Stevens prosecutors = Keystone cops

You really gotta be kidding me.

I mean, the early rumblings of prosecutorial misconduct in the trial of Ted Stevens did not bode well. I was surprised they got a guilty verdict. I had rationalized that Stevens was so unbelievably corrupt - even bad prosecutors could score a win.

So now, with Stevens out of office the legal wrangling continues - and despite a new administration - the DOJ's foolishness knows no bounds.

Last month, [Federal Judge Emmet] Sullivan ordered the Justice Department to turn over all the agency's internal communications regarding a whistleblower complaint against the FBI agent leading the investigation into the former Alaska senator.

The agent, Chad Joy, bitterly complained about some Justice Department tactics during the trial, including not turning over evidence and an "inappropriate relationship" between another agent working the case and the prosecutor's star witness.

[snip]

During Friday's hearing, Sullivan repeatedly asked three Justice Department attorneys sitting at the prosecution's table whether they had some 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. ... Isn't the Department of Justice taking court orders seriously these days?"

He said he didn't want to get "sidetracked" by deciding a sanction immediately and would deal with their punishment later. But he ordered them to produce the material by the end of the day.

"That's outrageous for the Department of Justice — the largest law firm on the planet," he said. "That is not acceptable in this court."

Judge Sullivan ended up holding three prosecuting attorneys in contempt. He should have found them guilty of being stupid.

And this bit?

[The FBI whistleblower] also said the lead FBI agent in charge of the investigation, Mary Beth Kepner, had an inappropriate relationship with witness Bill Allen, the Alaska millionaire at the center of the investigation. Joy said he once saw Kepner entering Allen's hotel room alone and that Kepner told Joy that she wore a skirt during her appearance at the Stevens trial as a "surprise/present" for Allen.

He accused her of developing close personal relationships with other witnesses — inviting them to dine at her home, revealing details of FBI investigations and accepting gifts from them, including a job for her husband as a security guard at the Port of Anchorage, Alaska.

I mean what the freaking hell, people?

Who do these guys think they are, the Department of the Interior?

(H/t TPM)