The 86-year-old former senator is among those killed in a remote pocket of Alaska
[Update: Alaska NBC affiliate KTUU reports that former Ted Stevens is among those killed in the plane crash near Dillingham last night, according to his former aide and longtime friend Dave Dittman. The conditions of the survivors and the names of the others who died are still not known.]
[Update 2: Reuters reports that Dittman has released a second statement saying that Stevens death "has not been confirmed."]
[Update 3: The Associated Press has confirmed that Stevens was killed. The status of O'Keefe is still unknown.]
Former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens and former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe were both in a deadly plane crash near Dillingham, Alaska last night. Officials so far will not confirm if Stevens and/or O’Keefe are among the five dead (out of eight passengers).
In 1978, Stevens was aboard a Learjet 25C that crashed in Anchorage, killing five people, including Stevens’ wife, Ann. Nick Begich, the father of Stevens’ successor in the Senate, Mark Begich, died in the 1972 plane crash that also killed then-House Majority Leader Hale Boggs.
Stevens served in the Senate from 1968-2009. He was defeated in an election following his felony conviction for making false statements and failing to report gifts. The conviction was later voided.
One person on the plane is reported to have sustained injuries, and the status of the rest is unknown.
Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon. Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene
Nicholas Marsh, 37, was under investigation over whether he and other attorneys acted improperly in the trial
A Justice Department prosecutor killed himself while under investigation over whether he and other attorneys in the prosecution of Sen. Ted Stevens acted improperly in the case, officials said.
Nicholas A. Marsh, 37, committed suicide on Sunday, two years after being part of the Justice Department team that convicted Stevens on corruption charges that were eventually thrown out. Marsh’s suicide was confirmed by his lawyer, Robert Luskin.
“I think Nick loved being a prosecutor and I think he was incredibly fearful that this would prevent him from continuing to work for the Justice Department,” Luskin said Monday. “It’s incredibly tragic after all this time when we were on the verge of a successful resolution.”
The prosecutors in the Stevens case failed to disclose evidence favorable to the defendant as Supreme Court precedent requires. The omission was so serious that Attorney General Eric Holder stepped in and asked a federal judge to throw out Stevens’ convictions, which the judge did.
Stevens, a longtime Republican senator from Alaska, lost his Senate seat in an election shortly after his October 2008 conviction. He died in a plane crash last August.
More Associated Press
Spokeman says Sean and Kevin O'Keefe suffered broken bones and other injuries
A former NASA spokesman says ex-NASA chief Sean O’Keefe survived the plane crash in Alaska that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens.
Glenn Mahone (Muh-HOHN’) says O’Keefe’s teenage son, Kevin, was also among the four survivors.
The plane crashed Monday night near a remote fishing village in Alaska, killing five.
The former spokesman for the space agency says he has talked to O’Keefe’s family. They told him that O’Keefe and his son had some broken bones and other injuries.
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An ill-advised ad ends up on a Huffington Post story on the former Alaska Senator's plane crash
The automatically generated advertisements on the Huffington Post’s story on the deadly plane crash that reportedly claimed the life of former Senator Ted Stevens are all for radio controlled airplanes. Because, you know, if you’re reading about this, you are probably an airplane enthusiast.
(I know no humans are directly responsible for this sort of thing, but at this point the internet advertisemement robots should be taught not to place airplane ads on plane crash stories.)
Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon. Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene
U.S. official says former Sen. Ted Stevens is believed to have been aboard a plane that has crashed in Alaska
A U.S. government official says former Sen. Ted Stevens is believed to have been aboard the airplane that has crashed in Alaska.
The official tells The Associated Press Alaska authorities have been told the former longtime Republican senator is among several passengers on the plane. The official, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, says Stevens’ condition is unknown.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigative team has been dispatched from Washington, D.C., and was expected on the ground Tuesday morning.
The federal official declined to be publicly identified because the crash response and investigation are under way. The Alaska National Guard has said there are possible fatalities.
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Charges of prosecutorial misconduct have doomed the case against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
Former Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, may have lost his race for reelection, and he may have lost his criminal trial, but there is at least one bright point for him now: He won’t have a criminal conviction on his record.
The Department of Justice has asked a judge to toss Stevens’ conviction and grant him a new trial, and at the same time has notified the judge that it will not actually seek the new trial. Instead, it’s moving to dismiss the indictment against the former senator “with prejudice,” meaning the charges can’t ever be brought again.
The decision stemmed from allegations of prosecutorial misconduct relating to the case. Specifically, the DOJ’s motion cites a failure to disclose to the defense potentially exculpatory material from one interview conducted with a witness. In a statement, Attorney General Eric Holder explained, “After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial. In light of this conclusion, and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances of this particular case, I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial.”
Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman
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