PHILADELPHIA — An indicted former state senator took the stand today at his four-month-old corruption trial, telling jurors that his partisan political work inevitably overlapped with his work as a state lawmaker and that it was appropriate for state workers to sometimes do his personal chores.

Vincent Fumo aimed to defend charges that he deployed state employees and others to do campaign work and his personal chores on work time. Fumo, a longtime Philadelphia power broker, is accused of misusing millions that belonged to the state, a maritime museum and a nonprofit community group to fund a lavish lifestyle.

"Everything in my life is ... intertwined," Fumo testified this afternoon. "I never, ever thought in my wildest imagination would someone ask me, did I keep a log (of) when did I talk politically, when did I talk personally. Maybe it's good that I resigned because I would not know how to live under that standard today."

Fumo took the stand after jurors heard from Gov. Ed Rendell, who honored a defense subpoena to testify about his fellow Philadelphia Democrat. The two have sometimes been rivals.

Rendell testified Fumo worked hard for the state, but the governor conceded that even hardworking lawmakers must follow the rules.

"There are no exceptions for effectiveness and no exceptions for people who spend a lot of time on the job. The rules are the rules," Rendell said.

Fumo, 65, is defending himself against a 139-count fraud and obstruction indictment that accuses him of defrauding Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, the Pennsylvania Senate and Philadelphia's Independence Seaport Museum of more than $3.5 million.

He was expected to be on the stand for several days.