rssNPR: Holder to Abandon Stevens Case
Wednesday, April 01, 2009 at 8:53 am
- 7 Comments
Somewhere, Marcia Clark is pouring prosecutors on the Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) case a drink.
NPR is reporting this morning that the Justice Department plans to drop what once looked like an open-and-shut case against the case against the longest-serving Republican senator in history.
Things looked bleak for Stevens when a federal indictment dropped in July. Prosecutors alleged that Stevens had failed to disclose $250,000 worth of gifts from a campaign contributor, Veco Corp., on his Senate disclosure forms. The case was straightforward: witnesses (including Stevens himself) said that Veco, an oil services firm with no background in home remodeling, had overseen an overhaul of the senator’s private residence in Girdwood, Alaska. Stevens claimed he paid all the bills Veco sent him. The jury didn’t buy it.
Stevens’ attorneys appealed the case on a number of grounds, including prosecutorial misconduct. Attorney General Eric Holder is supposedly livid at what appears to be, at least, clear-cut mismanagement by prosecutors. For example, in February, five months after Stevens’ conviction, Judge Emmett Sullivan held prosecutors in contempt when he discovered they had not handed over important information to the defense. The Justice Department replaced its legal team after the accusations surfaced.
There were other twists and turns in the trial, including allegations that an FBI agent on the case had an affair with a witness. Though an embarrassing story for the Justice Department, withholding evidence from the defense was technically worse, apparently.
NPR reports that Holder has taken into consideration Stevens’ age (he’s 85-years-old), and the fact that he’s no longer in office. We’ll be waiting for further announcements from the Justice Department.
Update: TPMMuckraker has Holder’s statement on the decision here.
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7 Comments
Comment posted April 1, 2009 @ 6:46 am
The case is being dropped to hide from the public further evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. Even the Washington Post article's quotations from Holder confirm this. If not, go riffle through some back issues of the Alaska Daily News which reported the post trial denouement of the DoJ lawyers in far greater detail than any of the media which touted the prosecution deigned to do.
Comment posted April 1, 2009 @ 8:06 am
It's really ironic and sad when prosecutors have to cheat to convict politicians who are themselves accused of cheating on federal ethics laws.
Follow the link to a similar ethics issue involving a recent Cabinet Secretary who failed to disclose the details of his stock options transactions resulting in a capital gains income of up to $1 million, as is required by federal ethics laws. Where is the Justice Department in this case?
Comment posted April 1, 2009 @ 8:15 am
It's ironic and sad when the USDOJ has to resort to cheating to convict high-level “public servants” who are themselves accused of cheating on federal ethics laws.
Click on the link to read about a possible similar “false statements” matter involving a recent Cabinet Secretary, who failed to disclose the details of his stock options transactions (as is required by federal ethics laws) that led to a capital gains income of up to $1 million.
Where is the Justice Department in this case? Is it incapable of ensuring that federal officials fully disclose their income while serving in government? If so, how will we ever trust high-level federal officials?
Comment posted April 1, 2009 @ 1:46 pm
The case is being dropped to hide from the public further evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. Even the Washington Post article's quotations from Holder confirm this. If not, go riffle through some back issues of the Alaska Daily News which reported the post trial denouement of the DoJ lawyers in far greater detail than any of the media which touted the prosecution deigned to do.
Comment posted April 1, 2009 @ 3:06 pm
It's really ironic and sad when prosecutors have to cheat to convict politicians who are themselves accused of cheating on federal ethics laws.
Follow the link to a similar ethics issue involving a recent Cabinet Secretary who failed to disclose the details of his stock options transactions resulting in a capital gains income of up to $1 million, as is required by federal ethics laws. Where is the Justice Department in this case?
Comment posted April 1, 2009 @ 3:15 pm
It's ironic and sad when the USDOJ has to resort to cheating to convict high-level “public servants” who are themselves accused of cheating on federal ethics laws.
Click on the link to read about a possible similar “false statements” matter involving a recent Cabinet Secretary, who failed to disclose the details of his stock options transactions (as is required by federal ethics laws) that led to a capital gains income of up to $1 million.
Where is the Justice Department in this case? Is it incapable of ensuring that federal officials fully disclose their income while serving in government? If so, how will we ever trust high-level federal officials?
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