"Outrageous," U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan bellowed, referring to the most recent prosecutorial misconduct by our Department of Justice (DOJ) Public Integrity leadership. On Friday, Feb 13, these totally incompetent federal prosecutors "admitted they ignored" Judge Sullivan's January order to turn over all DOJ whistle-blower communications by Feb. 9 to Sen. Stevens' defense team, led by his renown counsel, Brendan Sullivan.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday: "Is the Department of Justice taking court orders seriously these days?" the judge asked, bewildered.
The Associated Press reported Friday: "During Friday's hearing, Sullivan repeatedly asked three Justice Department attorneys sitting at the prosecutions table whether they had reason not to turn over the documents. They finally acknowledged they did not, and Sullivan exploded in anger. "That was a court order," he bellowed. "That wasn't a request. I didn't ask for them out of the kindness of your hearts.
"That's outrageous for the Department of Justice -- the largest law firm on the planet," he said. "That is not acceptable in this court."
The Legal Times reported Friday: "The contempt holding is the latest chapter in the Public Integrity Section's misadventure in the case. Sullivan lambasted prosecutors for numerous violations related to case evidence, witnesses, and a whistle blower complaint filed by an FBI agent accusing prosecutors and another agent of misconduct."
Sullivan said he would not issue sanctions until the conclusion of the case.
Judge Sullivan held the following three senior DOJ prosecutors in contempt of court for failing to turn over, as ordered, 33 documents to Stevens' defense team:
--William Walsh Chief of DOJ's Public Integrity Section
--Brenda Morris Deputy of DOJ's Public Integrity Section
--Patty Merkamp Stemler Chief of DOJ's Criminal Appeals Section
According to research, in the prior 25 years only two DOJ prosecutors had been held in contempt of court, by a federal bankruptcy or district court judge. And those were unique circumstances, not like the high-public interest in the prosecution of the longest-serving Senate Republican in U.S. history, Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens.
On Saturday, the fourth prosecutor, a DOJ trial attorney involved in just this one post trial issue, had his contempt stricken by Judge Sullivan, indicating that Sullivan views this corrupt prosecutorial misconduct as cumulative. In other words, DOJ's Public Integrity leadership has an "ingrained" corruption problem.
You will recall FBI Special Agent Chad Joy, the reluctant whistle-blower, accused the prosecutors and the lead FBI agent handling Stevens' case of more than 23 corrupt actions (See Part I). In his account, FBI and DOJ prosecutorial corruption allegedly permeated the pre-grand jury investigation, post-grand jury investigation, pretrial, trial, jury deliberation, verdict, whistle-blower, post-trial motions, and now discovery in this DOJ debacle of disgrace.
Joy alleges that justice was ignored in order to get a guilty verdict for Stevens through the "felonious" interrelationship of VECO President Bill Allen, lead FBI Special Agent Mary Beth Kepner (Part I) and Deputy Brenda Morris, the lead Stevens' prosecutor. If true, this prosecution team, as well as Allen's counsel, Bob Bundy, ignored our Constitution (Parts II & III) and, along with it, the foundational values of our Republic.
The Anchorage Daily News on Monday published a piece defending Kepner's actions, proving that the FBI is circling the wagons to protect its own. The individuals cited as authority are Frank Prewitt, a private citizen, a government witness and friend of Kepner's, and a former assistant special agent in charge from the Anchorage FBI office -- Robert Burnham. Neither Prewitt nor Burnham was involved in any way with the prosecution of Stevens, and they have no knowledge of how the investigation and trial was handled. And neither of these men could be described in any way as unbiased.
Two additional individuals referenced in the ADN article are credible but "very interested parties." Bob Bundy certainly has an interest in defending the actions of his client, VECO President Bill Allen. He can assist DOJ as he has for years with Bill Allen attacking Sen. Stevens.
Another source in the Daily News story is Bob Kean, quoted as a Doyon Universal security vice president, the company that hired Kepner's husband as a security guard. Special Agent Joy alleges in his complaint that a source in the FBI corruption investigation got her husband the job, implying charges of cronyism. Kean defends his company, saying Kepner's husband got the job on his own. Surprisingly, what the paper doesn't say is that Kean is a former FBI special agent and Alaska National Guard officer.
Kean states that it is "... truly one of the most bizarre allegations I've ever seen" when he refers to statements by Joy in his complaint. Mr. Kean certainly is an authority on "bizarre" allegations. I would be surprised if Mr. Kean did not know that Kepner's husband had applied to work for Doyon. Mr. Kean has maintained a close relationship with the FBI Alaska office for the more than 20 years I've known him. In fact, his close relationship with Alaska's FBI and his role as a former Marine "poster boy" is why I personally wrote recommendations for Bob Kean. His relationship with the Alaska FBI is now specifically defined.
Please remember I encouraged and was quite pleased when the FBI raided offices belonging to members of the Alaska Legislature in August 2006. I proclaimed, pretty loudly, that the investigation was led from Washington, D.C.'s Main Justice. I stated the Public Integrity Section of DOJ had the experienced, ethical leadership needed to address Alaska's corrupt politicians, attorneys and lobbyists controlling Juneau.
I was wrong.
How bad is the malconduct of DOJ prosecutors and its FBI special agents? Judge Sullivan has scheduled a hearing on April 15 to hear arguments on a new trial and how much more information Stevens' defense team should receive from DOJ attorneys. If the more serious of Joy's numerous allegations are true, I believe that Kepner and the prosecutors should be fired and brought to justice.
Alaskans, please reflect upon the trust all Americans must have in "our" DOJ and its FBI. If this was a politically motivated prosecution of Sen. Stevens, the November 2008 Alaska Senate election must be voided.
Election malconduct and corrupt election practice suits tend to be complex and difficult. But in this case - the standard is enough corruption to affect the result of the election - it may be easy if it's proven that the corrupt conduct of Kepner and DOJ's Public Integrity is a given. Alaska cannot allow a U.S. Senate election to be "hijacked" by a corrupt election. I advise Ted Stevens' campaign leadership to immediately challenge the election result.
Further, Gov. Sarah Palin is obligated to ensure all Alaska elections, including federal, are fair. Gov. Palin, now a national leader, must not tolerate corrupt election practices in Alaska. I personally believe this is exactly the challenge she said she was up for when she ran for office.