Copper executive testifies he was shocked by congressman’s threat

By Dennis Wagner | The Arizona Republic

Bruno Hegner, Resolution Copper's president in 2005
Bruno Hegner, Resolution Copper’s president in 2005

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:

Continued: 

Related:  Rosemont Copper mine land swap gains committee blessing

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