TPMMuckraker
Ted Stevens: November 2008

Hearing Scheduled For Witness Who Claims He Lied in Stevens Case

Zachary Roth | November 26, 2008, 3:47PM

Last week we told you about a letter sent to the judge in the Ted Stevens trial, from a witness claiming that he lied on the stand when he said he had no immunity deal with prosecutors.

Now, reports the Washington Post, the judge, Emmet Sullivan, has scheduled a hearing for Monday to consider a request from Stevens' lawyers to question the witness, David Anderson, a welder who worked on Stevens' home.

Anderson also alleged in his letter that prosecutors allowed him to look at documents he wasn't supposed to see.

Based on Anderson's claims, defense lawyers last week filed documents accusing prosecutors of "suborning perjury and making intentionally false statements." The Justice Department has denied the allegations.

Stevens was convicted last month of making false statements on his Senate disclosure forms, hiding $250,000 in gifts from Bill Allen, the owner of an oil-services contracting company -- and Anderson's uncle. Shortly afterwards, he narrowly lost his Senate reelection bid.

And speaking of Uncle Ted, at last the wait is over. We've updated our "Ted Stevens' Road To Ruin" timeline, so you can now see in glorious technicolor just how the curmudgeonly lawmaker got to this point. Check it out...

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (4) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Bill Allen, Justice Department, Ted Stevens

Ted Stevens

Stevens Witness: I Lied About Immunity Deal

Zachary Roth | November 21, 2008, 4:30PM

A witness who testified against Ted Stevens has said in a letter to the judge that he falsely denied on the stand that he had an immunity deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.

The witness, David Anderson, a welder who worked on the Alaska senator's home, wrote in the letter that his testimony that there was no immunity agreement "is simply not true". And he wrote that prosecutors "instructed me on how to sugar coat [the immunity deal] and get it swept under the rug during the trial."

The letter was filed today by defense lawyers.

Stevens was convicted on seven counts of having lied on his Senate disclosure forms about gifts he received from an oil-services contractor. Earlier this month, he lost his bid for re-election to the Senate.

Late Update: Anderson's letter contains more eyebrow-raising allegations than we'd first noted. He writes: "There was a contract to have me murdered issued by Bill and Mark Allen."

According to a report on the blog AlaskaDispatch, Anderson is Bill Allen's nephew, and Mark Allen is Bill Allen's son. Anderson clashed with Mark Allen, and therefore Bill Allen, over a woman. To protect his family, both from Bill Allen and from unspecified future charges, Anderson testified against Stevens, he told AlaskaDispatch's Tony Hopfinger, who has written for Bloomberg News and Newsweek.

So obviously, this news is being driven by a lot of different agendas, which we don't yet know enough to evaluate. And the specific details of the Anderson-Allen dispute aren't necessarily relevant. But the key point is that if there's compelling evidence that Anderson gave false testimony, or that prosecutors encouraged him to testify falsely or in a misleading manner, Stevens' conviction could potentially be put in doubt.

We'll keep you posted as things become clearer...

Late Late Update: DOJ has responded to Anderson's claims. AP reports:

The Justice Department responded quickly, saying the government never made any agreement of immunity for Anderson or any of his family or friends. "Mr. Anderson's statement in his November 2008 letter is not true, and the court is aware that it is not true," government lawyers said.

...

[T]he Justice Department said Anderson told two FBI agents in an August 13 meeting that he knew there was no immunity agreement and that the March affidavit was false.

The government agreed not to make him testify against family members, but "Anderson knew that there had been no agreement relative to immunity or promises of immunity by the government as to anyone," the Justice Department said.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (25) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (13)
Bill Mercer, Justice Department, Ted Stevens, Veco

Alaska

Sen. Stevens Fights On

Kate Klonick | November 5, 2008, 3:16PM

Though the race is still too close to be called, Sen. Ted Stevens' slim lead over his Democratic contender, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, has many wondering what exactly would happen if the convicted felon (and perhaps seven term senator) succeeded in his bid for re-election.

Assuming he wins re-election, Stevens with have a two-front battle to wage: one with his colleagues in the Senate, and the second with an appellate court.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has already said that "a convicted felon is not going to be able to serve in the United States Senate" shortly after the Alaska Republican's conviction. He has promised that Stevens will face an ethics committee investigation and expulsion, regardless of his appeals process. With Democrats holding a strong majority and many Republicans -- from John McCain to Mitch McConnell -- calling for his resignation, it's unlikely that Stevens would last long after a January swearing in.

So what will happen to Alaska's second senate seat if Stevens is sent back to the wilderness of AK? ProPublica has your answer:

So what happens if the Senate gives Stevens the boot? Under Alaska state law, the current governor--perhaps you remember her--would appoint a temporary replacement. Then a special election would be held to choose a senator to serve out the remainder of Stevens' six-year term. With no primary election in the near future, a special election would need to be held within 90 days of Stevens leaving office.
Could Stevens actually run again via the special election? After all, Alaska's voters and Senate leaders could theoretically end up playing a game of ping-pong--where Alaska votes him in, the Senate expels him and then Alaska votes him back in. We're looking into it.

ProPublica consulted an Alaska law expert in a later article and discovered that it wasn't quite that simple (is it ever?) -- in 2004, Alaska voters approved an initiative that stripped the governor from the power to appoint a replacement to the U.S. Senate, and which conflicts with current state law. It looks like it'll come down to the Alaska Supreme Court -- with nothing even starting to be resolved until the legislature meets in January.

After covering Alaska for the last five months -- and staying up until 4 a.m. refreshing State Election Board results -- I would have to say you shouldn't put anything past Alaska.

As for Stevens' appeal, it hasn't been filed yet, but we can already hypothesize what it will entail: prosecutorial misconduct and perhaps grounds related to the jury.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (14) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Alaska, Ted Stevens

Alaska

Missing Stevens' Juror Lied About Father's Death

Kate Klonick | November 3, 2008, 12:03PM

And it gets better. . . she lied so she could attend a horse race.

From Roll Call:

The juror who was dismissed from the criminal trial of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to attend the funeral of her father in California admitted Monday that her father had not died, and that she went to California to attend a horse race.

We'll have more on this as it develops.

Late update. . . 12:55 pm: Roll Call expands on the story coming out of the hearing today. The juror, who had been replaced by an alternate, appeared "disheveled and confused" and held a "thick stack of dog-eared papers" when she appeared before judge Emmet Sullivan this morning, telling him that she had purchased tickets to the horse race in the spring:

Hinnant then began to tell a convoluted story about criminal activity in the horse racing industry, alleging that her phone had been tapped and that someone she once worked with in the industry was involved in crime and drugs.
The judge attempted to dismiss her, but Hinnant continued to tell her tale, ultimately asking the judge, "Can I have a case of my own?"

Sullivan suggested that she take that up with the federal public defender, whom he had appointed to represent her at today's hearing.

Sullivan told her that he was simply concerned for her well-being, and that seeing that she was fine, he was satisfied that she would not have been able to complete deliberations with the rest of the jury. He did not suggest any sanction for her actions.

After Hinnant left the courtroom, Sullivan told the attorneys in Stevens' case that he had dismissed her because she was unable to continue to serve on the jury, and "what you heard today just reinforces the correctness of the court's decision."

Robert Cary, one of Stevens' lawyers, said "we don't necessarily agree with the court's findings," and the judge invited both sides to file briefs on the issue.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (25) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (16)
Alaska, Ted Stevens

Alaska

Stevens' Law License in Limbo

Kate Klonick | November 1, 2008, 1:11PM

The Alaska Bar Association has sought a suspension on Sen. Ted Stevens law license, pending completion of his appeals.

Stevens has claimed that he's not a convicted felon until his appeals are complete, but by state bar association rules, a felony conviction is effective as soon as the jury rules, association counsel Steve Van Goor told the Anchorage Daily News.

From the ADN:

There's no deadline by which the Supreme Court has to decide such a license challenge, said chief deputy court clerk Lori Wade. Stevens has a right to file legal memoranda in his defense.
. . .Any final decision on Stevens' license would wait until his appeals have been finished.

Stevens is not actively practicing law in Alaska now, Van Goor said.