Senator Stevens’s lawyers say he did not deserve treatment he received from some in DOJ

Stevens’s criminal lawyers criticize Justice Dept

WASHINGTON — The law firm that defended Sen. Ted Stevens in his 2008 criminal trial is criticizing the government’s actions in the case.

The Williams & Connolly law firm say in a statement that the senator who died Tuesday in a plane crash in Alaska did not deserve the treatment he received from some members of the Justice Department.

The statement by the firm and two of its attorneys, Brendan Sullivan and Rob Cary, says the verdict against the senator was based on fabricated evidence.

Even after the case against Stevens was dismissed, the statement said, he remained profoundly affected by the government’s misconduct.

The guilty verdict against Stevens was dismissed after the Justice Department acknowledged it had improperly withheld evidence from Stevens’s lawyers.