Stevens prosecutors cited in complaint

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A person close to the prosecution of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has filed a whistle-blower complaint against investigators in the case, a judge says.

The complaint surfaced during a previously secret battle this month between federal prosecutors and defense attorneys for Stevens, who want to release the contents of the complaint, which was apparently filed with the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The judge in Stevens' case, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, issued a ruling Friday in the dispute, ordering that a redacted version of the complaint be made public Monday.

Sullivan's ruling indicated the arguments he heard closely resembled earlier defense accusations of prosecutorial misconduct in the Stevens case. Court documents revealed the whistle-blower complaint accuses prosecutors of "scheming to relocate a witness" and that an employee working for investigators accepted artwork and employment for a relative from a cooperating source, the Post reported.

Stevens lost a re-election bid after being convicted of seven counts of lying on financial disclosure forms to hide more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations to his house in Alaska.