This is just too stupid. How could they have messed this up so badly? If he gets off, this is a travesty.

Do you suppose this is intentional on the part of the Justice Department in order to hold that Senate seat? I wouldn't put it past them.

You bugger up the case now, Stevens gets back, a new Justice department then nails him properly, and then Governor Palin puts Sean Parnell in his place and the Republicans are assured a wingnut.

Perhaps, this explains why Stevens was so anxious to have a trial; if it was held over until next year these errors by the DOJ may not have been as stupid. Yes, "a motion for a mistrial, based on prosecutorial misconduct." Given the track record of these folks and even with the overall ineptness, this does not smell too good.

It does seem that if your going to prosecute a sitting senator you might go to the trouble to put a couple of your best folks on it. The judge needs to sanction the attorneys personally and see if they don't start pointing fingers.

Do you maybe might think that this isn't the DOJ plan in the first place? We tried.....but we made some mistakes. Sorry! Oops. But we really tried.

And what great news for Stevens! Hurray! See we told you we did nothing wrong. Stevens found INNOCENT of all charges. See we told ya, dog-gone-it.

Now Re-elect me already so I can get back to business as usual.

he will instruct the jury that the government knowingly used false evidence in its case.

End.Of.Case.

You've got to be shitting me.

Does anybody know any background info on those presenting this case? Who hired them and when, etc?

Jeffrey Taylor, Bushie extraordinaire, hired them. His Wiki entry says that he was:

Counselor to Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales from 2002 to 2006 where he oversaw law enforcement operations by U.S. attorneys.

He's the US Attorney who refused to honor congres's contempt citations.

Anyone who thinks that this wasn't a setup from the start is too dumb to be seen in public.

wbgonne,

Your merely being suspicious is no doubt the result of professional prudence, and commendable. Me, I'm not a lawyer and don't have to be so circumspect. This was a setup job and only an idiot would believe otherwise.

What amazes me, though, is how brazen it is. Couldn't they have found less obvious ways to lose this trial, like not calling key witnesses, ignoring key evidence, not questioning witnesses aggressively enough, etc.? Why so in your face obvious? Were they counting on a McCain win? Or do they figure that they'll be out of a job in a few months and no one will care?

Should be interesting--and revealing--to see how Obama handles this as president. If he adopts a sweep it all under the carpet and let's just move on approach, as Clinton did with Iran-Contra, we will know exactly what kind of president he will be. My cynical side tells me that this is exactly what he'll do, being loath to create enemies on the other side in his urge to be "post-partisan". But I still retain hope that I'm wrong, and that he won't just be another capitulating Dem. We'll see.

We are in the middle of an election. We could soon have a decent president and a few fresh faces in the Senate to dig ourselves out of the hole we are in Instead, voters are being purged Senators are being supported by rigging trials. The voters in Georgia (Sen. Chambliss) and North Carolina (Sen. Dole) are being punished because they are leaning toward anti-oil Dems by making Gas hard to find. Oh, we have it we just never know where.
Our tax dollars are being thrown at Wall Street and AIG in amounts so large I can't wrap my brain around them, just because a proven liar, Bush, and his sidekick, a coke snorting day trader, say we will perish otherwise. And since that money did not stop the market from tanking, lets throw some more! I will not even start about the McCain and Palin farce.

Now, all this information is readily available to the American voter and one would think that all those old ladies who lost savings and the families who lost jobs and sons in Iraq and the house they live in would consider voting for a few fresh faces, in the hope that the Republicans can't steal a landslide. I am holding my breath.

This is why the GOP is busily purging voters...if the Democrats win..some of these "activist judges" will find themselves on the other side of the "bench"...on the other side of the law..and most likely in prison...you think cops have it rough if sent to prison...can you imagine how much fun it would be for a "judge"...? Now, thats justice served....