Free Republic

Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who has been in the aggressive forefront of the campaign to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, is married to Tom Athans, who works extensively with left-wing radio organizations and was once the executive vice-president of Air America, the liberal radio syndicate that, despite massive publicity from major media, has failed miserably to win a national audience. Stabenow's outrageous conflict of interest has of course been largely ignored by the prestige press, which should have been demanding that she recuse herself from all political involvement with this issue.

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow has said she wants to re-introduce the Fairness Doctrine. So to be completely fair, we don’t remember this story from the Detroit Free Press (April 2, 2008) getting too much coverage: “Thomas Athans, the husband of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and cofounder of a liberal talk radio network, told Troy police detectives that he paid a prostitute $150 for sex at a Troy hotel in late February, according to a police report obtained Wednesday by the Free Press under the Freedom of Information Act…Athans was pulled over by police on I-75 minutes after leaving the Residence...

In tears, the Westland woman accused of accepting money for sex from the husband of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., began serving five days in jail today for violating the terms of her probation. The decision, said 52-4 District Judge William Bolle, effectively ends the case. It's been a long ride for the 21-year-old Alycia Martin, who is now eight months pregnant and engaged, said her pro bono attorney Frank Cusumano Jr. Martin, who dropped out of high school in the ninth grade and has been on her own since she was in her late teens, is working at a...

TROY, Mich. (AP) -- A woman accused of having a paid sexual tryst with the husband of Michigan U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has been sentenced to probation on a lesser charge. Alycia Martin was sentenced Tuesday to six months’ probation. The 21-year-old’s record will be expunged if she successfully completes her sentence. Prosecutors dropped a prostitution charge against the Westland woman in June. She pleaded guilty to trespassing. Investigators conducting surveillance Feb. 26 at a Troy hotel stopped then-46-year-old Thomas Athans. They say Stabenow’s husband acknowledged meeting Martin through the Internet and paying her $150 for sex. Authorities didn’t charge...

Woman linked to senator's husband agrees to reduced charge of trespassing TROY -- An accused prostitute charged with performing a paid sex act on U.S. Debbie Stabenow's husband pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge of trespassing. Alycia Martin, 21, made the plea before Troy 52-4 District Judge William Bolle after her attorney consulted with Troy city prosecutors. Trespassing, like the original prostitution charge, is a misdemeanor. Her plea means there will be no trial and that Stabenow's husband, Thomas Athans, won't have to appear to testify for the prosecution in open court. Under questioning from Bolle, Martin admitted she...

The husband of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow was not ordered to testify in the pretrial hearing of a woman charged in a prostitution sting. Defense attorney Frank A. Cusumano Jr. says Troy District Court Judge William Bolle ruled Tuesday that Thomas Athans' testimony was not needed at a hearing to decide if Alycia Martin could challenge a police search of her hotel room.

TROY -- An attorney for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow's husband objected to a defense attempt to make his client appear at a preliminary court hearing Tuesday for a former Westland woman charged with prostitution. Prosecutors say the senator's husband, Tom Athans, will appear as a prosecution witness if the case goes to trial; they agreed he shouldn't have to testify before that. Alycia L. Martin, 21, is accused taking $150 from Athans, 47, for sex at the Residence Inn on Livernois in Troy on Feb. 26. Martin's attorney, Frank Cusumano, Jr., attempted to subpoena Athans to appear at an evidentiary...