By Dennis Wagner | The Arizona Republic
Bruno Hegner’s handwritten letter to himself became a key piece of evidence Wednesday in the corruption and extortion trial of former U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi.
Hegner, a former Resolution Copper Mining executive, testified that he wrote the letter on April 12, 2005, minutes after receiving an angry phone call in which the then-congressman threatened to indirectly stymie a multibillion-dollar copper-mining project.
According to Hegner, Renzi had agreed to sponsor legislation authorizing a land exchange that would allow Resolution to excavate a huge ore deposit near Superior. However, Hegner said, Renzi made it clear he would only support the land-swap measure if it included an alfalfa farm owned by Renzi business associate James Sandlin, also on trial in U.S. District Court.
The three-paragraph letter was projected to jurors on computer monitors and to courtroom visitors on a large screen:
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