PROSECUTION OF FORMER SENATOR TED STEVENS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION APRIL 19, 2012 Serial No. 112–106 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://judiciary.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 73–861 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:30 Jul 11, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\WORK\CRIME\041912\73861.000 HJUD1 PsN: DOUGA COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY LAMAR SMITH, Texas, Chairman F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan Wisconsin HOWARD L. BERMAN, California HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina JERROLD NADLER, New York ELTON GALLEGLY, California ROBERT C. ‘‘BOBBY’’ SCOTT, Virginia BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California ZOE LOFGREN, California STEVE CHABOT, Ohio SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas DARRELL E. ISSA, California MAXINE WATERS, California MIKE PENCE, Indiana STEVE COHEN, Tennessee J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., STEVE KING, Iowa Georgia TRENT FRANKS, Arizona PEDRO R. PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois JIM JORDAN, Ohio JUDY CHU, California TED POE, Texas TED DEUTCH, Florida JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah LINDA T. SA´ NCHEZ, California TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas JARED POLIS, Colorado TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania TREY GOWDY, South Carolina DENNIS ROSS, Florida SANDY ADAMS, Florida BEN QUAYLE, Arizona MARK AMODEI, Nevada RICHARD HERTLING, Staff Director and Chief Counsel PERRY APELBAUM, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., Wisconsin, Chairman LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas, Vice-Chairman BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia ROBERT C. ‘‘BOBBY’’ SCOTT, Virginia DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California STEVE COHEN, Tennessee J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., TED POE, Texas Georgia JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah PEDRO R. PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas JUDY CHU, California TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania TED DEUTCH, Florida TREY GOWDY, South Carolina SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas SANDY ADAMS, Florida MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois MARK AMODEI, Nevada JARED POLIS, Colorado CAROLINE LYNCH, Chief Counsel BOBBY VASSAR, Minority Counsel (II) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:30 Jul 11, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 0486 H:\WORK\CRIME\041912\73861.000 HJUD1 PsN: DOUGA C O N T E N T S APRIL 19, 2012 Page OPENING STATEMENTS The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of Wisconsin, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Crime, Ter- rorism, and Homeland Security .......................................................................... 1 The Honorable Robert C. ‘‘Bobby’’ Scott, a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Crime, Ter- rorism, and Homeland Security .......................................................................... 3 WITNESSES Henry F. Schuelke, III, Partner, Janis, Schuelke, and Wechsler Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 36 Kenneth L. Wainstein, Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft LLP Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 48 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 51 Alan I. Baron, Senior Counsel, Seyfarth Shaw LLP Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 57 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 58 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING Prepared Statement of the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of Michigan, and Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary ................................................................................................... 5 Material submitted by the Honorable Robert C. ‘‘Bobby’’ Scott, a Representa- tive in Congress from the State of Virginia, and Ranking Member, Sub- committee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security ................................ 7 APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD Addendum to the Prepared Statement of Kenneth L. Wainstein, Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft LLP ............................................................ 74 Letter from Virginia E. Sloan, The Constitution Project, to the Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. ............................................................................... 183 Letter from Virginia E. Sloan and Stephen F. Hanlon, The Constitution Project, to the Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr. .................................................... 185 Letter from Robert Gay Guthrie, President, the National Association of As- sistant United States Attorneys ......................................................................... 188 Prepared Statement of Sean Bennett, Kalamazoo, Michigan .............................. 191 OFFICIAL HEARING RECORD MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD BUT NOT REPRINTED Report to Hon. Emmet G. Sullivan of Investigation Conducted Pursuant to the Court’s Order, dated April 7, 2009, Henry F. Schuelke III, Special Counsel, D.C. Bar no. 91579; and William Shields, D.C. Bar no. 451036, Janis Schuelke & Wechsler This report is available at the Subcommittee and can also be accessed at: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/sites/www.dcd.uscourts.gov.dcd/files/Misc09-198.pdf (III) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:30 Jul 11, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 6621 H:\WORK\CRIME\041912\73861.000 HJUD1 PsN: DOUGA VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:30 Jul 11, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 6621 H:\WORK\CRIME\041912\73861.000 HJUD1 PsN: DOUGA PROSECUTION OF FORMER SENATOR TED STEVENS THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:34 a.m., in room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable F. James Sen- senbrenner, Jr. (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Sensenbrenner, Gohmert, Goodlatte, Poe, Gowdy, Adams, Scott, Conyers, Johnson, Pierluisi, and Jack- son Lee. Staff Present: (Majority) Caroline Lynch, Subcommittee Chief Counsel; Harold Damlin, Counsel; Sheila Shreiber, Counsel; Sam- uel Ramer, Counsel, Lindsay Hamilton, Clerk; (Majority) Bobby Vassar, Subcommittee Chief Counsel; Aaron Hiller, Counsel; and Veronica Eligan, Professional Staff Member. Mr. SENSENBRENNER. The Subcommittee will come to order. Today’s hearing examines the troubled prosecution of former United States Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, which resulted in the Department of Justice requesting the judge to overturn the jury’s guilty verdict and dismiss the charges against him. The Justice De- partment’s Public Integrity Section, with the assistance of two as- sistant U.S. attorneys from Alaska, prosecuted Senator Stevens. The Public Integrity Section is supposed to be the Department’s elite unit for handling political corruption cases. In light of what the prosecutors did in this case, I have to question the section’s competency and ethics. In July 2008, a few months before he was to run for reelection, Senator Stevens was indicted for making false statements on his annual Senate disclosure form. The indictment charged that he had not paid for certain renovations made to a home he owned in Alas- ka and failed to disclose the value of the renovations as gifts. The renovations were made by VECO Corporation, an Alaska company owned by the Senator’s longtime friend, Bill Allen. In order to allow Senator Stevens the chance to clear his name before the upcoming November election, his attorney requested an October trial date. The government not only agreed to a speedy trial, but suggested an even earlier date of September. The result was that there would be only 55 days between indictment and the start of the trial. (1) VerDate Aug 31 2005 13:30 Jul 11, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 H:\WORK\CRIME\041912\73861.000 HJUD1 PsN: DOUGA 2 Since this was a criminal prosecution, the government was re- quired to produce all exculpatory and impeachment-type evidence known as the Brady and Giglio material. Pretrial, the government summarized what it represented to be all of the Brady and Giglio material in its possession in two letters sent to counsel for Senator Stevens. As would be discovered later, the prosecutors had made misstatements and omitted significant evidence in each letter. This trial started in late September 2008. Senator Stevens’ coun- sel repeatedly asked the judge to dismiss the case because the pros- ecutors had failed to produce the evidence in violation of their Brady and Giglio obligations. Numerous times the judge found that the prosecutors had violated their discovery obligations. While the judge declined to dismiss the case, he repeatedly ordered the pros- ecutors to produce the various documents required by Brady and Giglio. He sanctioned the government by excluding certain