The federal judge overseeing the public corruption trial of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens admonished prosecutors for sending a key government witness back to Alaska, in what defense attorneys say was a deliberate attempt to conceal evidence, The Associated Press reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan appeared "livid" in court today, after hearing that Robert Williams, a former Veco Corp. employee who oversaw Stevens's $250,000 home renovation, was sent back to Alaska without being told.

"Why wasn't I consulted? I'm peeved now. It's a federal subpoena to appear in my court," Sullivan said, according to the AP. "I think the government is treading in some shallow water here. What should the sanction be for that?"

Williams said that the government's estimates for how much and how long the renovations at Stevens's home took were "overblown," according to court documents obtained by the AP.

Prosecutors say Stevens lied about the extent of the gifts he received from Veco and his chief, Bill Allen, and failed to disclose the right amount of the job on his Senate financial disclosure reports. Stevens claims he paid $160,000 for the renovations and thought that amount covered everything.

Meanwhile, the government's star witness, Allen, had his testimony pushed back until at least Tuesday, as Stevens's defense attorneys complained that they had not been given Allen's medical records related to a 2001 motorcycle accident that left him with brain damage.