$1.8M paid to defend Stevens prosecutors

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. taxpayers have paid $1.8 million for lawyers to defend the federal prosecutors involved in the case against former Sen. Ted Stevens, USA Today reports.

The newspaper said records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act showed the price tag to be $1.6 million to represent the prosecutors in an investigation by the court into their handling of the Stevens case and $208,000 for lawyers for three prosecutors involved in a civil contempt case. Investigators concluded in November the prosecutors should not face criminal charges although they had been involved in "significant, widespread and at times intentional misconduct."

Stevens, R-Alaska, was convicted in 2008 of making false statements. In 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder asked the court to set aside the verdict after an FBI agent accused the prosecution of withholding significant evidence from the defense.

Stevens, who served in the Senate for four decades, lost a bid for re-election in 2008, shortly after his conviction. He died in 2010 in the crash of a small plane in Alaska.