FBI Accused of Misconduct in Stevens Case

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2008— -- The ongoing snarl of legal issues surrounding the corruption conviction of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has been made even more thorny by an FBI agent filing a whistleblower complaint seeking protection from retaliation.

The agent who worked on the Stevens investigation alleges in a formal complaint that an FBI agent working on the Stevens' case shared confidential information with numerous individuals who were under FBI investigation.

Included in the information disclosed, according to the complaint, were details about FBI investigative techniques and information about ongoing public corruption cases in Alaska.

The claims filed by the whistleblower could result in a major headache for the FBI.

According to the highly redacted complaint filed by the unnamed agent in the case, there were "many serious problems ... encountered in the recent trial of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens."

In a statement responding to the allegations of FBI misconduct, a Justice Department spokesman said, "We will continue to litigate in the court all matters, including these allegations, related to the jury's conviction of Senator Ted Stevens."

Stevens was found guilty in October of accepting $250,000 worth of gifts, primarily from now-defunct oil services company Veco Corp. and its former CEO, Bill Allen. Among the alleged gifts was the value of a home renovation project that transformed the senator's Girdwood, Alaska, home from a quaint cabin to a sizeable house, a $2,700 massage chair and a Viking gas grill.

The FBI agent, who joined the bureau in 2003, claims to have personally "witnessed or learned of serious violations of policy, rules, and procedures," even "possible criminal violations" by the prosecution team. The agent claims that one of the main investigators on the case had an improper relationship with Allen, the government's star witness, who, the agent says, was at the heart of public corruption in Alaska.

Part of the claim alleges that one of the FBI agents on the investigation may have disclosed grand jury information to Allen about the government's investigation into his activities.