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."