The Trials and Tribulations of the Sen. Ted Stevens Case

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," April 8, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS GUEST HOST: Was the GOP blatantly robbed of a Senate seat in the 2008 election?

Days before he lost reelection in Alaska, Republican Ted Stevens was found guilty of seven counts of corruption. It was a very tight race, and the charges clearly hurt the senator. He lost by 4,000 votes.

Well, yesterday, a judge threw out the case against Stevens. He is no longer convicted of anything, and he ordered an investigation into the prosecutors' conduct in this case.

So did corrupt prosecutors rob Senator Stevens and the GOP of this seat? Joining us live is a former New York Senator Al D'Amato who is very close with former Senator Stevens.

Senator, good evening to you.

AL D'AMATO, (R) FORMER SENATOR: How are you, Megyn?

KELLY: So you worked with Senator Stevens in the U.S. Senate for many years.

D'AMATO: Yes, 18 years.

KELLY: You have spoken with him recently.

D'AMATO: Yes, I have.

KELLY: What is his reaction to all this.

D'AMATO: He is released. It is bittersweet, because he was deprived of his seat because as a result of overzealous prosecutors who broke rules repeatedly because they were out to get him.

It wasn't whether he was innocent or guilty. They had opportunities to show evidence, and they should have given it to the defense.

KELLY: They had to.

D'AMATO: They never gave it to them. That would have cleared him.

In other words, their chief witness lied. What they did is hid the fact that earlier he gave testimony that would have shown that he fabricated his testimony, and on and on.

KELLY: The law is clear that you are not allowed to do that. The prosecutor is there to do justice, not to win.

D'AMATO: Here's this judge. And now this judge was appointed by President Clinton. He is not a Republican. He is well respected and has been on the federal bench for 25 years.

He said never in his life has he seen such outrageous conduct where the prosecutors lied and hid evidence.

KELLY: Here's the thing that gets me. I don't get how this happens. Now this independent prosecutor is investigating these prosecutors-

D'AMATO: Six of them

KELLY: Six of them, including the head of the Department of Justice's professional responsibility -- I guess it's the Ethics Department.

D'AMATO: The so-called, the highest, most moral and career prosecutors, and he can show you what is going through their mind.

KELLY: Why did they do it?

D'AMATO: Look, they get it in their mind that this person is guilty. It is a big name, a big scalp. They bring him down and it will bring attention and credit to them.

There was an FBI agent, and she broke every rule in the book. The prosecutors should have been stopped.

And, by the way, the attorney general -- I have been critical of him. I criticized Eric Holder when he made some, I thought, intemperate statements, saying we are a nation of coward back in black history month.

And now I say, bravo, Mr. Attorney General. You stepped up and did what had to be done.

KELLY: It makes you wonder why Mukasey didn't do something earlier, because it's not the first we heard of these allegations in this case.

D'AMATO: Mukasey should be ashamed of himself.

And this goes on. Remember, this came out only because it was someone Senator Stevens' stature that had come to the public attention.

Unfortunately, too much of this kind of conduct, where prosecutors hold back evidence that would help a defendant -

KELLY: And what happens to be weaklings, those with no money, no power?

D'AMATO: What happens -

KELLY: I have to ask you this, because the balance of power is different in the Senate now.

D'AMATO: This was clearly -

(CROSSTALK)

KELLY: Beich is not going to give up the seat.

D'AMATO: No.

KELLY: There is not going to be another election.

D'AMATO: You're right.

KELLY: It's done, right? Politically, stick a fork in this situation.

D'AMATO: That's right. They killed the career of Senator Stevens.

I love Ted Stevens. He is my friend, so I am prejudiced. But if this can clean up the justice system and the way prosecutors act, parading people before the cameras before they are convicted, announcing these things.

Prosecutors who are thinking more of their own career so they can run for high office. I think they should be barred. Let's not politicize something so as important as our justice system.

KELLY: It is a good reminder that the prosecutors are there to do justice.

Senator Al D'Amato, thank for being here.

D'AMATO: Nice to be here.

KELLY: I appreciate it.

Content and Programming Copyright 2009 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC, which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and CQ Transcriptions, LLC's copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.