If there is a single statement that can sum up the Stevens case, it was made forcefully by Edward Bennett Williams, the founder of the law firm which defended him: “Every year in Washington they have a witch hunt. The key is not (to) be this year’s witch.” And regardless of how any Alaskan feels about Ted Stevens, the simple fact of the matter is, as recounted by Bob Cary in his book “Not Guilty,” Ted and Catherine Stevens paid $160,000 for renovations that were assessed at $104,800.
What happened to Stevens was, to quote Williams, “a witch hunt.” At this point it does not really make any difference who lit the fire to burn Ted Stevens at the stake. But what is important is making sure it never happens again. Recently the U.S. government found “procedural errors” and cleared the federal prosecutors who botched Stevens’ trial. They are walking away with a clean slate after ruining the career of a U.S. senator.
What’s happened in Washington, D. C., should be very troubling to Alaskans. First, if the U.S. Department of Justice can generate a witch hunt against a senator, it can do it against anyone. Stevens could fight the charges brought against him. He had an excellent legal defense team. The rest of us? Not so much. We will not have such a team, if DOJ determines it is our turn to be burned at the stake.
Second, the federal government – and in this case DOJ – is clearly a law unto itself. It can do what it wants to do, and if you don’t like it, you can take a long walk off a short pier.
Third, and most troubling, is that the federal government can break its own rules and get away with it. Stevens had the best legal defense team in the country and DOJ jiggled the legal system to take him out. And when the jiggling was discovered, the same government just shrugs its collective shoulders as if to say, “Well, you know, mistakes were made and we cannot go back and relive history, so we are all just going to have to live with them and move forward.” – By Margy Johnson ADN
image credit Gerald Herbert AP
