott said.
"Certainly to the jury, I apologize for the vulgarity that has been presented to you in the course of this trial," Kott said. "It has been an embarrassment for myself and my family." His girlfriend and grown son and daughter sat in the front row behind the defense table.
The defense slogged through the legislative record in an attempt to portray Kott as a statesman who sometimes voted against the 20 percent tax favored by Veco to reach an oil-tax compromise.
But as Kott himself explained, the unfolding of such complex bills is a "cat-and-mouse game," with lawmakers sometimes voting yes for loathsome amendments hoping to kill a bill.
The Legislature approved a 22.5 percent tax, and Kott told the jury he considered it a good compromise. "We pretty much split the baby right in half," he said.
SPIRITED CROSS-EXAMINATION
The cross-examination by assistant U.S. attorney James Goeke was heated from the start.
Goeke came close to yelling as he shot off questions rapid-fire about Kott's vote. Wendt objected time and again. And U.S. District Judge John Sedwick told Goeke to slow down, be more patient and stop making speeches.
Prosecutors also dug deep into the legislative record during their cross-examination, trying to show that Kott voted against the 22.5 percent compromise three times on the last day, when the tax measure nearly died.
Even on the final vote, Kott was a "no," switching his vote to the "yes" side only after the tally showed the measure passing.
"You changed it once the writing was on the wall," Goeke thundered. "It's good you did it so you can tell the jury you voted for 22.5."
Kott's lawyer objected.
"There was no jury then to consider," he pointed out.
It was, Goeke noted, the last vote of Kott's legislative career. He lost in the Republican primary two weeks later.
The prosecutor seemed to be portraying Kott as a hold-out for 20 percent until the bitter end -- even when some oil industry lobbyists had started pushing for 22.5 percent in fear a more onerous tax might pass instead.
During his cross-examination, Goeke replayed two FBI recordings from the Veco suite.
"Where do you want to take this, Bill? I don't want to jeopardize the gas line but I'll stay on 20," Kott says on a May 8, 2006, recording from Suite 604. Allen testified earlier that oil producers wanted certainty on oil taxes before they would commit to a multibillion-dollar gas pipeline. "Vic will be on 20 and Jay will be on 20 and Foster will be on 20. I don't know how many others will be on 20," Kott said on the recording, referring to Reps. Vic Kohring, Jay Ramras and Richard Foster.
"Tom Anderson," Smith, the former Veco vice president, chimes in with another lawmaker's name.
"Anderson will be on 20," Kott agreed.
Prosecutors also replayed an especially vulgar recording from late in the night of June 8, 2006. The men in Suite 604 spewed out f--- them repeatedly.
Goeke pressed Kott to explain why he assured Allen he'd fight for 20 percent if he was willing to go higher. Kott said he was misleading his Veco friends, choosing to "tell them what they want to hear."
That theme came up several times.
BERKOWITZ DID NOT HELP SWAY VOTE, KOTT SAYS
Wendt asked Kott to explain another secretly recorded conversation in which he boasts that he "outsmarted the fox" -- referring to then-House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz -- in order to get Berkowitz to persuade his fellow Democrats to vote the way Veco wanted.
Kott told jurors that he was just trying to impress Allen. He and Berkowitz had had a rational conversation on the House floor. Kott figured Allen was watching live on "Gavel to Gavel" television.
"I didn't want him to get the opinion I was just crawling in bed with the Democrats," Kott testified.
Kott said he also felt bad because he and Berkowitz had a good relationship for years and he had actually tried to deceive Berkowitz a little bit. He said Berkowitz was on his side back in 2005 when he attempted to regain the House speaker post through a coup. It failed.
That's why he talks in the recording about lying, cheating, stealing and selling his soul to the devil, Kott testified.
In reality, Berkowitz didn't do anything to help swing votes the way Veco wanted, Kott said, even though he told Allen that's what happened.
"I think I was trying to get some credit," he said.
At another point in his cross-examination, Goeke questioned Kott about a $5,000 check from Allen that jurors hadn't heard about before Thursday.
Kott told jurors that Allen loaned him the $5,000 in 2004 as a down payment on a new truck. He was supposed to pay Allen back once he paid off the truck.
But Goeke pointed out that on Aug. 31, 2006, when the FBI searched Kott's residence in Juneau, Kott told agents that he hadn't done so.
"That sounds like a gift to me," Goeke said.
Kott replied he and Allen had an agreement that Kott would pay the money back when the truck was paid off.
"It could also be characterized as a bribe," Goeke said.
"You can characterize it any way you want; it is not a bribe," Kott replied.
With a few more witnesses to go today, the case may not get to the jury until next week.
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