In witchhunts and politics...

Holder Drops Criminal Case Against Former Sen. Stevens

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Attorney General Holder this morning dropped all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who was convicted Oct. 27 of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and favors on Senate financial disclosure forms. Holder made the announcement in a brief statement. Justice Department lawyers then filed a motion with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan asking him to dismiss the verdict and indictment. Sullivan set a hearing for Tuesday on the motion to dismiss. Stevens' lead lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, said Holder's decision "is justified by the extraordinary evidence of government corruption in the prosecution of Sen. Stevens." He added: "This is a sad story and a warning to everyone. Any citizen can be convicted if prosecutors are hellbent on ignoring the Constitution and willing to present false evidence."

Justice lawyers said they decided to dismiss charges chiefly because prosecutors broke rules by failing to provide defense lawyers with information they could have used on Stevens' behalf in the five-week trial. Stevens was facing a maximum of 35 years in prison but had not been sentenced as his defense team mounted an aggressive post-trial challenge, seeking either dismissal of the case or a new trial. Holder said the Justice Department would not try Stevens again. Stevens, who has maintained his innocence all along, said: "I always knew that there would be a day when the cloud that surrounded me would be removed. That day has finally come." He added that it was "unfortunate that an election was affected by proceedings now recognized as unfair." Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, who defeated Stevens last fall, said Holder's decision was reasonable. Brendan Sullivan hailed Holder's decision and called him "a pillar of integrity in the legal community."

The decision caught many of Stevens' former colleagues in the Senate by surprise. "I believe the Justice Department did the right thing," said Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye, who was a character witness for Stevens during the trial. "I am happy for Ted and his family." Senate Minority Leader McConnell, who called for Stevens to resign after his indictment, said through a spokeswoman that Holder's decision must be a relief for Stevens and his family. "It was disappointing to lose the seat, no question about it," McConnell said. "Also no question that if this decision had been made last year he'd still be in the Senate." If the judge, as expected, dismisses the indictment, Stevens will face no further inquiries about the gifts. A spokeswoman for Senate Ethics Chairwoman Barbara Boxer said the committee's jurisdiction for an inquiry ended when Stevens left the Senate.

by Michael Posner, with Dan Friedman contributing

~~life isn't about how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain~~

When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.
Japanese Proverb

yeh, the incompetent, corrupt and disrespectful of the rule of law Bush justice dept screwed up the prosecution, but the more humane and in the American tradition of justice Obama justice dept let the old man off the hook.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. - Carl Sagan

I believe that every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity an obligation; every possession, a duty. - John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

, but the more humane and in the American tradition of justice Obama justice dept let the old man off the hook.

Give us a timeline and the facts J2...I dare you.

~~life isn't about how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain~~

When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.
Japanese Proverb

So Susan, you're saying that the Bush DOJ under AG Mukasey was on a political witch-hunt against Senator Stevens?

So Susan, you're saying that the Bush DOJ under AG Mukasey was on a political witch-hunt against Senator Stevens?

No, not what I said. (why do you do that, BTW?)  I don't assume that because there are unscrupulous people, that all people are unscrupulous.  There were prosecutors who were in it for themselves, and it was politically self serving.  The timing was great.  It probably kept Stevens from being reelected, and it embarrased Palin.....the ironic thing, is that he was probably guilty anyway, and if they had simply done their jobs, they would have come out heroes and with their careers intact.  

~~life isn't about how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain~~

When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.
Japanese Proverb

(why do you do that, BTW?)

Maybe because you made an editorial comment about witch-hunts and politics. And a high-profile case like this surely had extensive input and oversight from political appointees like the USA for Alaska and the AG.

thus suzie-q demonstrates the lengths the average kneejerk mush skull will go to warp reality and keep its head from exploding and letting in the light.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. - Carl Sagan

I believe that every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity an obligation; every possession, a duty. - John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

...you DO realize that it was DUHbya's DOJ that tried Stevens in the first place, don't you?

 

 

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
-Albert Einstein

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.

No, not what I said. (why do you do that, BTW?)  I don't assume that because there are unscrupulous people, that all people are unscrupulous.  There were prosecutors who were in it for themselves, and it was politically self serving.

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Perhaps, and if so, they were Republican appointees.   I personally doubt that, I think they were just incompetent; and, believe me, there was no love lost between the neocons and Ted Stevens.  He was a "Majority of One" when it came to politics.  The fact that he was a republican was just an accident of time and place.

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  The timing was great.  It probably kept Stevens from being reelected, and it embarrased Palin.....

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It really did not embarass Palin at all... she kept her distance from Stevens a long time before any of this hit the national press.  Stevens did a lot of good for Alaska, he just got enamored of his own image.  Palin is a shallow idiot, who happens to be damn lucky in the political sense.

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the ironic thing, is that he was probably guilty anyway, and if they had simply done their jobs, they would have come out heroes and with their careers intact.

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That part is true.  Even going after one of their own, the Bush administration fucked it up.  Withholding evidence from the defense?  Another unexeptional day in the park for the GWB administration.

Jim..  

as usual, Susan can't keep up the intellectual pace.

It wasn't anything to do with the Dems that brought him down.  It was the incompetence of a politically driven GOP adminstration that resulted in an indictment.  And it was that same incompetence that motivated Eric Holder to stop the indictment.

God, it could not be any more clear than that.

Jim...