WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four U.S. Justice Department attorneys were held in contempt on Friday for failing to turn over documents to the legal team representing convicted former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan held the attorneys, including the head of department's public integrity section, which prosecutes corruption cases, in contempt for violating one of his orders.
Sullivan last month ordered the Justice Department to turn over all of its internal communications regarding a complaint by an FBI agent alleging misconduct by another agent and by prosecutors involved in the case.
Stevens was convicted at the end of October in Washington on corruption charges for failing to report on Senate disclosure forms more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts from an oil executive.
Sullivan said there would be further proceedings later on what sanctions, if any, to impose on the prosecutors. It is rare for government attorneys to be found in contempt.
Stevens, 85, had been the Senate's longest-serving Republican and one of its most powerful, using his authority to steer billions of dollars of federal spending to his home state. He did not attend Friday's hearing.
His conviction helped contribute to Stevens losing his re-election bid in November. His attorneys have been seeking to overturn his conviction.
They have cited a whistleblower complaint filed by an FBI agent who worked on the case that said another agent and prosecutors improperly concealed evidence helpful to Stevens from the court and from the defense.
No comments:
Post a Comment