Stevens conviction voided, Siegelman still a felon
The Justice Department on Wednesday asked a federal judge to drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.
A jury convicted Stevens last fall of seven counts of lying on his Senate disclosure form in order to conceal $250,000 in gifts from an oil industry executive and other friends. Stevens was the longest-serving Republican in the Senate. However, he lost his bid for an eighth full term in office just days after he was convicted. Since then, charges of prosecutorial misconduct have delayed his sentencing and prompted defense motions for a new trial.
In a move first reported by NPR, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he has decided to drop the case against Stevens rather than continue to defend the conviction in the face of persistent problems stemming from the actions of prosecutors.
What about The Don?!
This is absolutely hilarious. A few keyboard crackpots have been proclaiming loudly for years now that Don Siegelman is the unfortunate, innocent victim of a political prosecution masterminded by the evil George W. Bush and Karl Rove. These same individuals targeted the Bush administration, the prosecution, and the judge in their fanatical, personally destructive rants. The irony of Stevens – a Republican who was prosecuted by the evil Republican Bush – being the victim of prosecutorial misconduct at the hands of the Bush Justice Department and being vindicated by the now-Democrat appointed Attorney General is unbelievably sweet. It begs a number of questions…
If the Bush administration was hell bent on prosecuting Democrats, as is often alleged, then why pursue Stevens if the case was shaky? If there was some kind of prosecutorial misconduct in the Siegelman case then why would the new Democrat AG go after the Stevens prosecutor first? Just where was Jill Simpson during the Stevens episode? Is Holder paving the way for a similar move in the Siegelman case – letting a Republican off the hook to mute the squealing if he does the same for The Don?
Face it folks, Don Siegelman was a crooked politician. He broke the law and a jury of his peers rightfully found him guilty. An appeals court upheld most of the convictions. Get over it and stop defending him because he has a “D” by his number name.
FWIW – I think Stevens also broke the law and I’m glad he is out of the Senate. I’m disappointed that the AG didn’t choose to maintain the efforts with a different prosecution team.
Brian, Paul Minor over in Mississippi is using the Karl Rove framed me excuse in his public appeal over his convictions. First, the Don and now Mr Minor…man that Karl Rove must have been a busy guy. I still hold out hope that Tommy Gallion will file a lawsuit against Rove accusing him of conspiring with Phil Fulmer to bring down the Alabama crimson tide. Oh we can only hope…talk about entertaining!!! If not Gallion, then please one of you other bama fans do this!! This country needs a good laugh right now. Seriously though, most of this Rove nonsense is mainly being used to drum up donations for democrat campaigns and the legal fees that the Don and the others have accrued over their criminal acts. To my knowledge Karl Rove’s name is no where to be found in the Don and Minor’s appeals. Those judges in Atlanta and Austin would have their attorneys thrown out if they started down that road.
I forgot the link for that Paul Minor story.
http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/15338
If you’re scratching your head wondering WTF with Holder doing this, Dan Morris, co-host of the “Morris/Montiel Viewpoint” talk show in Montgomery, just gave his opinion on the show this morning. He thinks Holder did this for a Republican so he can soon do the same for a Democrat without appearing biased. That Democrat, according to Morris, will likely be former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.
BTW, for Alabama political junkies who also listen to talk radio, Bluewater Broadcasting (the owners of the Montgomery radio station that this show is on) went on FM radio this morning with it’s News/talk 107.9 FM so listeners outside of the immediate Montgomery area may want to see if they can pick the broadcast up on radio rather than relying on it being streamed live over the internet from http://www.morrismontiel.com/Home.html
Can the Justice department drop the charges against Siegelman? After all, he has been convicted and his conviction has been upheld. It seems like the Courts would have to vacate the charges. Fuller ain’t gonna do that and there isn’t anything Justice can do about Fuller. I dont’ see the 11th Circuit doing ti either–or the Supreme Court, for that matter. I suppose they can pull the prosecutors off the appeals but still, isn’t it a little late for the charges to be dropped? (I think that for Stevens too, although I think the Judge there may very well set aside his verdict because of the obvious prosecutoral misconduct). can any attorneys weigh in on this?
was not Sarah Palin indirectly involved in going after Stevens
In Stevens case there was a Motion for a New Trial based upon the prosecution withholding exculpatory evidence (a major no-no for prosecutors). Justice agreed that the Motion should be granted and then stated that if granted, Justice would dismiss the case (not retry the case).
Procedurely that is a lot different posture than Seigelman’s case is in.