Dana Milbank - For Ted Stevens, Rough Justice - washingtonpost.com

"Nothing can be done to give the citizens of Alaska the senator they surely would have elected," he said as the 85-year-old Stevens, defeated for reelection a week after his guilty verdict last year, stared at the ceiling. "The government cannot do much except to say they're sorry . . . sorry prosecutors were unethical and dishonest and caused you to lose an election."

Judge Emmet Sullivan joined the assault, announcing that he was opening criminal proceedings to investigate Brenda Morris, William Welch and the other prosecutors in the case for withholding exculpatory evidence from the defense. "This is indeed a dramatic day in a case that has had many dramatic and unfortunately shocking and disturbing moments," he announced, spitting out his words with disgust. "In nearly 25 years on the bench, I've never seen anything approaching the misconduct and mishandling that I've seen in this case."