BULLETIN - AT 6:59 A.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has decided to drop all charges against former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens amid charges of prosecutorial misconduct, NPR reported on Wednesday, citing Justice officials.

Stevens was convicted last fall of seven counts of lying on a Senate disclosure form to conceal $250,000 in gifts from an oil industry executive and other friends. Allegations of prosecutorial misconduct have delayed his sentencing.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has decided not to continue to defend the conviction in the face of persistent problems stemming from prosecutors' actions, NPR reported on its web site.

COMMENT:  As another Republican once said, after finally being exonerated after years of smears, where do you go to get back your reputation?

Charges of prosecutorial misconduct do not mean, of course, that Stevens was automatically innocent, but in our democracy the government must prove its case without resorting to improper actions.

Now, the question:  After all the screaming about George Bush and his "threats" to "our precious civil liberties," will we hear any concern expressed about the treatment of Ted Stevens?  Stevens's career is ruined, and we don't even know if he was guilty.  I only hear silence.

April 1, 2009