WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has moved to dismiss former Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens' indictment, effectively voiding his conviction Oct. 27 on seven counts of filing false statements on his Senate financial-disclosure forms.

"After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement released Wednesday. "In light of this conclusion, and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances of this particular case, I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial."

The Justice Department filed its motion to dismiss the case Wednesday, saying in it that "given the facts of this particular case, the government believes that granting a new trial is in the interest of justice." However, "the government has further determined that, based on the totality of circumstances and in the interest of justice, it will not seek a new trial."

Within days of his conviction, Stevens, 85, lost his re-election bid to Anchorage's Democratic former mayor, Mark Begich.

Since Stevens was convicted, his lawyers have filed several motions to dismiss his original indictment or to grant a new trial. The motions have been based in part on allegations in a whistleblower complaint by an Anchorage FBI agent, along with other allegations of prosecutorial misconduct that were released after Stevens was convicted.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who oversaw the case, scheduled a hearing Tuesday on the motion to dismiss the indictment.

"I always knew that there would be a day when the cloud that surrounded me would be removed. That day has finally come," Stevens said in a statement released by his lawyers. "It is unfortunate that an election was affected by proceedings now recognized as unfair. It was my great honor to serve the state of Alaska in the United States Senate for 40 years."

Stevens' attorneys, Brendan Sullivan and Robert Cary, issued a statement praising the Justice Department's decision. Stevens was traveling in Alaska and unavailable for further comment.

"This jury verdict was obtained unlawfully. The government disregarded the Constitution, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and well-established case law," his attorneys said, adding, "The misconduct of government prosecutors, and one or more FBI agents, was stunning. Not only did the government fail to disclose evidence of innocence, but instead intentionally hid that evidence and created false evidence that they provided to the defense."

"His name is cleared," Sullivan told a press conference. "He is innocent of the charges, as if they'd never been brought."

Holder said that the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility "will conduct a thorough review of the prosecution of this matter."

The decision to dismiss the case appears to be based on a matter that came up during the trial: a discrepancy in the statements of the star witness, Bill Allen, the former oil-services company chief executive officer who plied Stevens with gifts, including renovations that doubled the size of the senator's residence in Alaska. Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers in Alaska, is awaiting sentencing in his own case.

The Justice Department recently discovered notes from an interview that prosecutors conducted last April 15 with Allen, wrote Paul O'Brien, who's been handling post-conviction matters in the case since a judge cited some members of the original trial team with contempt for failing to turn over documents.

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