Justice Dept. to drop Ted Stevens charges

by Mark Silva and Josh Meyer, an updated report

The Justice Department plans to drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens, the 85-year old Alaska Republican convicted last year of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home renovations from a businessman, according to a news report this morning.

Attorney General Eric Holder has concluded that the conviction of Stevens cannot be supported because of problems with the government's prosecution, which had been openly criticized by the trial judge, National Public Radio first reported.

The Justice Department would not comment on the report this morning,

Justice will withdraw its opposition to a defense motion for a new trial and will dismiss the indictment against Stevens, NPR reported, but that will require a court filing and none had been filed yet.

Stevens' lawyer, Brendan V. Sullivan Jr., said this morning that he had not been notified that the charges were being dropped but that he planned to attend an already scheduled meeting with Justice Department lawyers at 10 a.m. EDT to discuss the case.

"I do not have any confirmation from any government official.,'' said Sullivan, who said he been told by someone outside the department that the charges will be dropped.

Sullivan, one of the highest-profile defense lawyers in Washington, has long fought for the charges to be dropped in a case tainted by prosecutorial misconduct.

``It's fully justified ,'' said Sullivan, a senior partner at Williams & Connolly who has represented numerous high-profile clinents including Lt. Col. Oliver North of Iran-Contra fame and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros.

In December, in appealing the conviction, Stevens had asked a federal judge to grant him a new trial, arguing that the case against him had many "deficiencies."

The judge in the case repeatedly has delayed sentencing of the former longtime senator - the longest-serving Republican in the Senate -- who lost his bid for reelection in November in the face of the charges against him.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan had criticized prosecutors for misconduct, and held Justice Department lawyers in contempt last month for failing to turn documents over to him as ordered. He called their behavior "outrageous.''

The judge had ordered Justice to reveal the agency's internal communications regarding a whistle-blower complaint brought by an FBI agent involved in the investigation of Stevens.

Holder is said to have based his decision on Stevens' age, the fact that he is no longer in the Senate -- and "perhaps most importantly,'' because the new attorney general wanted to "send a message'' to prosecutors that misconduct will not be tolerated, NPR reported this morning.

Holder started his own career in the Public Integrity section of the Justice Department. The attorney general also knows the trial judge, Sullivan, well - the two served together as superior court judges.

For Stevens, a powerful Republican leader with 40 years in the Senate, the federal case against him became a career-killer.

A month-long trial showed that employees for VEICO Corp., an oil services company, had transformed Stevens' modest mountain cabin into a modern, two-story home with wraparound porches, sauna and wine cellar. Stevens maintained that he had paid $160,000 for the work, believing that covered all the costs.

A federal jury in Washington convicted Stevens on seven felony corruption charges stemming from his failure to report gifts and home remodeling work from a powerful oil services industry company. He became only the fifth sitting senator in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony.

Stevens, who was convicted in late October, returned home to Alaska a week before Election Day vowing to win reelection.

"I'm here to tell you that I am innocent of the charges that have been brought against me, and I will be vindicated," Stevens said then. "And there is one thing you can count on: I will never stop fighting for the people of Alaska.''

State Republican leaders still counted on the veteran politician to win reelection despite his conviction. But Democrat Mark Begich, mayor of Anchorage, defeated him, helping Democrats gain a greater majority.

Stevens had been credited with helping the Alaskan territory win statehood, settling Alaska Native land claims, expanding oil development and bringing home millions of federal dollars for highways, schools, hospitals and rural development.