The day after Memorial Day, we learned that Missouri Governor Eric Greitens has stepped down “[a]fter months fighting a growing sex and corruption scandal, and his own party leaders calling for his resignation.” This news, and the reporting around it, should be treated with some skepticism. As a reminder, Senator Ted Stevens was falsely prosecuted and convicted, with Senator McCain and Governor Palin demanding his resignation, a week before the 2008 election.

Senator Stevens was prosecuted, by career prosecutors, during President George W. Bush’s administration. After the politically useful damage had been done, replacing a senior Republican Senator with a junior Democrat, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan not only overturned the conviction, but also took the extraordinary step of ordering the federal prosecutors, involved in the case, be investigated.