• Eric Holder's Bold Move in the Ted Stevens Case

  Posted Wednesday, April 01, 2009 2:09 PM | By Emily Bazelon
  
  
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  Bold move by Attorney General Eric Holder to drop the charges against Ted Stevens. The corruption case against the crusty, rascally former Alaskan senator involved lengthy toil by career lawyers at the Justice Department—the ones who work there long term, as opposed to political appointees. It was also a case that the prosecution appears to have screwed up completely, in the process denying Stevens his right to due process. TPM Muckraker highlights the money quote from Holder about prosecutors withholding evidence. The really big decision here isn't just the dismissal of the indictment, but also the decision not to start the case over again with a new prosecution. In light of Stevens' age, and his exit from office in November, you can see why that makes sense. But it also means that the probable crime Stevens committed—and let's not forget, there was pretty good evidence that he accepted $250,000 in unreported gifts and renovations to his ski homes—goes into a small black hole of politician wrongdoing with no redress. Holder probably made the right call. But it sure would have been better if he hadn't had to make it. Of course that's the whole point of sending a strong message that prosecutorial misconduct won't be tolerated.
  
  Filed under: Eric Holder, prosecutorial misonduct, ted stevens, political corruption
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