CREW today sent a letter to the Justice Department’s (DOJ) Inspector General Glenn Fine, asking for an investigation into the Criminal Division’s inadequate training and supervision of attorneys. CREW’s call comes on the heels of the division’s latest blunder: the bungling of the DOJ’s case against four Blackwater security guards who were involved in a massacre that left 14 Iraqis dead and 20 others wounded.

The Division, despite repeated warnings, violated the Blackwater guards’ constitutional rights in the case by relying on compelled statements – even going so far as to use immunized testimony to obtain search warrant. This is the same DOJ unit that botched the government’s case against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) by failing to provide defense attorneys with notes of an interview with a key witness. This prompted Attorney General Eric Holder to dismiss the otherwise “slam dunk” indictment against the corrupt former senator.

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, said today:

The fact that prosecutors have bungled such well-publicized matters – where you’d think everyone would be at the top of their game – suggests misconduct, ineptitude and insufficient training may be rampant in less visible matters where defendants are not represented by elite criminal defense lawyers, who have the tools necessary to expose these deficiencies. All Americans lose when those charged with grave offenses escape prosecution not because of their innocence, but because the Department of Justice has failed to properly train and supervise its lawyers. An investigation by the IG and recommendations for systemic reform would help restore public confidence in the department.

Click here to read CREW’s letter to Inspector General Glenn Fine.
Click here to read the opinion in the Blackwater case.

For several years, Alaska was a hotbed of public corruption. Several key state figures, including former Alaska House Speaker Peter Kott, were convicted of crimes associated with Veco. Corp.  But, the convictions are in danger for the same kinds of problems associated with the trial of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Kott wants the charges against him dismissed:

A Washington, D.C., jury found Stevens guilty on all counts in October, but the case began to unravel when an FBI agent said the investigation and trial were tainted by government misconduct. By April, with investigations into the allegations under way, the Justice Department admitted it failed to give Stevens favorable evidence he was entitled to, including information that might have discredited Allen before the jury.

Attorney General Eric Holder asked that all charges against Stevens be dismissed.

At the same time, the Justice Department began a review of the convictions of Kott and Kohring, then serving time in federal prisons, and in June said similar problems were found in their cases. At the government's request, Kott and Kohring were freed on their own recognizance pending resolution of the matter by U.S. District Judge John Sedwick, the Anchorage judge who presided over their trials.

Lawyers for the two men were originally supposed to file motions by Monday, with the government response due in October and oral arguments, if necessary, in November. But Kohring's lawyer won a one-month delay because of other trials the attorney has in the Seattle area.

Sedwick hasn't said when he'll make a ruling. He could dismiss the charges or order new trials. He also could rule the new evidence wasn't significant and send Kott and Kohring back to prison, but given the weight and questions posed by the material, that possibility appears to be receding.

The final disclosure former filed by former Senator Ted Stevens indicates that he owes a large sum to his lawyers and received an unknown sum for work at his home in Girdwood.  It was a partly the failure to initially disclose the work on that home on these very forms that resulted in those legal fees. Via the Anchorage Daily News:

The disclosure forms ask for a range, not an exact amount. Stevens checked off the $1 million to $5 million box.

He also owes $50,000 to $100,000 to another D.C. law firm, Utrecht and Phillips. A partner in that firm, lobbyist Bill Phillips, is a former Stevens aide who attended many days of the trial and sat in the section of the courtroom usually filled by Stevens' family and supporters.

The information about what Stevens owes in legal bills was disclosed in the same disclosure paperwork that was at the heart of the corruption case against Stevens. It is the final disclosure form required of Stevens, who just days after his conviction lost his re-election bid to Democrat Mark Begich. It covers the year 2008.

Stevens attached an unusual document to his final disclosure form, known as a termination report. In it, he notes that the Justice Department in its indictment and at trial took the position that "I either received gifts from Veco Corporation or others or owed money to the Veco Corp. or others."

The indictment was dismissed, Stevens notes, but adds that he is "not in a position at this time to know what, if any, money I owe on account of work performed at my Girdwood home."

The Anchorage Daily News printed an interview with Clif Groh, who "is an Anchorage lawyer, former state prosecutor, and lifelong Alaskan who covered Ted Stevens' trial last fall and is writing a book about it. "  The ADN excerpted the interview from the blog, www.alaskacorruption.blogspot.com.   Groh explained the decision to drop the case against Ted Stevens, the prosecutorial misconduct and the impact in Alaska.  Here are some key excerpts:

Q. What would have happened in the trial if this apparent misconduct had not occurred? Ted Stevens' lawyers confidently suggested that the jury would have acquitted the defendant if the prosecutors had not cheated: "In essence, the government tricked the jury into returning a tainted verdict against the Senator based on false evidence."

The answer to the hypothetical question of "What if?" is not so clear in this case, however.

The prosecution had a strong case and a relatively low bar to clear under the statute. The government presented numerous e-mail messages and other evidence showing that Ted Stevens knew that Bill Allen and people who regularly worked for VECO were arranging for -- and performing -- a lot of the work at his home in Girdwood. While Ted Stevens and his wife paid well over $100,000 for the renovations at his chalet, it's undisputed that the Stevenses never paid Allen or VECO anything. Similarly, the prosecution showed that Bob Persons and Bob Penney also provided valuable things to Stevens that the Senator did not disclose.

All the government had to show to get a conviction on one count in this case was that Sen. Stevens had received more than about $300 a year in undisclosed gifts or liabilities and had "knowingly and willfully" not reported them.

 

Q. What effect will this announcement have on the federal investigation? Former State Senate President Ben Stevens (R-Anchorage) and U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) are probably breathing a little easier, as they likely figure that the probe will at least slow down now. (Although numerous media reports have stated that Ben Stevens and Young are under investigation in the federal probe into public corruption in Alaska, neither has been criminally charged and both deny wrongdoing.) That speculation is sound. The Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section is running this investigation, and it only has about 25-30 lawyers. The three Public Integrity attorneys most involved in handling the probe -- as well as the two FBI agents apparently most active in it -- are ensnarled in the internal investigation into alleged misconduct.

The Department of Justice may now be more wary of longtime Veco CEO Bill Allen as a prosecution witness, which would help at least some of the potential defendants in the ongoing federal investigation into public corruption in Alaska that apparently started in 2004.

Via Ken Bazinet, a.k.a. "The Mouth of the Potomac" at the NY Daily News:

Federal prosecutors bungled a slam dunk conviction when it botched its case against ex-Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the head of a legal watchdog group said Wednesday.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced he was dropping corruption charges against Stevens, 85, after it was learned prosecutors failed to hand over some of its evidence to defense attorneys, as is required of them.

“I think they really screwed this up. All you have to do is look at the federal disclosure forms and it’s clear he’s guilty,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “I can understand why Holder did it, but now Stevens can say ‘They just did this to get me out of office.’”

Breaking news this morning via the Anchorage Daily News:

The Justice Department has moved to dismiss former Sen. Ted Stevens' indictment, effectively voiding his Oct. 27 conviction on seven counts of filing false statements on his U.S. Senate financial disclosure forms.

"After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement released this morning. "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."

The Justice Department filed its motion to dismiss the case this morning, saying in it that "given the facts of this particular case, the Government believes that granting a new trial is in the interest of justice." However, "the Government has further determined that, based on the totality of circumstances and in the interest of justice, it will not seek a new trial."

Some last minute drama in the waning days of the Bush administration on the issue of pardons.  Alaska's now senior Senator, Lisa Murkowski, wrote to then President Bush asking for a pardon for her colleague:

The Bush administration came to an end Tuesday, and with it went the chance of a pardon for Alaska's most powerful political figure since statehood, Ted Stevens.

Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator until his defeat in November, is now left to fight his conviction in the courts.

According to his friends, that's exactly how he wants it.

When Stevens was indicted July 29 on seven counts of lying on his financial disclosures statements, he demanded the earliest trial date possible, asserting he would be declared not guilty in time to face the voters for his seventh full term. That plan collapsed Oct. 27 when a District of Columbia jury convicted him on all counts.

"It's not over yet!" Stevens declared as he walked out of the courtroom. But his 40-year career representing Alaska in Washington, D.C., was doomed. Former Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, defeated him a week later.

Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who has taken Stevens' place as the senior senator from Alaska, sought the pardon from Bush in a letter to the White House on Jan. 7. Whether others also petitioned the president on behalf of Stevens couldn't be determined.

CREW named Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) one of the most corrupt members of Congress in September. 

Today, the long career of Senator Stevens ended today as he said good-bye to that body.  Stevens lost his Senate race earlier in the week.  Last month, he was convicted of federal corruption charges:

"I really must pinch myself to fully understand that I'm privileged to speak on the floor of the United States Senate," Stevens said, sitting comfortably and with an ease he didn't have during the five weeks he faced a federal jury on corruption charges this fall.

Stevens, who was convicted on seven counts of failing to disclose gifts from a powerful political contributor, lost his election Tuesday and will return to Alaska. He made just one mention of his conviction during his farewell remarks, saying he hoped to one day be cleared of the cloud over his head.

Yet Stevens never sounded a bitter note. He thanked his family, his friends both inside and outside of the Senate, and the people of Alaska.

If home is where the heart is, Stevens said, "I have two homes. One is right here in this chamber and the other is my beloved state of Alaska. I must leave one to return to the other."

Last night, we learned that Alaska's long-serving Senator, Ted Stevens, who is also a convicted felon, was defeated in his re-election bid:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens lost his job to Mark Begich on Tuesday, putting an end to the era of "Uncle Ted" as the dominant force in Alaska politics.

Begich, the Democratic mayor of Anchorage, widened his lead to 3,724 votes in Tuesday's count of absentee and questioned ballots. The lead is insurmountable, as the only votes left to count are approximately 2,500 ballots from overseas.

Begich claimed victory, saying, "I am humbled and honored to serve Alaska in the U.S. Senate."

The loss came on Stevens' 85th birthday. The 40-year incumbent is the longest serving Republican in the history of the U.S. Senate.

An update on the status of Senator Ted Stevens future within the GOP caucus from Roll Call (sub. req.)

“After talking with many of my colleagues, it’s clear there are sufficient votes to pass the resolution regarding Senator Stevens. The question now is timing,” DeMint said. “Some who support the resolution believe we should address this after the results of his election are confirmed in Alaska. For this reason, I will ask the Conference to postpone the vote on Senator Stevens until Thursday.”