The Justice Department asked a federal judge Wednesday to throw out the felony conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens for making false statements on his Senate financial forms regarding gifts that he and relatives had received.

“After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a statement. “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.”

Holder said the Office of Professional Responsibility will review the prosecution of the case against Stevens, R-Alaska (1968-2009), who narrowly lost his seat in the November election. “This does not mean or imply that any determination has been made about the conduct of those attorneys who handled the investigation and trial of this case,” Holder said.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who presided over Stevens’ trial, set an April 7 hearing on the government’s motion.

The dismissal request was filed with the court by prosecutors who took over the case after the judge criticized the trial prosecutors for failing to turn over documents to defense lawyers.

A jury convicted Stevens on Oct. 27 of failing to report more than $250,000 worth of gifts from VECO, a now defunct oil-services company; its former chief executive, Bill Allen; and others. The Justice Department under President George W. Bush contended that Stevens engaged in a multiyear scheme to conceal the gifts, most of which came in the form of improvements to Stevens’ Girdwood, Alaska, home.

Stevens, 85, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, has steadfastly maintained his innocence and sought a new trial, charging prosecutorial misconduct.

In a statement, he said he was “grateful that the new team of responsible prosecutors at the Department of Justice has acknowledged that I did not receive a fair trial and has dismissed all the charges against me.”

“I always knew that there would be a day when the cloud that surrounded me would be removed,” Stevens said. “That day has finally come. It is unfortunate that an election was affected by proceedings now recognized as unfair.”

The Justice Department’s five-page motion to dismiss the charges says defense attorneys should have been provided notes from an interview that authorities had with Allen on April 15, 2008. The motion says that prosecutors only discovered their notes from the meeting last week and turned them over to defense attorneys.

Two prosecutors who participated in the interview said Allen was asked about a note to him from Stevens dated Oct. 6, 2002. The notes from the April 15 interview indicate that Allen didn’t recall talking to a key prosecution witness, Bob Persons, about billing the defendant for the home improvements.

But that statement was inconsistent with Allen’s recollection at trial, where he described a conversation with Persons about billing Stevens. Allen estimated his work had a fair market value of $80,000, according to the April 15 interview notes.

“This information could have been used by the defendant to cross-examine Bill Allen and in arguments to the jury,” said the motion from Paul M. O’Brien, chief of the narcotics and dangerous drug section at the Justice Department, who took over the case.