Senator Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska, is being tried for violating ethics laws.
It is hard to support either side in this case, according to Mousseau. On the one hand, we have federal prosecutors who reportedly are mugging for the jury. On the other hand, we have someone who, during his 30-year tenure in the United States Senate has participated in the largest expansion of prison populations in US history.
US attorneys have one of the most powerful positions in society today. In the wake of scandals involving the politicization of that office, it is horrifying to think that the federal prosecutor in this case may be making faces to the jury as Stevens attempted to respond to her questions.
The reports on Senator Stevens’ conduct are not much better. Apparently he has taken a page from Clinton’s playbook and is attempting to parse words into oblivion. Is it really true that a member of the Senate does not understand a gift? Is it proper for a Senator to pretend to be confused in front of a jury? A loan? A gift?
A federal trial seems to be an inappropriate forum for undignified behavior. One can only hope that media reports are exaggerated and that the participants are treating the trial of a Senator as a solemn pursuit of the truth.
