Two Weeks Before the Indictment, Member of Ted Stevens Trial Prosecution Team Was "Absolutely Convinced" Feds Would Not Indict Ted Stevens

Anchorage--


I finished reading the special counsel's report and am still going through the prosecutors' rebuttals.    Something that jumped out tonight was a statement by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Bottini, a prosecutor whose critical role in the Ted Stevens trial included presentation of Bill Allen as a witness and the delivery of the opening summation for the government.    


In Bottini's deposition in this investigation, he stated that he was "absolutely convinced...going into the third week of July" of 2008 that an indictment of Ted Stevens "is not going to happen" and that he demonstrated this confidence by taking on a high-profile capital murder case.


The federal government filed its indictment of Ted Stevens on July 29, 2008, with Bottini's name listed as one of six prosecutors bringing the case.