Ted Stevens walks

The Justice Department is dropping all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) due to prosecutorial misconduct.

NPR broke the story this morning.

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.

According to Justice Department officials, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder 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.

The judge in the Stevens case has repeatedly delayed sentencing and criticized trial prosecutors for what he's 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 office of public integrity. That's the department's section charged with
prosecuting public corruption cases.

Down goes Stevens

Insurmountable lead for Begich.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has lost his bid for a seventh term. The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,724 votes after Tuesday's count. That's an insurmountable lead with only about 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.

What's the matter with Alaska?

A convicted felon - a convicted felon - may very well have won re-election to the United States Senate.

While change sweeps the nation, Alaska is voting for more of the same. With results from 99% of the state's precincts in, Senator Ted Stevens — who on Oct. 27 was convicted in federal court on seven counts of corruption — held a slim 4,000 vote lead over his opponent, Anchorage mayor Mark Begich. With about 50,000 uncounted absentee and early ballots, a definitive winner could be days or weeks away.

This, of course, seems a scandalous result. Stevens, the country's longest-serving Senator, was found guilty of concealing improper gifts he received from an oil services company executive. Although he claims he is innocent and is fighting to overturn the court decision, Stevens' Senate colleagues, particularly from his own party, have made it clear that the 84-year-old will not be allowed to rejoin the Senate if his conviction is upheld. Although it's never happened before, the senate could move to expel a senator by two-thirds vote.

The power of pork. Stevens brings home the federal bacon to the rugged individualists of Alaska, and so they are willing to re-elect him despite his being a convicted felon.

Wow.

Stevens guilty on all seven counts

Down goes Stevens.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven corruption charges Monday in a trial that tainted the 40-year Senate career of Alaska's political patriarch.

The verdict, coming just days before Election Day, adds further uncertainty to a closely watched Senate race. Democrats hope to seize the once reliably Republican seat as part of their bid for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Stevens, 84, was convicted of all seven charges he faced of lying about free home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor. Jurors began deliberating Wednesday at noon.

Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each count when he is sentenced Jan. 26, but under federal sentencing guidelines, he is likely to receive much less prison time, if any.

The monthlong trial revealed that employees for oil services company VECO Corp. transformed the senator's modest mountain cabin into a modern, two-story home with wraparound porches, a sauna and a wine cellar. Stevens never paid for VECO's work.