Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' conviction on multiple felony charges was thrown out today by new AG Eric Holder, on grounds that the prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence and introduced evidence known to be false. Oh, is that all?
If this doesn't give rise to a citizen-wide cringe, I'm not sure what would. Federal prosecutors knowingly ruining a sitting Senator's career, indicting him on multiple felony charges, and affecting the outcome of a Senatorial election result (Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D), won by one point after the corruption case exploded); this is the stuff of movies.
AG Holder ought to investigate what happened here, and heads should roll. This isn't interpretation of actions that might be seen as some as criminal; the facts that surfaced in Stevens' prosecution indicate clear criminal conduct by those prosecuting the case: witholding the evidence, introducing known false evidence. Call it a witch hunt, without hyperbole.
I haven't confirmed this yet, but Chris Mathews -- not exactly a mouthpiece for Republican Senators--claimed tonight that some of the exculaptory evidence was Stevens' clear instructions to "make sure I am charged fully for all of this"...
Prosecutorial witchhunts that could put someone away for the rest of their lives are a threat to all of us. If an innocent person can't be exonerated because the legal system itself has been hijacked by unscrupulous lawyers, we're all in danger.
Huffington has it here.
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