A political assassination took place last year, and America’s “journalists” failed to report it.
Did you read about any of this in your major daily newspaper?
At one point, prosecutors were held in contempt. Things got so bad that the Justice Department finally replaced the trial team, including top-ranking officials in the Public Integrity Section, which is charged with prosecuting public corruption cases.
The straw that apparently broke Holder’s back was the discovery of more prosecutorial notes that were not turned over to the Stevens defense team as required by law. The notes were discovered by the new prosecution team, which was appointed in February.
With more ugly hearings expected, Holder is said to have decided late Tuesday to pull the plug. Justice Department officials say Holder wants to send a message to prosecutors throughout the department that actions he regards as misconduct will not be tolerated.
In a move first reported by National Public Radio, NPR, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he has decided to drop the case against Alaska’s former U.S. Senator, Ted Stevens, Republican, rather than continue to defend the conviction in the face of persistent problems stemming from the actions of prosecutors.
“After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial,” Holder said in a statement Wednesday. “In light of this conclusion, and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances of this particular case, I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial.”
In a separate statement, Stevens’ lawyers praised Holder’s decision and said it was “justified by the extraordinary evidence of government corruption in the prosecution of Senator Stevens.”
The lawyers, Brendan Sullivan and Robert Cary, called the case “a sad story and a warning to everyone. Any citizen can be convicted if prosecutors are hell-bent on ignoring the Constitution and willing to present false evidence.”
The judge in the Stevens case has repeatedly delayed sentencing and criticized trial prosecutors for what he has called prosecutorial misconduct. At one point, prosecutors were held in contempt. Things got so bad that the Justice Department finally replaced the trial team, including top-ranking officials in the Public Integrity Section, which is charged with prosecuting public corruption cases.
Statement From Ted Stevens
“I am grateful that the new team of responsible prosecutors at the Department of Justice has acknowledged that I did not receive a fair trial and has dismissed all the charges against me. I am also grateful that Judge Emmet G. Sullivan made rulings that facilitated the exposure of the government’s misconduct during the last two years. I always knew that there would be a day when the cloud that surrounded me would be removed. That day has finally come.
“It is unfortunate that an election was affected by proceedings now recognized as unfair. It was my great honor to serve the State of Alaska in the United States Senate for 40 years.
“I thank my wife Catherine, as well as my family, friends, and colleagues in the United States Senate who stood by me during this difficult period. I also want to thank the great number of Alaskans who offered their prayers and support.”
Newspaper journalists and most broadcast news departments are not the government watchdogs they promote themselves as. In fact, they are fascilitators and often public relations agents for the Democrat Party.
This is why online Webs, blogs and social communications sites have become so popular.
The end of elite liberal media empires and rise of citizen journalism 
This story makes me sick. The MSM really has been helping sway elections for Democrats and now they are in the majority. It may take a generation to kick them out of power. God help us.
I’m a little confused here, Mick.
Former GOP Sen. Ted Stevens had tens of thousands of dollars of work done on his residence by contractors in a disagreement on overcharging. He didn’t fill out the proper forms. Quite a forgetful fellow, it seems.
The case was tainted by incredible misconduct by the federal prosecutors, who were overseen by the Gonzales, Bush-appointed US Attorney General for part of the investigation and his Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section.
Bush’s problem, right?
Oh wait, April Fool’s, right?
Ken, I seriously thought this was an April Fool’s joke. It isn’t, I assure you.
Ken, we all know that Bush, Cheney and Gonzalez were all under pre-indictment for retiring just a few prosecutors. Remember? Your Democrat party is still discussing the possibility of prosecuting the former President. Bush had no control of the Justice Department.
This just in from the BBC:
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens’s conviction for corruption should be overturned, officials from the US justice department have requested.
Mistakes made by prosecutors during his trial render the conviction invalid, the officials said.
Ken? Where are you? NPR and the BBC are reporting that the US Justice Department is worried about the backlash as the news of the misconduct is spreading.
And to what extent has ACORN been in communication with team Obama?
You are making that up, Mick. Surely you were not asleep the entire past eight years, my friend.
Bush replaced all the US Attorneys at the beginning of his first term. It was when he selectively began replacing his own appointees in his second term that he got into trouble.
No one today seems to remember exactly why they replaced those prosecutors. In fact, Alberto Gonzales couldn’t recall a famous 93 times under oath. Despite accumulating evidence that those prosecutors were replaced for not following political instructions and initiating political prosecutions, answers have been in short supply. You may recall that’s why Karl Rove and Harriet Miers have been subpoenaed to testify on their role in the firings, subpoenas that have yet to be honored.
Bush had no control over the Justice Department? Really? With Alberto Gonzales in charge?
Then why did the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel produce the famous “torture memos” under pressure from the White House? Why did Monica Goodling admit under oath politicizing the hiring process at the supposedly non-partisan Justice Department under instructions from the White House? Why was the US Attorney in Arkansas forced out and replaced by Rove’s deputy? Why was US Attorney David Iglesias forced out in New Mexico just weeks after declining personal requests from the Republican senator and congresswoman in the state to initiate prosecutions of Democratic officials immediately prior to an election? Why did most of the seniopr leadership in the department resign following Gonzales departure as the media and Congress began diggng into the US Attorney firing scandal? Did they just all feel the need simultaneously to spend more time with their families and defense attorneys?
The politicization of the Bush Justice Department was even worse than the Nixon administration. In fact, for the first time since John Mitchell’s term as Attorney General, White House political appointees were allowed to discuss active cases with lawyers at Justice rather than funneling any questions or concerns through one or two contacts at the White House, like the president’s legal counsel.
Investigations into many of these isues are active and ongoing, including the US Attorney firing probe being conducted by a special prosecutor under Michael Mukasey.
No control of the Justice Department? Really?
Mick, you edited my 8:23 post to make it incomprehensible and remove the point I was making. That is totally dishonest and it is not the first time it has happened.
If your opinions don’t stand up to factual analysis and discourse, perhaps you need some new opinions.
Ken,
This case is a disgrace to America. It’s part of a silent coup that not only cost Stevens his Senate position, but maybe even Coleman’s in Minnesota and several others as the Democrat/Socialist party with lockstep support from the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN and MSNBC smeared the Republican/Free Enterprise party with the now famous “culture of corruption” line by non other than Nancy Pelosi.
Now Eric Holder wants the Stevens’ case wiped clean. That is a lot more important than simply dropping the case. At one point, prosecutors were held in contempt. Things got so bad that the Justice Department finally replaced the trial team, including top-ranking officials in the Public Integrity Section, which is charged with prosecuting public corruption cases.
The discovery of more prosecutorial notes that were not turned over to the Stevens defense team as required by law, were discovered by the new prosecution team, which was appointed in February.
With more ‘ugly’ hearings and disclosures on the horizon, Holder is said to have decided late Tuesday to pull the plug.
I see a backlash coming. This political assassination is not going to just fade away. This is a constitutional crisis.
I would point 0ut that the entire Stevens case was decided with a conviction prior to the 2008 election. If there was a political conspiracy against him, it was done by the Bush Justice Department. If there was prosecutorial misconduct, it was done by the Bush Justice Department. If there was incompetence in the case, it was under the Bush Justice Department. If there was any disgrace to America perpetrated in this case…well, you figure it out.
It was under new Attorney General Holder that a new team was appointed, disclosed the previous misconduct and subsequently decided to drop the case due to the prosecutorial errors. It was the only decent thing that could be done in the circumstances and it was the right decision.
Now explain to me again how this is all the fault of Democrats and the media.
Blame Bush. We know your drill.
The head of the Alaska Republican Party today called on Sen. Mark Begich to step down from the U.S. Senate, saying that the state’s voters would have re-elected former Sen. Ted Stevens had they known the U.S Department of Justice would abandon its prosecution of Stevens.
The party chairman, Randy Ruedrich, said that the only reason Begich won his race was because “a few thousand Alaskans thought that Senator Stevens was guilty of seven felonies.”
ACORN are the brown shirts of the Democrat Party. “It doesn’t matter who votes or how many, what matters is who counts the vote.” — Stalin
Ken,
Read about the Soviet star chambers.
How did we get from the Ted Stevens case to ACORN and Soviet star chambers?
We can see your political action plan, it’s a carbon copy of the Soviet model, comrade Ken.
Connect the dots.
Turns out the same injustices done to Stevens created an avalanche and a bogus attack on good mother of two in Alaska.Judge Elaine Andrwes withheld attorney /client documentation;utilized the abandonment of the attorney who misinterpreted the unsubstantial review of a personality disorder (made up and hinged on the ex-husbands) imagination.The actual test was deemed in the same inconclusive of any problems and the mother was robbed seven to ten years of what had been the best years of her life-raising her children.Anyone who reads this and is in a court divorce sghould contact Ms.Brena to prevent the 0nslaught of judicial disgrace,misconduct and obstruction to justice.The husband for the record had the same scores;was technically Nos and as in psychology 101 would tell us in great denial of his role in the marital collapse.Please feel free to write /call.Gail Nash Brena.To all justices-dismiss,dissolve and cash out the mom so she can get back to her full time role as the only “acting custodial” in the matters at hands.