Justice Dept. Seeks To Void Stevens' Conviction : NPR: "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."
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It was the Bush justice department that did this. They went after Stevens, cheated to get a conviction that occurred eight days before the election (they withheld from the defense notes of an interview with a key prosecution witness that would have allowed the defense attorneys to undermine his credibility on important issues), and then Stevens narrowly lost his Senate seat to a Democrat. He was the longest-serving Republican Senator in history.

Here is what Stevens' attorneys had to say:

Stevens' attorneys claimed the government "disregarded the Constitution" by going through with the prosecution but praised both Holder, the new prosecutorial team and Judge Emmett G. Sullivan for demonstrating integrity in the case.

"The misconduct of government prosecutors, and one or more FBI agents, was stunning. Not only did the government fail to disclose evidence of innocence, but instead intentionally hid that evidence and created false evidence that they provided to the defense," said attorneys Brendan V. Sullivan Jr. and Robert M. Cary.

The Iraq war and the meltdown of the economy overshadow the incompetence and venality of the Bush administration in running the Justice Department. Bush actually nominated Harriet Miers for the United States Supreme Court. That tells you all you need to know about his respect for law.

Eric Holder wouldn't have been my choice for AG, but at least he has some common sense and realizes that the Stevens conviction would undoubtedly be reversed on appeal anyway. And now that Stevens is gone and the Democrats have snagged a Senate seat in a Republican state for six years, there is no political fallout for Holder's party in letting the case die.

It is a strange thing to hear Republicans still defending Bush, considering that he destroyed his own party. Talk about blind loyalty.