KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Down to the wire, Murkowski wants pardon for Stevens

Down to the wire, Murkowski wants pardon for Stevens

by Jill Burke
Sunday, January 18, 2009

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to clarify statements made in December by Sen. Lisa Murkowski about pursuing a pardon for former Sen. Ted Stevens.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski has made a request with President George W. Bush to pardon former Sen. Ted Stevens, Channel 2 News learned Sunday.

Stevens was convicted in October on seven felony counts of lying on Senate disclosure forms. He lost a subsequent re-election bid to Sen. Mark Begich.

Murkowski's spokesperson, Mike Brumas, confirmed the request in an e-mail to Channel 2 News, writing, "In answer to you question, yes Sen. Murkowski has requested that President Bush pardon former Sen. Stevens. I can't provide any further details at this time due to the sensitive nature of the issue."

Outside of this statement from her office, Murkowski declined to comment.

It's unclear when the application may have been made. The Department of Justice says as of Friday no one had made an application for a pardon on the Senator's behalf with the Office of Pardon Attorney, according to Laura Sweeney in the department's Office of Public Affairs.

Sweeney went on to say that Murkowski could have made a direct appeal to Bush, bypassing the pardon attorney.

Former Alaska Gov. Bill Sheffield, a friend of Stevens, said Sunday the pardon request is not unexpected.

"No, it doesn't surprise me," he said. "Senator Stevens has done a great job for Alaska the last 40 years, and the people that don't know it will know it. Time will tell."

Sheffield added that with Stevens intent on clearing his name in court -- either by having the case tossed out or by winning a new trial -- he believes the former senator would not have asked for a pardon himself.

"If Senator Stevens were to receive a pardon in this case -- even though his case is technically on appeal, and there are other allegations of misconduct by the prosecutor -- the case would come to an end," said James Flood, a criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C. "The appeal would be dismissed and there would be no further sentencing or no further action in the case."

The revelation of the pardon request perhaps explains the developments -- or rather lack thereof -- in Stevens' case over the weekend.

Judge Emmet Sullivan, who presided over the trial in Washington, D.C., last week demanded that U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey respond to the whistleblower complaint filed by FBI agent Chad Joy.

Sullivan had set a 5 p.m. EST Saturday deadline for the government to respond, but nothing was submitted to the court. Instead the DOJ filed an appeal asking for more time to respond.

Joy, who was part of the investigation in Alaska that led to Stevens' indictment, alleged improper conduct on the part of the lead investigator. His complaint comes on the heels of numerous allegations of prosecutorial misconduct from Stevens and his defense team.

Bush has until the time President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in at approximately noon EST Tuesday to grant any pardons. It is a long-standing tradition for outgoing chief executives to grant acts of clemency during their final days in office.

Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution provides the president the "... Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment."

At a joint press conference with Begich in Washington on Dec. 8, both of Alaska's senators said they had not thought about pursuing a pardon request for Stevens.

Contact Jill Burke at jburke@ktuu.com