Lawyer to question Stevens case FBI agent

WASHINGTON, Alaska, July 29 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Washington has given a special prosecutor subpoena power as he investigates the corruption investigation of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.

U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan named Henry J. Schuelke III to investigate whether any of the prosecutors in the Stevens case committed criminal contempt, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Stevens was convicted last year of failing to report gifts from government contractors on disclosure forms, but the verdict was set aside when the new U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, said prosecutors failed to give the defense exculpatory evidence.

Sullivan signed an order Tuesday allowing Schuelke to subpoena Mary Beth Kepner, the FBI agent in charge of the Stevens investigation, the newspaper said. The judge also said he could compel members of the Stevens prosecution team to answer questions.