Chris Matthews, this evening, tells us that the prosecution of former Senator Ted Stevens caused him to lose reelection by 1 point. Eight days before the election the Senator was convicted of seven counts of making false statements on financial disclosure forms. And, Chris Matthews asked if the Senator will get his seat back. Of course not. That isn't how the system works.
In contrast to the Attorney General's actions blogged about this AM, Eric Holder has done the right thing in asking the Judge in the Senator Stevens case to kill the conviction. Congressman Harold Ford said on Hardball that Senator Stevens' compensation is in justice being done.
It turns out that the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence in the case, in their zeal to obtain a conviction. Amongst the things withheld was a copy of a note by Senator Stevens to the Prosecution's star witness, asking him to be sure the Senator was fully billed for work done, so that the Senator was not caught in violation of the law.
It is the Secretary Ray Donovan question: "Where do I go to get my reputation back."
Regards — Cliff
2 comments:
"Exculpatory"???
The extent of the graft ($80K vs $250K) wouldn't be germane to a question of guilt, nor would the existence of a request to be billed constitute any excuse for the ex-Senator not following through on paying for the home renovations.
What we have here is prosecutorial misconduct, and grounds for a mistrial. We hardly have any better explanation for the ex-Senator's enjoyment of free home renovations, nor the "pro quo" enjoyed by Veco Corp for various congressional interventions on their behalf.
I, for one, remain satisfied in the facts that Mr. Stevens did not report the value of the renovations, which is the crime with which he was charged. Even Mr. Stevens does not dispute that he did not report them. All he ever argued was a lack of intent, which, as you can tell from my tone, I'm not buying for one single second.
Tell me--when was the last time that $80,000 of work was done on your home and you forgot that you owed the bill?
Well, Senator Stevens will not be asking Kad Barma to post on "respect" for the Senator.
My dirty little secret is that I bought when the market was down and got what looks to me to be $80,000 worth of kitchen renovations thrown in for free. I have always wanted to thank the folks who paid for them, but have felt awkward about doing it.
But, the overall problem is, you are remembered for being hauled before the court and not for not being convicted. As the current thread in non sequitur says, if you are being well behaved, you are invisible.
Sadly, I am not invisible.
Regards — Cliff
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