U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska vindicated

Back in Nov 28, 2008, Ed Mathews (Mead) wrote in his column:
"Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, 85, had held that Senate seat for 40 years, longer than any Republican in history. After being convicted recently, it was hard to see how he could expect to keep his seat against his Democratic opponent,Mark Begich. He lost the seat in a close race."

In response, I wrote:

"The reason Ted Stevens lost his reelection bid to the U.S. Senate is because he was stuck in Washington, D.C, defending himself against dubious charges during his trial and unable to campaign for reelection in Alaska, while his opponent campaigned freely throughout that vast constitutency. Stevens has appealed his conviction on grounds of proven prosecutorial and juror misconduct which should have resulted in a mistrial,if not dismissal of the charges."

Stevens, who was the U.S. Senate's longest serving Republican with 40 years of service, was fully vindicated today with an announcement by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the charges against him have been dismissed and his conviction reversed due to prosecutial misconduct, tampering with evidence and mishandling prosecution witnesses, among other things. Stevens was charged with failing to disclose gifts and services he allegedly received valued at $250,000.

AG Holder also said there would be no retrial. The federal prosecutors who handled the case were removed from it and are under internal investigation by the Justice Dept. Stevens' conviction in federal court in Washington, D.C. in October of last year came ony seven days before the November election in Alaska, yet he lost to his Democrat opponent by only 3,000 votes out of 290,000 cast. Despite his (flawed) conviction, nearly half Alaska's voters believed he was innocent.