Ted Stevens Report Will be Made Public, Despite Prosecutor's Request

By Tanya Roth, Esq. on March 15, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will not be blocking the release of the Ted Stevens report, reports The Wall Street Journal.

To refresh your recollection, the 500-page report deals with the 2008 corruption case against the late Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.

In 2008, Senator Stevens was convicted of lying on financial disclosure forms. The following year, the conviction was tossed when it was discovered that certain evidence had not been disclosed; evidence which would have helped Senator Stevens in his defense.

The 514-page report was ordered by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, the same judge who presided over the 2008 trial. Judge Sullivan hired D.C. lawyer Henry Schuelke, to investigate whether the prosecution from the 2008 case should face contempt charges.

The report documents the prosecutorial misconduct that took place in that case, conduct which involved the "systematic concealment" of potentially exculpating evidence for Senator Stevens, evidence which "seriously damaged the testimony and credibility" of the government's key witness in the case, former Veco chief Bill Allen.

The report found that the prosecutors should not be cited for contempt.

Nevertheless, Edward Sullivan, one of the prosecutors on the case, requested the court to delay the release of the report pending his appeal of an order that the report be made public; a request that was denied.

The only explanation offered by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on the denial of Edward Sullivan's request was that Sullivan did not satisfy the "stringent requirements" needed to justify an emergency delay of a judge's order.

Stevens ran for re-election in 2010 and was killed in a plane crash shortly after losing the election.

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