The U.S. Justice Department has moved to reverse the conviction of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. The Justice Department lawyers asked a judge to dismiss the indictment against Mr. Stevens and to toss out his conviction. The Stevens’ case, the government’s highest-profile attack on congressional corruption in recent years, was plagued by problems that continued to pile up even after a jury found Ted Stevens guilty. The last straw, apparently, was the failure of prosecutors to turn over notes of a crucial interview in which a witness contradicted a statement he made later under oath at the trail. In their court filing today, Justice Department lawyer Paul O’Brien told the judge they recently discovered prosecutors’ notes from an April 2008 interview with Bill Allen, a key witness against Mr. Stevens. The notes indicate that Allen said he did not recall talking to a mutual friend about giving Stevens a bill for work done at the senator’s home in Alaska. Yet when he testified at the trial, Allen claimed he did have such a conversation. Under trial rules, contradictory statements must be given to the defense team, and they were not. Let me comment on this story. When I lived in Alaska in 1980 thru 1984, I met Senator Ted Stevens at several organizational luncheons and dinners. If you had a problem, he was always willing to stop and talk and tell you to send him your documentation and he’d take care of your problems. After all Ted Stevens held the Senate seat since 1968 and, he had raised millions of dollars to help build Alaskan infrastructure and Anchorage’s skyline. Not to mention the complete renovation of the Anchorage International Airport named after him. But, when I went back to Alaska in 1994, there was a different Senator Stevens. When I’d run into him at political dinners, he would make his speech and then he was out of there. If you’d write letters to his office, if you received an answer it was to inform you that he couldn’t help you. When I finally left Alaska in 1999, it was obvious to most Alaskans that when it came to Ted Stevens, total power corrupts totally. Senator Steven’s downfall came as the result of allegations that he had allowed a big oil company to renovate his home and then he didn’t report the the gifts and renovations. He was convicted of seven felony counts of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home renovations. To me the key word there is “convicted.” Why isn’t he being re-tried so that a jury can reassess the importance of the notes that were withheld during the trial? Although I have to agree that the Justice Department was definitely in the wrong, why are they asking that the jury’s verdict be dismissed? The answer: Attorney General Eric Holder’s statement. “After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial. In light of this conclusion, and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances of this particular case, I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial.” Thank you Attorney General Holder. The Justice Department was so hell-bent on convicting a U.S. Senator; but, due to this error, you have declared Mr. Stevens innocent and wipped out the charges as if this never happened. So much for changing our corrupt government.