Who will replace ex-deputy David Ogden?

WASHINGTON — Ex-Deputy Attorney Gen. David Ogden, who returned to private practice after a brief stint in the Obama Justice Department, said Tuesday that the government’s decision to drop the Sen. Ted Stevens case in 2009 after he’d been convicted was “painful”, according to the website The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.

Speaking at American University Washington College of Law, he said the department had “abandoned a case it believed in on the merits” and it hurt morale.

But he defended the decision, the website wrote.

“I believe it was the right thing to do based on the circumstances of that case,” he said. Ogden said the action showed that the Justice Department will respect the rights of defendants at all costs.

ex-Sen. Ted Stevens/official photo

Stevens was convicted in October 2008 of failing to report roughly $250,000 in gifts.  The Justice Department found that the prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense during trial and moved to dismiss the case. An FBI agent in the case also raised allegations of government misconduct.