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William Welch

DOJ Prosecutors On Ted Stevens Case Appeal Civil Contempt Finding

Ryan J. Reilly | November 12, 2010, 2:23PM

Fmr. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R)

Two Justice Department prosecutors involved in the botched investigation of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens have asked a federal appeals court to review a judge's ruling which upheld a civil contempt finding against them.

A motion was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday on behalf of federal prosecutors William Welch II and Brenda Morris, reported Mike Scarcella of the Legal Times.

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Topics: Brenda Morris, Justice Department, Ted Stevens, William Welch

Ted Stevens

Contempt Charges Against DOJ Lawyer In Ted Stevens Case Dismissed

Ryan J. Reilly | October 12, 2010, 4:41PM

Fmr. Sen Ted Stevens (R-AK)

A federal judge on Tuesday lifted a civil contempt finding against a high-level Justice Department official involved in the aftermath of the botched Ted Stevens prosecution, the National Law Journal reported.

The judge's order also removed the civil contempt finding against DOJ prosecutors William Welch II and Brenda Morris, but they both remain under criminal investigation, reported NLJ's Mike Scarcella.

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Topics: Brenda Morris, Justice Department, Ted Stevens, William Welch

Nicholas A. Marsh

Ted Stevens Prosecutor Felt 'Scapegoated' During Misconduct Investigation

Ryan J. Reilly | September 28, 2010, 4:40PM

Nicholas Marsh, left, Brenda Morris, center and Joseph Bottini, right, walk out of the Federal Court in Washington after Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted on seven corruption charges, Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, in Washington.

Nicholas A. Marsh, the federal prosecutor who had been involved in the botched prosecution of the late Sen. Ted Stevens and took his own life over the weekend, felt abandoned by some at the Justice Department because of its handling of a probe into allegations of misconduct, friends tell TPMMuckraker.

Marsh felt that he had been sidelined during the course of an investigation into allegations of prosecutorial misconduct while other colleagues also under investigation were able to continue prosecuting cases, according to friends familiar with Marsh's views. They say waiting for the investigation to play out its course was difficult for him to handle.

"Particularly when you're dealing with someone like Nick, who is someone with the utmost character and integrity... for him to sort of have to sit by and wait for this investigation to run its course while he is waiting to have is name cleared is very hard for him," Josh Waxman, a longtime friend who was a summer law associate with Marsh, told TPMMuckraker.

"I think he felt scapegoated," one friend speaking on the condition of anonymity told TPMMuckraker.

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Topics: Brenda Morris, Justice Department, Nicholas A. Marsh, Nicholas Marsh, Ted Stevens, William Welch

Justice Department

Head Of DOJ Unit That Botched Stevens Case Steps Down

Zachary Roth | October 22, 2009, 4:39PM

Fmr. Sen Ted Stevens (R-AK)

The head of the Justice Department's beleaguered Public Integrity unit is stepping down.

William Welch, who supervised the department's botched prosecution of former Alaska senator Ted Stevens, will remain with DOJ but return to Massachusetts, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

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Topics: Eric Holder, Jack Abramoff, Justice Department, Kevin Ring, Ted Stevens, William Welch

John Ensign

CREW: DOJ Integrity Unit "Punted" On Ensign Complaint

Zachary Roth | July 20, 2009, 5:17PM

The Justice Department has responded to a formal complaint filed by a good-government group over the John Ensign matter by saying in a letter that the complaint should be filed with the FBI, rather than the department's public integrity unit, reports the Las Vegas Sun. And the good government group -- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) -- has itself responded to DOJ's bureaucratic fastidiousness with what we can only describe as a sassy retort that rubs salt in some recent DOJ wounds.

As requested, CREW has forwarded its complaint to the FBI. Executive Director Melanie Sloan writes:

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Topics: FBI, John Ensign, Justice Department, Sex, Ted Stevens, William Welch

Alaska

Justice Unit Being Probed For Contempt In Stevens Trial Brought Similar Case In 2006

Zachary Roth | April 15, 2009, 4:02PM

Are the Ted Stevens prosecutors in line to get a taste of their medicine?

As we've reported, six federal prosecutors from the Stevens case -- members of DOJ's Public Integrity unit, including its head, William Welch -- are now being investigated for knowingly withholding evidence, a potential criminal act.

Prosecutions for this offense -- known as a Brady violation -- are exceedingly rare. But it turns out that in 2006, an Assistant US Attorney was tried on the charge -- and acquitted amid allegations that his prosecution was over-zealous. In fact, the prosecutors who argued the case against the AUSA were with -- you guessed it -- the Public Integrity unit. And for part of that time, they were supervised by Welch himself. (For more on the Stevens Six, go here.)