gov don siegelman bak2

<div>siegelman1121</div><div>
</div><div>zombie thom h?</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>Atticus v. The Architect tells the story of how Alabama Governor Don Siegelman suffered a perfect storm of injustice that devoured his entire life, his family, his career, his finances, and ultimately his freedom after being railroaded to prison for a crime that does not exist.</div><div>
</div><div>And it started with hackable voting machines.</div><div>
</div><div>https://atticusvthearchitect.com/</div><div>
</div><div>THE POLITICAL ASSASSINATION OF DON SIEGELMAN</div><div>“Don Siegelman isn’t just fighting for his freedom; he’s fighting for the integrity of our democracy”</div><div>– Al Gore, Former Vice President</div><div>In 1998, Don Siegelman’s gubernatorial victory made him the first person in Alabama history to have been elected to all four statewide elected offices – a rare accomplishment for a liberal in this blood-red Southern state. In election-after-election, frustrated Republicans simply couldn’t beat him at the polls because he drew supporters from across the political spectrum. With exceptional skill, Siegelman deflected every smear campaign and dirty trick conservative threw at him. As Governor, Siegelman had no idea that a perfect storm of injustice was about to devour his entire life, his family, his career, his finances, and ultimately his freedom after being railroaded to prison for a crime that does not exist. The plan to get Siegelman out of the way was spearheaded by former Bush official Karl Rove, and it involved rigging a federal court with vindictive prosecutors, a tainted jury, and a corrupt hanging judge hell-bent on payback. This travesty of justice has come to be known by many legal experts as one of the most notorious political prosecutions in American history. The story of how Rove and his co-conspirators quietly got away with their evil scheme will make Watergate look like child’s play and leave everyone shocked, bewildered, and MAD AS HELL!</div><div>“We war-gamed…an aggressive tactic…to stop Siegelman at a cost to the tribe of approximately $20 million.”</div><div>– Jack Abramoff, Disgraced Republican Lobbyist</div><div>As Siegelman served as Alabama Governor, Karl Rove used his White House influence to arrange for loyal Republican operatives, and Siegelman adversaries, to be appointed throughout Alabama’s Federal Judiciary specifically to target Democrats, including the former Governor, for political prosecutions. They wasted no time indicting Siegelman with charges so unfounded that the judge threw the case out of court before the lunch break of the first day of the trial. That judge stated that “these were the most baseless charges he had seen in his almost 30 of sitting on the Federal Bench.” It was obviously a smear campaign to handicap Siegelman in the next election, and it was also intended to drain him of his personal financial resources. Not long after that case was thrown out of court, prosecutors indicted Siegelman a second time with charges so outrageous that legal experts say have never been considered crimes in the history of American jurisprudence! He was charged with bribery even though he never personally received anything. In fact, the so-called bribe was a properly recorded donation to a non-profit education fund without any benefit going to the Governor. Even more outrageous, Leura Canary, the newly appointed U.S. Attorney that filed charges against Siegelman, was married to Bill Canary, the campaign manager of Gov. Siegelman’s political opponent.</div><div>That meant that the prosecutor’s husband was getting paid to defeat Siegelman in the upcoming election!</div><div>“They could not beat him fair and square. This is a Republican state and he was the one Democrat they could never get rid of.</div><div>– Grant Woods (R), Arizona Attorney General 1991-99</div><div>The only evidence they had against Siegelman was the testimony of one of his former aides, Nick Bailey. However, unbeknownst to everyone at the time, including Siegelman, Bailey was crooked. Investigators found that he took tens of thousands in kickbacks and charged him with bribery. During the investigation, prosecutors under Leura Canary mercilessly coerced Bailey to testify against his former boss, Gov. Siegelman. During the 100+ meetings over the course of a few years, Prosecutors forced Bailey to practice a script they provided him that falsely stated that Siegelman took a bribe. To make sure he complied, prosecutors threatened Bailey with jail time if he didn’t stick to their prescribed narrative.</div><div>“America’s Political Prisoner #1.”</div><div>– American Trial Lawyers Magazine</div><div>To make that false testimony admissible and trumped up charges stick in court, one of Siegelman’s arch political enemies, Judge Mark Fuller, was suspiciously chosen to preside over the trial. Despite numerous ethical violations, and multiple conflicts of interest, Fuller rejected demands for his recusal. Inside this almost farcical kangaroo court, with virtually no objective rule of law, Judge Fuller always ruled in favor of the prosecution. They got away with a staggering array of judicial misconduct, including: lying to the jury, misrepresenting evidence, withholding evidence, multiple improper jury instructions, jury tampering, and allowing admittance of false evidence. Because the only judicial oversight was by fellow Republican officials under Rove’s control, it was completely impossible for Don Siegelman to get anything close to a fair trial.</div><div>“The conviction and sentence of Governor Siegelman has been a travesty of justice.”</div><div>– Judge U.W. Clemon, Federal Judge (Ret.)</div><div>Since his conviction, countless Democrats and Republicans have formally declared their support for Don’s innocence, including members of Congress, judges, prosecutors and legal scholars from many of America’s top-tier law schools. Most notably, 113 former states Attorneys General from both political parties filed a formal complaint protesting the rampant prosecutorial misconduct and judicial abuse in this trial. This is the first time in America’s 239-year history that so many legal experts from both parties have come forward to publicly denounce the deliberate injustice directed at one man.</div><div>Despite being one of the most popular and respected figures in Alabama with decades of untarnished public service, Don Siegelman’s life has been devastated. He was locked away from his family for years, completely stripped of his freedom, and lost everything including his personal property, his savings, and a very promising career. Don has endured more hardship than most of us can imagine, even though hundreds of America’s top legal experts say he never committed a crime.</div><div>“The conviction of Don Siegelman is a deep stain on our justice system”</div><div>– Robert Abrams, former New York State Attorney General</div><div>
</div><div>---</div><div>THE CAST OF CHARACTERS</div><div>CATEGORY: ALL</div><div>SORT BY: ITEM ORDER</div><div>ORDER: ASCENDING</div><div> Karl Rove</div><div>KARL ROVE</div><div>Directed the Siegelman Prosecution from D.C.</div><div>
</div><div>Bennett Gershman</div><div>BENNETT GERSHMAN</div><div>“One of the most egregious miscarriages of Justice”</div><div>
</div><div>Scott Horton</div><div>SCOTT HORTON</div><div>Wrote about the Siegelman Case on Harpers.com</div><div>
</div><div>C.W. Clements</div><div>C.W. CLEMENTS</div><div>The Siegelman case “was completely without legal merit”</div><div>
</div><div>Grant Woods</div><div>GRANT WOODS</div><div>I haven’t seen a case with this many red flags on it…CBS 60Minutes Interview</div><div>
</div><div>MIlton McGregor</div><div>MILTON MCGREGOR</div><div>Indicted when he refused to cut Gov. Riley’s family in on Victory Land profits</div><div>
</div><div>Eric Holder</div><div>ERIC HOLDER</div><div>Helped Rove avoid sworn testimony by the Judiciary Committee</div><div>
</div><div>Tamara Grimes</div><div>TAMARA GRIMES</div><div>Fingered Leura Canary’s prosecution team to Justice</div><div>
</div><div>Don Siegelman</div><div>DON SIEGELMAN</div><div>Unbeatable Democratic Governor had to be taken out</div><div>
</div><div>Jill Simpson</div><div>JILL SIMPSON</div><div>Testified to Rove’s role in the Siegelman prosecution</div><div>
</div><div>Richard Scrushy</div><div>RICHARD SCRUSHY</div><div>Promised no jail time if he would roll over on Siegelman</div><div>
</div><div>Jack Abramoff</div><div>JACK ABRAMOFF</div><div>Financed the “machine” that took out Siegelman</div><div>
</div><div>Michael Scanlon</div><div>MICHAEL SCANLON</div><div>Helped Abramoff cheat the Choctaw and bribe officials</div><div>
</div><div>Ralph Reed</div><div>RALPH REED</div><div>Laundered gambling money to Christian organizations</div><div>
</div><div>Grover Norquist</div><div>GROVER NORQUIST</div><div>Funneled gambling money from MS to Alabama GOP</div><div>
</div><div>Judge Bill Pryor</div><div>JUDGE BILL PRYOR</div><div>Initiated the investigation of Siegelman in ’99</div><div>
</div><div>Tommy Gallion</div><div>TOMMY GALLION</div><div>Gave insider information about GOP plot to “Get Siegelman”</div><div>
</div><div>Winton Blount III</div><div>WINTON BLOUNT III</div><div>Hosting planning meeting for Siegelman prosecution</div><div>
</div><div>Bob Ney</div><div>BOB NEY</div><div>From Topdog to Underdog: The Downfall of Congressman Bob Ney Bob Ney, famous for urging Americans to call french fries “freedom fries,” had a long political career of 25 years. But in 2006 Ohio Congressman Bob Ney pled guilty to federal charges of corruption and falsification of federal documents in connection with the now infamous Jack Abramoff, […]</div><div>
</div><div>David Margolis</div><div>DAVID MARGOLIS</div><div>Barred investigation of malpractice in Siegelman Case</div><div>
</div><div>Leura Canary</div><div>LEURA CANARY</div><div>Alabama US Attorney appointed to “get” Siegelman</div><div>
</div><div>Elmer Harris</div><div>ELMER HARRIS</div><div>CEO who testified to No Bribe, contradicts Bailey</div><div>
</div><div>Alice Martin</div><div>ALICE MARTIN</div><div>US Attorney appointed to get Siegelman, case thrown out</div><div>
</div><div>William Canary</div><div>WILLIAM CANARY</div><div>Brokered access between D.C. and Alabama GOP</div><div>
</div><div>Stephen Faega</div><div>STEPHEN FAEGA</div><div>Led the star witness with over 70 rehearsals of his testimony.</div><div>
</div><div>Louis Franklin</div><div>LOUIS FRANKLIN</div><div>Claimed he alone drove the prosecution, not Canary</div><div>
</div><div>Rob Riley</div><div>ROB RILEY</div><div>One of the operatives central to the Siegelman Prosecution</div><div>
</div><div>Bob Riley</div><div>BOB RILEY</div><div>Exploited Alabama for the Riley family’s benefit</div><div>
</div><div>NIck Bailey</div><div>NICK BAILEY</div><div>Lied about Siegelman to avoid lengthy sentence</div><div>
</div><div>Mark Fuller</div><div>MARK FULLER</div><div>Abusive Judge selected to “hang Siegelman”</div><div>
</div><div>logo</div><div>
</div><div>"The conviction of Don Siegelman is a deep stain </div><div>on our justice system”</div><div>                        Robert Abrams, </div><div>                        former NY State Attorney General</div><div>THE PLAYERS</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>party and football; stole bear bryant tx A&M?</div><div>
</div><div>Book Discussion on Turning the Tide</div><div>
</div><div>Turning the Tide is an institutional and cultural history of a dramatic decade of change at the University of Alabama set against the backdrop of desegregation, the continuing civil rights struggle, and the growing antiwar movement.</div><div>
</div><div>This book documents the period when a handful of University of Alabama student activists formed an alliance with President Frank A. Rose, his staff, and a small group of progressive-minded professors in order to transform the university during a time of social and political turmoil. Together they engaged in a struggle against Governor George Wallace and a state legislature that reflected the worst aspects of racism in a state where the passage of civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965 did little to reduce segregation and much to inflame the fears and passions of many white Alabamians.</div><div>
</div><div>Earl H. Tilford details the origins of the student movement from within the Student Government Association, whose leaders included Ralph Knowles and future governor Don Siegelman, among others; the participation of key members of “The Machine,” the political faction made up of the powerful fraternities and sororities on campus; and the efforts of more radical non-Greek students like Jack Drake, Ed Still, and Sondra Nesmith. Tilford also details the political maneuverings that drove the cause of social change through multiple administrations at the university. Turning the Tide highlights the contributions of university presidents Frank A. Rose and David Mathews, as well as administrators like the dean of men John L. Blackburn, who supported the student leaders but also encouraged them to work within the system rather than against it.</div><div>
</div><div>Based on archival research, interviews with many of the principal participants, and the author’s personal experiences, Tilford’s Turning the Tide is a compelling portrait of a university in transition during the turbulence surrounding the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s.</div><div>
</div><div>http://www.amazon.com/Turning-Tide-University-Alabama-1960s/dp/0817318143</div><div>
</div><div>http://www.c-span.org/video/?408289-1/book-tv-tuscaloosa-alabama</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>2015 update</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>http://www.thomhartmann.com/users/bluedog-294/blog/2015/02/why-did-obamas-justice-dept-recently-argue-against-don-siegelmans-rel</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>wiki</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Don Eugene Siegelman (born February 24, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician who held numerous offices in Alabama. He was the 51st Governor of Alabama for one term from 1999 to 2003, and to date is the last member of the Democratic Party to hold that office. Siegelman is also the only person in the history of Alabama to be elected to serve in all four of the top statewide elected offices: Secretary of State, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. He served in Alabama politics for 26 years.</div><div>
</div><div>In 2006 Siegelman was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to seven years in prison.[1] Various former attorneys general and officials have contended that his prosecution was intentionally wrongful.[2][3] On March 6, 2009, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key bribery, conspiracy and obstruction counts against Siegelman and refused his request for a new trial. Siegelman is currently serving a 6.5 year sentence.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Contents   [hide] </div><div>1 Personal life and earlier career</div><div>2 Career as Attorney General</div><div>3 Governorship</div><div>3.1 State lottery and universal education</div><div>4 2002 election controversy</div><div>5 Federal prosecution</div><div>5.1 The 2004 trial</div><div>5.2 The 2006 conviction</div><div>5.2.1 Release from federal prison</div><div>5.3 The 2009 appeal</div><div>5.4 The 2014 appeal</div><div>5.4.1 Objections raised against the prosecutors and the court proceedings</div><div>5.4.1.1 Testimony of the star witness</div><div>5.4.1.2 Partiality of the jury</div><div>5.4.1.3 Karl Rove connection</div><div>5.4.1.4 Alleged Misconduct by Attorney General</div><div>5.4.2 Public reaction</div><div>5.4.2.1 Government officials</div><div>5.4.2.2 Wider public</div><div>5.4.2.3 Federal Communications Commission investigation</div><div>5.4.2.4 Siegelman Sentenced</div><div>6 References</div><div>7 External links</div><div>In 1988, Siegelman addressed the Alabama Chemical Association and met with Monsanto lobbyists, leading to permission for Monsanto to direct their own, very inadequate cleanup of PCBs at their plant in Anniston, Alabama. As a result, Monsanto dredged PCBs from just a few hundred yards of Snow Creek and its tributaries.[7]</div><div>
</div><div>Governorship[edit]</div><div>Siegelman's term as governor took place in the midst of explosive growth in Alabama's automotive manufacturing industry. The first new major plant, for Mercedes-Benz, had come to Alabama in the administration of Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. During Siegelman's administration, Mercedes agreed to double the size of that plant. Siegelman became an energetic industrial recruiter, visiting several countries and securing commitments from Toyota, Honda,[8] and Hyundai[9][10] to build major assembly plants in Alabama.</div><div>
</div><div>Governor Siegelman presided over eight executions (seven by electric chair, one by lethal injection), including that of Lynda Lyon Block, the first female executed in the state since 1957. He also oversaw the transition from electrocution as a sole method to lethal injection as the primary method.</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman was the first native Mobilian to be elected to the state's highest office.</div><div>
</div><div>State lottery and universal education[edit]</div><div>One of the keystone issues of Siegelman's campaign had been the issue of the state lottery. The proceeds would fund free tuition at state universities for most high school graduates. Siegelman supported a bill that placed the lottery on a free-standing referendum ballot in 1999. The measure was defeated.[11] Some advisers had suggested that Siegelman wait until the regular 2000 elections, when anti-gambling interests would command a smaller percentage of the electorate.[citation needed]</div><div>
</div><div>After the defeat of the lottery, Siegelman struggled to deal with serious state budget problems. Alabama's tax revenues were down during most of his administration. Despite this, observers felt that Siegelman did a decent job of managing the limited revenue produced by this system during a national economic downturn.[citation needed]</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman launched the "Alabama Reading Initiative", an early education literacy program that was praised by both Democratic and Republican officials, and emulated by several other states.</div><div>
</div><div>2002 election controversy[</div><div>Main article: Alabama gubernatorial election, 2002</div><div>Representative Bob Riley defeated Siegelman in his November 2002 reelection bid by the narrowest margin in Alabama history: approximately 3,000 votes. On the night of the election, Siegelman was initially declared the winner by the Associated Press. Later, a voting machine malfunction in a single county, Baldwin County, was claimed to have produced the votes needed to give Riley the election. Democratic Party officials objected, stating that the recount had been performed by local Republican election officials after Democratic observers had left the site of the vote counting, thus rendering verification of the recount results impossible. The state's Attorney General, Republican Bill Pryor, affirmed the recounted vote totals, securing Riley's election. Pryor denied requests for a manual recount of the disputed vote warning that opening the sealed votes to recount them would be held a criminal offense.[12] Some observers have opined that perhaps the most objective observation about this vote shift is that there was no corresponding vote shift in other issues and candidates on these same ballots, a shift that would be expected if they were actually anti-Siegelman voters, probably a mathematical impossibility. Largely as a result of this obvious inconsistency, the Alabama Legislature amended the election code to provide for automatic, supervised recounts in close races.[13]</div><div>
</div><div>Federal prosecution[edit]</div><div>The 2004 trial[edit]</div><div>On May 27, 2004, Siegelman was served an indictment on federal charges, but the day after his trial began, prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges. The judge, U.W Clemon, a Carter appointee, threw out much of the prosecution's evidence and stated that no new charges could be refiled based on the disallowed evidence.[14]</div><div>
</div><div>The 2006 conviction[edit]</div><div>On October 26, 2005, Siegelman was indicted on new charges of bribery and mail fraud in connection with Richard M. Scrushy, founder and former CEO of HealthSouth. Two former Siegelman aides were charged in the indictment as well. Siegelman was accused of trading government favors for campaign donations when he was governor from 1999 to 2003 and lieutenant governor from 1995 to 1999. Scrushy was accused of arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman's campaign for a state lottery fund for universal education in exchange for a seat on a state hospital regulatory board, a non-paying position. Scrushy, who had served on the state hospital regulatory board over the past three Republican administrations, had recently been acquitted of charges of securities fraud for his part in the HealthSouth Corporation fraud scandal which cost shareholders billions.[15]</div><div>
</div><div>During his trial, Siegelman continued his campaign for reelection, running in the Democratic primary against Lt. Governor Lucy Baxley and minor candidates. On June 6, despite Baxley's relatively low-profile campaign, she easily defeated Siegelman with almost 60% of the vote compared to Siegelman's 36%.[16] Baxley went on to lose to incumbent Bob Riley in the general election by a large margin.</div><div>
</div><div>On June 29, 2006, just three weeks after losing the primary, a federal jury found both Siegelman and Scrushy guilty on seven of the 33 counts in the indictment. Two codefendants, his former chief of staff, Paul Hamrick and his transportation director, Mack Roberts, were acquitted of all charges. Siegelman was convicted on one count of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, four counts of honest services mail fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice.[17] Siegelman was acquitted on 25 counts, including the indictment's allegations of a widespread RICO conspiracy.[18] Siegelman was represented by Mobile attorneys Vince Kilborn and David McDonald, along with Greenwood attorney Hiram Eastland and Notre Dame law professor G. Robert Blakey, who is an authority on RICO. Siegelman was sentenced by Judge Mark Everett Fuller to more than seven years in federal prison and a $50,000 fine.[1]</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman has said in his defense that Scrushy had been on the board of the state hospital regulatory board during several preceding governorships and that his contribution towards the state lottery fund for universal education was unrelated. He says that such charges, in addition to being unfounded, are without precedent. Scrushy was released from federal prison in April 2012. He resided in a Houston, Texas halfway house until he was released on July 25, 2012.[19][20]</div><div>
</div><div>Release from federal prison[edit]</div><div>On Thursday, March 27, 2008, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals approved the release of former Governor Siegelman from federal prison while he appealed his conviction in the corruption case. He was released on Friday the 28th.[21] Siegelman stated that he wanted to see Karl Rove held in contempt for refusing to testify before the House committee that investigated Siegelman's conviction.[22]</div><div>
</div><div>The 2009 appeal[edit]</div><div>On March 6, 2009, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key bribery, conspiracy and obstruction counts against Siegelman and refused his request for a new trial, finding no evidence that the conviction was unjust. The Court struck down two of the seven charges on which Siegelman was convicted and ordered a new sentencing hearing.[23] His sentence was thereafter reduced by 10 months, leaving him with 69 months.[24]</div><div>
</div><div>The 2014 appeal[edit]</div><div>The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear Siegelman's appeal for a new trial in October 2014.[25][26]</div><div>
</div><div>Objections raised against the prosecutors and the court proceedings[edit]</div><div>Testimony of the star witness[edit]</div><div>Witness Nick Bailey, who provided the cornerstone testimony upon which the conviction was based, was subsequently convicted of extortion; having been facing 10 years in prison, Bailey had cooperated with prosecutors to lighten his own sentence. Although he engaged in over 70 interviews with the prosecution against Siegelman, none of the notes detailing these interviews were shared with the defense. In addition, after the case was tried it was confirmed that the check he testified he saw Scrushy write for Siegelman was actually written days later, when he was not actually present.[27][28]</div><div>
</div><div>Partiality of the jury[edit]</div><div>Documents indicated that prosecutors interviewed two jurors while the court was reviewing charges of juror misconduct, in violation of the judge's instruction that no contact with jurors should occur without his permission.</div><div>
</div><div>Karl Rove connection[edit]</div><div>Allegations that Siegelman was prosecuted at the insistence of Bush-appointed officials at the Justice Department, as well as the insistence of Leura Canary, a U.S. Attorney in Montgomery whose husband was Alabama's top Republican operative and who had for years worked closely with Karl Rove, led federal courts to release the accused on bail.[29] In June 2007, a Republican lawyer, Dana Jill Simpson ofRainsville, Alabama, signed a sworn statement that, five years earlier, she had heard that Karl Rove was preparing to neutralize Siegelman politically with an investigation headed by the U.S. Department of Justice.[30] Simpson later told The Birmingham News that her affidavit's wording could be interpreted in two ways, and stated that she had written her affidavit herself, whereas in her Congressional testimony she had admitted to having help from a Siegelman supporter.[31]</div><div>
</div><div>According to Simpson's statement, she was on a Republican campaign conference call in 2002 when she heard Bill Canary tell other campaign workers not to worry about Siegelman because Canary's "girls" and "Karl" would make sure the Justice Department pursued the Democrat so he was not a political threat in the future.[30] "Canary's girls" supposedly included his wife, Leura Canary, who is United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, and United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Alice Martin.[30] Leura Canary did not submit voluntary recusal paperwork until two months after Siegelman attorney David Cromwell Johnson's press conference in March 2002.[32][33][34]</div><div>
</div><div>In interviews with the press, Simpson has emphasized that she heard Rove's name mentioned in a phone conversation in which the discussion turned to Siegelman, clarified that she heard someone involved in a 2002 conference call refer to a meeting between Mr. Rove and Justice Department officials on the subject of Siegelman, and revealed that Karl Rove ordered her to "catch Siegelman cheating on his wife."[27] The Anniston Star published an editorial stating that, "If that's his story, then Rove should not hesitate to go under oath and answer questions before a congressional committee."[35]</div><div>
</div><div>Raw Story reports that Karl Rove advised Bill Canary on managing Republican Bob Riley's gubernatorial campaign against Siegelman in the election fraud controversy of 2002, based on the testimony of "two Republican lawyers who have asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation," one of whom is close to Alabama's Republican National Committee.[36]</div><div>
</div><div>Simpson's house burned down soon after she began whistleblowing, and Simpson's car was driven off the road by a private investigator and wrecked. Investigations of the fire and the wreck found no foul play. As a result of the timing of these incidents, Simpson said, "Anytime you speak truth to power, there are great risks. I've been attacked," explaining she felt a "moral obligation" to speak up.[37]</div><div>
</div><div>Alleged Misconduct by Attorney General[edit]</div><div>In November 2008, new documents revealed alleged misconduct by the Bush-appointed U.S. attorney and other prosecutors in the case. Extensive and unusual contact between the prosecution and the jury were alleged to have occurred.[29] According to Time, a Department of Justice Staffer furnished the new documents at the risk of losing her job. The documents included e-mails written by Canary, long after her recusal, offering legal advice to subordinates handling the case. At the time Canary wrote the e-mails, her husband was publicly supporting the state's Republican governor, Bob Riley. In one of Leura Canary's e-mails made public by Time, dated September 19, 2005, she forwarded senior prosecutors on the Siegelman case a three-page political commentary by Siegelman. Canary highlighted a single passage which, she told her subordinates, "Ya'll need to read, because he refers to a 'survey' which allegedly shows that 67% of Alabamans believe the investigation of him to be politically motivated ... Perhaps [this is] grounds not to let [Siegelman] discuss court activities in the media!" At Siegelman's sentencing, the prosecutors urged the judge to use these public statements by Siegelman as grounds for increasing his prison sentence.[29]</div><div>
</div><div>Public reaction[edit]</div><div>Government officials[edit]</div><div>In July 2007, 44 former State Attorneys General, both Democrats and Republicans, filed a petition to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees requesting further investigation of the Siegelman prosecution.[38][39]</div><div>
</div><div>On July 17, 2007, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D, MI-14) and Reps. Linda Sánchez (D, CA-39), Artur Davis (D, AL-07), and Tammy Baldwin (D, WI-02) sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asking him to provide documents and information about former Alabama Democratic Governor Don Siegelman's recent conviction, among others, that may have been part of a pattern of selective political prosecutions by a number of U.S. Attorneys across the country. The deadline for the Attorney General's office to provide the information to Congress was July 27, 2007. The documents had not been produced by August 28, 2007, the date that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that he would resign.[40] In an editorial that day, The New York Times said that despite Gonzales' departure, "[M]any questions remain to be answered. High on the list: what role politics played in dubious prosecutions, like those of former Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, and Georgia Thompson, a Wisconsin civil servant."[41] Press reports have suggested that perhaps U.S. Attorney Leura Canary did not follow proper Department of Justice procedures in recusing herself from the Siegelman matter, since there were no filings to that effect made in court and Justice refused to disclose her recusal form under the Freedom of Information Act.[42]</div><div>
</div><div>On October 10, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee released testimony in which Dana Jill Simpson alleged Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys and that Bob Riley had named the judge who would eventually be assigned to the case. She also claimed Bob Riley told her the judge would "hang Don Siegelman." In contrast with what she told 60 Minutes, in her sworn testimony she never mentioned having met or spoken with Karl Rove.[43][44]</div><div>
</div><div>Wider public[edit]</div><div>Siegelman defenders point out that over 100 charges were thrown out by three different judges. Further, they argue that there was a conflict of interest in the prosecution against Siegelman, since the investigating U.S. Attorney was married to his political opponent's campaign manager.[30] Siegelman defenders argue that the sentence is unprecedented and the punishment excessive because, for example, former Alabama Governor H. Guy Hunt, a Republican, was found guilty in state court of personally pocketing $200,000, and state prosecutors sought probation, not jail time, in the Hunt case.[30]</div><div>
</div><div>Federal Communications Commission investigation[edit]</div><div>60 Minutes aired an investigative segment on the case called "The Prosecution of Governor Siegelman" on February 24, 2008.[45] During the broadcast, CBS affiliate WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, did not air this segment of the program but claimed technical issues with the signal.[46] Scott Horton of Harper's Magazine has stated that he contacted CBS News in New York regarding the issue and claims that he was told that there were no transmission issues, and that WHNT had functioning transmitters at the time.[3] Horton also accused the station of a history of political hostility toward Siegelman. The station responded to the controversy by rebroadcasting the report later that night, and again the next day.[47] In March 2008, the Federal Communications Commission began an investigation into why the north Alabama television station went dark during a February 24 broadcast of the "60 Minutes" installment.[48] The investigation resulted in no action.</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman Sentenced[edit]</div><div>On August 3, 2012, Siegelman was sentenced to more than six years in prison, a $50,000 fine and 500 hours of community service. Siegelman will get credit for the time he has already served which leaves 5 years, nine months remaining in his sentence. An online petitionhas been created by his daughter, Dana, requesting a presidential pardon for Siegelman. Richard Scrushy was not released on bail and has since served all his time. At the re-sentencing the judge told Siegelman that he did not hold this against him personally and wished him well with his sentence. The judge gave Siegelman until September 11 to report to prison.</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>Mark Everett Fuller (born 1958 in Enterprise, Alabama) is a United States District Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Fuller is "most recognizable" for presiding over the controversial case of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.[1]</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Contents   [hide] </div><div>1 Education and career</div><div>2 U.S. v. Siegelman</div><div>2.1 Criticism</div><div>3 Personal life and legal issues</div><div>4 References</div><div>5 External links</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Education and career[edit]</div><div>He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alabama in 1982 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1985.[2] He was an attorney in private practice from 1985–1996, when he became Chief Assistant District Attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit of Alabama.[2]</div><div>
</div><div>In 1996, he was elected District Attorney of the 12th Circuit where he served until his appointment as a federal judge.[2] As the District Attorney, Fuller was criticized for giving "extraordinary wages" to staff, including increasing office investigator Bruce DeVane's "salary to almost $6,000 every two weeks" until it nearly doubled by the end of 2000, and Fuller later testified during the proceedings about the retirements he approved in 2005.[3]</div><div>
</div><div>On August 1, 2002, he was nominated by George W. Bush and confirmed by the US Senate on November 14, 2002. He received his commission on November 26, 2002.[4]</div><div>
</div><div>U.S. v. Siegelman[edit]</div><div>In 2004, former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman was charged with Medicaid fraud, but the day after his trial began, prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges and judge U. W. Clemon threw out much of the prosecution's evidence and stated that no new charges could be refiled based on the disallowed evidence.[5]</div><div>
</div><div>In 2006, Siegelman was charged again and Judge Fuller presided over the criminal trial for bribery and obstruction of justice. After a highly publicized trial that spanned several months, a jury convicted former Governor Siegelman and co-Defendant Richard Scrushy, founder and former CEO of HealthSouth, of federal funds bribery relating to Governor Siegelman's failed Alabama education lottery campaign. Prosecutors alleged that Scrushy, who supported Siegelman's 1998 gubernatorial opponent, Governor Fob James, reconciled their differences. Siegelman initially resisted, but later agreed to meet with Scrushy. According to trial testimony from a Siegelman aide, Nick Bailey, after the meeting ended Siegelman emerged with a $250,000 check and told Bailey that Scrushy "was halfway there." When Bailey asked Siegelman what Scrushy wanted for the contribution, Siegelman allegedly said, "the C-O-N Board." Bailey's recollection of the events, in particular his thought that Siegelman had emerged from the meeting with a check, turned out to be incorrect.[6]</div><div>
</div><div>The jury was deadlocked twice.[7] Fuller then told the jury they had the potential for “a lifetime job for you as a juror,” noting that he had “a lifetime appointment” and was “a very patient person," and the jury convicted the following day.[8] At his first sentencing hearing, Fuller sentenced him to 88 months. Siegelman defenders argue that the sentence is unprecedented and the punishment excessive because, for example, former Alabama Governor H. Guy Hunt, a Republican, was found guilty of personally pocketing $200,000 and did not receive jail time.[9]</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman appealed and on March 6, 2009, the Eleventh Circuit upheld key bribery, conspiracy and obstruction counts against Siegelman and refused his request for a new trial, finding no evidence that the conviction was unjust, but struck two of the seven charges on which Siegelman was convicted and ordered a new sentencing hearing.[10] It affirmed Judge Hinkle's decision (Judge Fuller asked that a separate judge be assigned to handle the motion) that Judge Fuller need not recuse himself from the case. The Eleventh Circuit noted that recusal motions must be made before trial, but the Defense did not learn of Fuller's conflicts (see "Criticism" below) until after the trial had begun. It also upheld the jury instructions that Fuller gave to the jury prior to their deliberations.</div><div>
</div><div>In December 2009, Fuller then reduced Governor Siegelman's sentence by 10 months during re-sentencing,[11] leaving him with 69 months.[12]</div><div>
</div><div>Criticism[edit]</div><div>Fuller has been accused of acting unethically, in the case and otherwise.[13][14] He refused to allow the Defense to present well-documented evidence of selective prosecution,[15] and critics suggest he facilitated the prosecutorial misconduct that occurred in the case.[16][17][18] On October 23, 2007, in a statement to the House Judiciary Committee, the Alliance for Justice called for an investigation into Fuller's handling of the case.[19]</div><div>
</div><div>Columbia Law School professor and contributor to Harper's Magazine Scott Horton has written numerous articles on Fuller's multiple conflicts of interest in presiding over the Siegelman case.[20][21][22] Despite his conflicts, Fuller refused to recuse himself from the case. One such conflict was the fact that Siegelman, when Governor, prompted an investigation into Fuller's "questionable [financial] practices" as District Attorney.[23] Fuller claimed that those allegations were "politically motivated",[24] though audits proved that Fuller had in fact undertaken unethical financial practices when he was DA.[25][26] Siegelman supporters believe that Fuller held a grudge against Siegelman and would not recuse because he wanted Siegelman convicted, a feat accomplished with Fuller's expansive jury instructions and controversial dynamite charge (see above).[27][28]</div><div>
</div><div>At Siegelman's sentencing, Fuller had Siegelman taken from the courtroom in handcuffs and leg manacles and sent immediately to prison.[29]60 Minutes aired a report about the controversy during which Grant Woods, former Republican Attorney General of Arizona, commented, “That tells you that this was personal. You would not do that to a former governor.”[6] Siegelman, his family, and many others continue to maintain Siegelman's innocence.[30][31]</div><div>
</div><div>Personal life and legal issues[edit]</div><div>Fuller has been married twice. In 2012, he divorced Lisa Boyd Fuller, and the court records were sealed with Mark citing the safety concerns and Lisa objecting, alleging Fuller "was guilty of marital misconduct and is attempting to shield himself from the public scrutiny thereof."[32][33]That same year he married Kelli Fuller, a former court bailiff with whom his ex-wife alleged Fuller had an affair.[34]</div><div>
</div><div>On August 9, 2014, Fuller was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, for an incident of domestic violence involving his wife, Kelli, following her allegation that he was having an affair with a law-clerk employee.[35]Fuller was jailed overnight following his arrest.[35] The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has reassigned cases in Fuller's court to other district court judges, and will not assign any new cases to Fuller until further order of the circuit court.[32][36] In September, he accepted a plea deal that would "expunge" the charges if he undergoes a drug and alcohol evaluation, completes a counseling program and attend a domestic violence program for 24 weeks.[37]</div><div>
</div><div>By mid-September several state and national politicians called on Fuller to resign. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) publicly stated Fuller should resign, and other members of Alabama's Congressional delegation followed.[38] On September 17, 2014, Republican Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, and Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, called on Fuller to resign from the District Court.[39]</div><div>
</div><div>On October 17, 2014, Sewell "threatened to begin impeachment proceedings" against Judge Fuller if he does not resign.[40]</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>FIVE ARTICLES</div><div>
</div><div>1.Election Night 2002</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>A controversial and unauthorized after-midnight recount </div><div>switches election victory from Governor Siegelman to Bob</div><div>Riley.</div><div>
</div><div>Gulf Coast Newspapers Steve McConnel 6/20/07</div><div>.............................................................................................................</div><div>
</div><div>2. Affidavit Points to White House</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Troubled Republican and Riley-Campaign worker, Jill </div><div>Simpson, swears that Karl Rove is behind the Siegelman </div><div>prosecution.</div><div>
</div><div>TIME/CNN Adam Zagorin 6/01/07<link to source></div><div>.............................................................................................................</div><div>
</div><div>3. The Extreme Sentencing of Don Siegelman</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>The nation's eyes turn to Alabama as Siegelman is </div><div>shackled and handcuffed, causing an uproar in </div><div>progressives and conservatives alike.</div><div>
</div><div>New York Times Editorial 6/30/07<link to source></div><div>.............................................................................................................</div><div>
</div><div>4. Demand for an Inquiry into the Siegelman Case</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Congress asks the US Justice Department  for papers </div><div>relating to the Don Siegelman case.</div><div>
</div><div>The DOJ has failed to comply.</div><div>
</div><div>Harper's Online "No Comment" Scott Horton 7/16/07<link to source></div><div>
</div><div>.............................................................................................................</div><div>
</div><div>5. Ethical Questions in the Siegelman Case</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>An examination of the Judge in the Siegelman trial raises </div><div>serious questions about improprieties in this case.</div><div>
</div><div>Harper's Online "No Comment" Scott Horton 7/16/07<link to source></div><div>
</div><div>..............................................................................................................</div><div>.............................................................................................................</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>ONE SHOT:</div><div>If you want a drive-by summary of the Siegelman Prosecution these </div><div>articles/blogs/video/audio summarize the case in one shot.</div><div>..................................................................................................................................................</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Article: Karl Rove's Dirty Tricks in Alabama</div><div>by Lou Dubose of Washington Spectator</div><div>
</div><div>Mayberry GOP—The 2002 Alabama gubernatorial election </div><div>included the plot elements of a bad Southern Gothic: a Klan rally</div><div>in the backwoods; a political operative stealing the opposition's </div><div>signs and planting them at the rally; a lawyer stalking and </div><div>photographing the operative; incriminating photos used to extort </div><div>a political candidate; and a cabal of lawyers maneuvering a man </div><div>into the courtroom of a judge who promised to "hang" the </div><div>defendant. There was even a prosecutor "messing up" the case </div><div>to see that the defendant made it to the gallows.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>.............................................................................................................</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Nothing About the Prosecution of Don </div><div>Siegelman Escapes the Taint of </div><div>Corruption</div><div>by David Fiderer for Huffington Post</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman's prosecution is a scandal that extends </div><div>into the judicial branch. The legal issues before the 11th </div><div>Circuit are the tip of a large iceberg. Louis Franklin's falsehoods </div><div>are more indicative of the scope of the scandal, which extends </div><div>well beyond the persecution of one politician. Throughout the </div><div>Siegelman case, at every step in the process, we see how </div><div>government officials worked in tandem to rig the outcome. You </div><div>name it, they did it. Sometimes the incriminating evidence </div><div>against the government is airtight, such as the documents </div><div>proving that the prosecution lied, concealed evidence, and </div><div>violated Justice Department rules. For some misconduct - </div><div>threatening witnesses, deceiving defense counsel - the </div><div>evidence involves one person's word contradicting another's. </div><div>And the evidence of more serious misconduct - bribing the </div><div>judge, jury tampering - is still circumstantial, but extremely </div><div>compelling.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>.............................................................................................................</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Larisa Alexandrovna Reports on the WH </div><div>Politically Motivated Conviction of Gov. </div><div>Don Siegelman -- And Rove's Role</div><div>Interview by BuzzFlash.com</div><div>
</div><div>Rove's dream was to recreate the landscape of the judicial </div><div>system, and to install judges that were either pliable, malleable, </div><div>and/or very, very pro-corporation. Essentially that is what he did </div><div>in Alabama in the early Nineties. That is what this is all about. If </div><div>you control the governor in the states where the justices are not </div><div>elected, you control who gets on the supreme court. And that's </div><div>essentially what this is all about for Rove ultimately. But to get </div><div>those kinds of things done, you have to eliminate the governor </div><div>you don't want and install the governor you do want. There are </div><div>a lot of corporate interests funding this. So it intersects in that </div><div>sense. It's buying the law and restructuring the state judiciary.</div><div>
</div><div><more></div><div>
</div><div>......................................................................................................................................................</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Encyclopedia: Don Siegelman</div><div>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div><div>
</div><div>Donald Eugene "Don" Siegelman (born February 24, 1946, in </div><div>Mobile, Alabama) is an American Democratic politician. He was </div><div>the governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. Don Siegelman is </div><div>the only person in the history of Alabama to be elected to serve </div><div>in all four of the top statewide offices: Secretary of State, </div><div>Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. He </div><div>served in Alabama politics for 26 years, winning his first election </div><div>for the governorship with 57% of the vote, including over 90% of </div><div>the African-American electorate.</div><div>
</div><div><more></div><div>
</div><div>................................................................................................................</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Video Piece: Did Karl Rove sic the Justice </div><div>Department on former Alabama Gov. Don </div><div>Siegelman?</div><div>by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo</div><div>
</div><div>This video produced by Josh Marshall lasts 7:58 minutes. It covers the </div><div>case up until just before sentencing on June 28, 2007.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>baldwin cty Ala similar scam ousted gov don siegelman, rove et al went after, fed judge said DOJ shd be investigated, and dismissed charges, overturned by scotus 260; </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>congr hearings stalled b/c rove refused to testify and b2 admin lost docs. gop said trouble w/ tabulaor but gave printout that DS won and sent all home, then redid # and posted on cty probate ct website, .23% win for Riley 2002 p261</div><div>
</div><div> (tho no change in downballot); next aM CANVASS BD BLOCKED ENTRY, ALL GOP; statue  says certify fri, but did immediately; demaned recount as alw allows, but AG Bill Pryor cited obscure law; rove imported in 1994 by Biz Council of Al to get state and esp judiciual positions 263 </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>crooks and 8:1 al scotus; al gop kudos to Kitty McCullough, aka kelly kimbrough, rove partner at KR &Co 264 proyer get fed judge gig from b2, hey dind that book of payoff gigs; she got help from Dan Gans, electronic vote expert who had worked for riley, then alex strat gp JA bragged on riley win 265</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>http://donsiegelman.org/Pages/Miscell/prosecution.html</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>boss </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>DS judge mark Fuller, appt b2, univ ala alum w/ simpson and riley; ds donor subpoenas; rico charges for coffee mug (samples?); charged w/ taking 500K$ from richard scrushy for lottery capaign xge for seat on state health bd (that wd allow no corruption? Unpaid gig?</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Also gave $ to opponent; witness biley coached in 70 mtgs, memorized; fuller a pol op, had camp against DS; fuller co did mil contracts, got 178mil$ just as trial was about to start; jury deadlocked, so judge used Allen charge which bias to guilt; thretned to sequester for 1 yr 170  88 mos in jail; flown to mult states, manacled, incommunicado; clean latrine in LA gag order; mr2008 out on bond (sent june 2007)</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>The Amazing Story Of Saxby Chambliss' Bum Knee</div><div>
</div><div>First Posted: 11-17-08 12:08 PM   |   Updated: 12-18-08 05:12 AM</div><div>
</div><div>Six years ago, Saxby Chambliss was able to win a seat in the United States Senate by deploying a series of highly personalized swipes at incumbent Democrat Max Cleland.</div><div>
</div><div>The attacks on Cleland's patriotism -- including running an ad that pictured the triple-amputee Vietnam veteran alongside Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden -- left a particularly bad taste in the mouths of observers, including Sen. John McCain, who called it "worse than disgraceful... reprehensible." Chambliss, after all, had never served in Vietnam. And the excuses he offered were so lame, he changed them on several occasions.</div><div>
</div><div>The most widely ridiculed yarn was that Chambliss' "bad knee" had kept him from serving.</div><div>
</div><div>"I was determined not to be physically fit," he explained during a debate in August 2002. "I had a bum knee. I had an old football knee that unfortunately they wouldn't take me."</div><div>
</div><div>It seemed all too unbelievable. And, generally, it was. Chambliss had sought and received five student deferments from service in Vietnam. That he would, nevertheless, criticize Cleland's patriotism was a sharp dose of political chutzpah --- but one that ultimately worked.</div><div>
</div><div>Flash forward six years later and the dynamics of that race are in some respects being replayed once more. Chambliss currently finds himself in a runoff election against another Vietnam vet, Jim Martin, after neither candidate could secure 50 percent of the vote. John McCain, meanwhile, is campaigning on Chambliss' behalf, despite the harsh rebuke he offered during the Georgian's first run for higher office.</div><div>
</div><div>Cleland, meanwhile, is not exactly willing to let bygones be bygones. In an interview with the Huffington Post late October, the former Senator insisted that this current election was not about him. But he painted Martin's candidacy as a true opportunity for Peach State voters to right a wrong.</div><div>
</div><div>"The people in Georgia are still P.O.ed at the fact that [Karl] Rove and Ralph Reed and Chambliss and Bush, all of them have been totally discredited," he said. "People see [that the stuff in 2002 was a lie] and there is some regret out there that I am not still in the United States Senate. And so now they are taking that out in their support of Jim Martin who is a Vietnam veteran, who had a case of polio but overcame that to make sure he got into the military and serve in Vietnam. On the other side, you have Chambliss who got out of going to Vietnam with a trick knee."</div><div>
</div><div>Indeed, for Chambliss' critics, the notorious knee remains a symbol of the quibbles they have with the Senator: that the appearance he provides is removed from reality and that he has, at times, been an absentee Senator. Physical impairments aside, in October 2005, Golf Digest ranked Chambliss the #2 golfer in the Senate and the 33rd ranked golfer in Washington D.C. Sources close to Chambliss, in fact, once grew concerned that his reputation was suffering because of all the times he was spending on the links.</div><div>
</div><div>These sources didn't lack a legitimate reason. In a scathing column titled "Saxby Chambliss' Day Off," then-Roll Call reporter Mary Ann Akers wrote about how Chambliss once skipped work to play golf with Tiger Woods, while his colleagues held a closed door session in which they agreed to accelerate in inquiry into how the Bush administration handled intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs.</div><div>
</div><div>"Instead of being forced to talk about the uncomfortable issue of pre-Iraq war intelligence (or the lack thereof), Chambliss was 'the envy of golfers everywhere,' as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution put it," wrote Akers. "At least until he stepped up to what the newspaper called the club's 'unenviable first tee.' 'That was one of the more intimidating shots I have ever had,' the paper quoted Chambliss saying. 'Thank goodness it worked out.'"</div><div>
</div><div>"And thank goodness Chambliss, who sits on the Senate Select Intelligence and Armed Services committees, didn't have to suffer through the Democrats' tortuous questions about those elusive weapons of mass destruction and whether the Bush administration manipulated the truth and misled Congress into supporting the war."</div><div>
</div><div>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/17/the-amazing-story-of-saxb_n_144307.html?view=print</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen1101.html</div><div>
</div><div>Rove has practiced the same style of slash and burn politics as did his Nixonian mentor Segretti. Many of us remember the Lincolnesque Senator Ed Muskie breaking down in tears during the 1972 campaign over Segretti-planted false stories in a New Hampshire newspaper that accused Mrs. Muskie of being a heavy smoker, drinker, and cusser and accused Muskie of uttering a slur in describing New Hampshire's French Canadian population. Rove's hero also forged letters on fake Muskie campaign letterhead, disrupted rallies and fundraising dinners, and spread false stories about the sex lives of candidates. Segretti's brush also smeared George McGovern, George Wallace, Shirley Chisholm, and McGovern's first vice presidential choice, Senator Tom Eagleton. Segretti of course did not go on to a high-level White House job -- he was sentenced to six months in federal prison for distributing illegal campaign material.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>tour http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0529,ridgeway,66005,6.html</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>FALL 1970: Rove pays visit to Chicago campaign headquarters of Alan Dixon, a Democrat running for state treasurer. Disguised as a volunteer, Rove steals official campaign letterhead and sends out 1,000 invitations to people in the city's red-light district and soup kitchens, offering "free beer, free food, girls, and a good time for nothing" at Dixon headquarters. When hundreds of homeless and alcoholic Chicagoans show up at a fancy Dixon reception, Rove succeeds in embarrassing the candidate. Dixon still wins the election.</div><div>
</div><div>1971: Rove drops out of college to devote full time to College Republicans, where he becomes protégé of dirty trickster Lee Atwater, the group's Southern regional coordinator. Rove becomes executive director, then national chairman.</div><div>
</div><div>1972: Under mentorship of dirty trickster Donald Segretti (who later went to jail for Watergate), Rove paints McGovern as "left-wing peacenik," in spite of McGovern's World War II stint piloting a B-24. Rove also works as staff assistant to George Bush Sr., then chairman of Republican National Committee (RNC).</div><div>
</div><div>1973: Rove introduces Atwater to Bush Sr. Atwater later becomes "political attack dog" for the Reagan-Bush team, helps Bush Sr. become president, himself becomes RNC chairman, is struck by a brain tumor, and dies [after apolgizing to victims].</div><div>
</div><div>AUGUST 10, 1973: The Washington Post says it received tape of Rove telling about some of his "dirty tricks." Rove is rumored to have participated in "dumpster-diving" (looking through opponents' trash for information to be used against them), crimes such as identity theft, petty larceny, and campaign fraud, and tours to teach other College Republicans how to perform these tricks.</div><div>
</div><div>NOVEMBER 1973: Rove first meets George W. Bush when Bush Sr. asks Rove to deliver a set of car keys to the younger Bush. Rove later recalls his initial impression: "Huge amounts of charisma, swagger, cowboy boots, flight jacket, wonderful smile, just charisma—you know, wow."</div><div>
</div><div>1976: Rove marries Houston socialite Valerie Wainwright.</div><div>
</div><div>1977-79: Rove starts raising money for Bush Sr.'s eventual presidential campaign, begins advising George W. Bush in his unsuccessful congressional bid, and as a Texan political consultant put it, has to "babysit Bush back when [he] was drinking."</div><div>
</div><div>1979: Wainwright divorces Rove.</div><div>
</div><div>1981: Rove's mother commits suicide. Rove forms direct-mail firm, Rove & Co., to back Republican candidates.</div><div>
</div><div>1982: Texas Republicans suffer heavy election losses. Rove, however, uses opportunity to develop campaign strategies targeting suburbs.</div><div>
</div><div>1984: Rove helps ex-Democrat Phil Gramm win Senate seat as Republican.</div><div>
</div><div>1986: Rove marries Darby Hickson, a graphic designer for his company. Advises Bill Clement in his tight but successful Texas gubernatorial race.</div><div>
</div><div>1988: Rove hits on "tort reform" as winning issue for Republicans. His candidates win five out of six open seats on the Texas Supreme Court.</div><div>
</div><div>1994: Rove becomes political adviser to George W. Bush in his race against incumbent governor Ann Richards. Bush aided by $1 million pumped into the race. Rove dreams up idea of staging calls to voters from supposed pollsters who ask such things as whether people would be "more or less likely to vote for Governor Richards if [they] knew her staff is dominated by lesbians."</div><div>
</div><div>2000: Rove is at heart of Bush's vicious smear job on John McCain in South Carolina primary: Thinly disguised Bush surrogates claim McCain was a stoolie while a P.O.W. Rove also credited with spreading rumor that McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter is black and illegitimate and his wife a drug addict.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>2000: Rove is required to sell his Enron stock before Bush takes office. Reportedly still holds between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of shares when appointed.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>2001: Rove launches "72-Hour Task Force" aimed at evangelicals, Hispanics, Catholics, and other faith-based groups.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>JUNE 2002: A PowerPoint presentation Rove created to explain strategies for 2002 and 2004 elections is found without explanation in Lafayette Park. The presentation portrays war on terror as an important issue throughout the upcoming campaigns.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>JULY 8, 2003: Syndicated columnist Robert Novak mentions to Rove that former ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA undercover operative. Rove's comment: "I heard that too."</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>JULY 14, 2003: Novak's syndicated column reveals publicly the classified information that, according to "two senior administration officials," Plame is an undercover CIA operative.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>AUGUST 21, 2003: Wilson, who has already blamed Rove for the leak, says at a public forum in Seattle that he would like "to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs."</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>OCTOBER 2004: FBI begins investigating the Plame leak. Rove testifies, but his attorney, Robert Luskin, says Rove has been "assured" by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that "he is not a target of the probe."</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>NOVEMBER 3, 2004: In his victory speech, Bush calls Rove "the architect" of his re-election.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>FEBRUARY 2005: Rove is promoted to assistant to the president, deputy chief of staff, and senior adviser.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>FEBRUARY 11, 2005: The Bush administration denies having had anything to do with the Swift Boat Veterans, who smeared John Kerry during the campaign and denounced his war stories as lies. But rumors persist when Rove pays tribute to the group at the Conservative Political Action Conference during the annual Ronald Reagan banquet in D.C.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Colson works with o'neill to discredit kerry</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/usa/karl-rove/ w/ timeline Plame, Novak</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>---</div><div>
</div><div>book ch? http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=bill_israel</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>slater Bush's Brain on Rove</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>http://books.google.com/books?id=Ig-aodIl-HUC&dq=bush%27s+brain&source=gbs_navlinks</div><div>
</div><div>s  also video</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>http://www.hulu.com/watch/149014/bushs-brain</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Bush Brain video</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>rove bugged own office in tex gov race Clements vs White  (losing) 10 min on wall 2 hrs, removed (invest by rampton)</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>true believer thus any means necessary</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>young rep tricks al Dixon stationery caper. 73 ran for chair (offical pos w/ GOP? paid? fracas, wuz robbed, G1 B1 recogniz Rove new RNC, angry ltr, hired KR 22 min</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Mauro Tx land commis  Greg Rampton, 2-3 HT guys went to JAIL INNOCENT?  KR talked rick perry (--> gov) to change parties and run against hightower; all dems got invesitigated, but esp ag comm. fbi  2 elderly epmolyees asked for Hightower, told to stop, but did not end (KR had info) parents died '92</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>whisper campaign against richards (lesbian) // McC south carolina (NH trouced B2)</div><div>
</div><div>MCC mil career attacked, crazy 3rd party ad, flyer on fund church before election, black love child on talk shows (Mo teresa orphanage in bangldesh), cindy Mccain drug addict </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>max cleland, sec of vet, ad tied to saddam and obama (voted agaist homeland sec 11x) acutally only agaist gop version vs demo</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>saxby chamblis?</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Plame 55 min</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Novak outed (KR fired from GB campaign for leaking to RNovak?</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>wilson served B1, niger yellowcake, plame WMD agent</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>irqa war as pol ploy; war cabinet chickenhawks</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Karl_Rove</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>works with American Renewal, that went after tom dachle  Big Lies 55</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>----</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>plame cia </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Treasongate:Beyond_Karl_Rove</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>----</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Going Dirty </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>kitty duk accused of flag burning 201</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>'80 atwater camp called Turnipseed commie, pushpoll,</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>'88 ferocious attacks on dole and kemp for Bush 203</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Early Rove cleint Gramm 204 denied cic rumor Ann R</div><div>
</div><div>lesbian 204, bugged own phone</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Part I</div><div>
</div><div>Ratfucking  is an American slang term for political sabotage or dirty tricks. It was first brought to public attention during the Watergate scandal investigation that during the 1972 presidential campaign the Nixon campaign committee maintained a "dirty tricks" unit focused on discrediting Nixon's strongest challengers.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>According to Woodward and Bernstein, Nixon aide Dwight Chapin hired fellow USC alumnus Donald Segretti to run a campaign of dirty tricks (which Segretti dubbed "ratfucking") against the Democrats in 1972. The purpose of the operation was to create as much bitterness and disunity within the Democrat primary as possible. One notable example of Segretti's wrong-doing was a faked letter on Democratic presidential candidate Edmund Muskie's letterhead falsely alleging that U.S. Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, a fellow Democrat, had had an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Among the tactics were: canceling meeting-hall reservations just prior to rallies, putting out false press releases or "leaked documents" in the name of political opponents, spying on rival campaigns, putting plants into rival campaigns, purloining speeches and information, vote contracting, jamming phone lines, ordering vast quantities of food for delivery in the name of rival campaigns, hiring "rioters" and "activists, conducting deceptive or offensive get out the vote phone canvasses, push polls, and similar activities.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Before the 1972 election, Edmund Muskie was viewed as a frontrunner for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Although Muskie won the Iowa caucuses and went on to win the New Hampshire primary, his campaign faltered. The collapse of Muskie's momentum early in the 1972 campaign is partly attributed to dirty tricks. Prior to the New Hampshire primary, the so-called "Canuck Letter" was published in the Manchester Union-Leader. The letter claimed that Muskie had made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians—a remark likely to injure Muskie's support among the French-Canadian population in northern New England.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>FBI investigators later determined that the Canuck Letter was a forged document and was part of the Nixon dirty-tricks operation.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Segretti recruited Karl Rove, the executive director of the College Republicans, to work in this dirty tricks campaign. In the fall of 1970, Rove had used a false identity to enter the campaign office of Democrat Alan J. Dixon, who was running for Treasurer of Illinois. He stole 1000 sheets of paper with campaign letterhead, printed fake campaign rally fliers promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing", and distributed them at rock concerts and homeless shelters, with the effect of disrupting Dixon's rally.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>From The Rise and Fall of Turd Blossom by Sidney Blumenthal (Salon, Aug 16 2007):</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>"Rove conducted one session training young Republicans to sift through the garbage of opponents. In the Watergate scandal, Segretti was sentenced to prison for forging campaign literature. The FBI questioned Rove, but dropped its investigation of the small fry. Yet he would become the greatest "ratfucker" of them all."</div><div>
</div><div>As a protégé of Segretti, Rove helped to paint Nixon opponent George McGovern as a "left-wing peacenik", in spite of McGovern's heroism during World War II piloting a B-24.</div><div>
</div><div>Rove held the position of executive director of the College Republicans until early 1973. He left the job to spend five months, without pay, campaigning full time for the position of national chairman of the organization. Lee Atwater, the group's Southern regional coordinator, managed Rove's campaign. The two spent the spring of 1973 crisscrossing the country in a Ford Pinto, lining up the support of Republican state chairs.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>The College Republicans summer 1973 convention was quite contentious. Rove's opponent was Robert Edgeworth. A number of states had sent two competing delegates, because Rove and his supporters had made credentials challenges at state and regional conventions. For example, after the Midwest regional convention, Rove forces had produced a version of the Midwestern College Republicans constitution which differed significantly from the constitution that the Edgeworth forces were using, in order to justify the unseating of the Edgeworth delegates on procedural grounds. In the end, there were two votes, conducted by two convention chairs, and two winners — Rove and Edgeworth, each of whom delivered an acceptance speech. After the convention, both Edgeworth and Rove appealed to Republican National Committee Chairman George H. W. Bush, each contending that he was the new College Republican chairman.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>While resolution was pending, Terry Dolan, a supporter of Edgeworth, went (anonymously) to the Washington Post with recordings of several training seminars for young Republicans where Rove discussed campaign techniques that included rooting through opponents' garbage cans. On August 10, 1973, in the midst of the Watergate scandal, the Post broke the story in an article titled "Republican Party Probes Official as Teacher of Tricks."</div><div>
</div><div>On September 6, 1973, three weeks after announcing his intent to investigate the allegations against Rove, George H. W. Bush chose Rove to be chairman of the College Republicans. Bush then wrote Edgeworth a letter saying that he had concluded that Rove had fairly won the vote at the convention. Edgeworth wrote back, asking about the basis of that conclusion. Not long after that, Edgeworth has said, "Bush sent me back the angriest letter I have ever received in my life. I had leaked to the Washington Post, and now I was out of the Party forever."</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>As National Chairman, Rove introduced Bush to Atwater, who had taken Rove's job as the College Republican's executive director, and who would become Bush's main campaign strategist in future years.</div><div>
</div><div>COMING SOON - Ratfucking  with Lee and Karl</div><div>
</div><div>(Except as noted, all references are taken from Wikipedia.)</div><div>
</div><div></div><div></div><div>
</div><div>ROVE</div><div>
</div><div>The Architect</div><div>
</div><div>1st to conflate politics and policy,eg WHIG eternal campaign, deception and doubt p 5 becomes sop p4</div><div>
</div><div>Abramoff is taking $ from indians to shut down other indians casinos, then charging group 2 to fix, then paying r reed to shut down gambling  p 10 and etc</div><div>
</div><div>Defund the left: take out funders and dismantle parts of gov't that serve poor and other demo constituets ([students?] p 12  also take out whatever sustains left ideology; inserted at every opp, eg Homeland security bill forbade unions or at least restrict p15</div><div>
</div><div>wife says so competative she cries when he smacks her croquet ball on vacation 21</div><div>
</div><div>CC</div><div>
</div><div>1989 reed and pat r meet. Falwell's MM defunct. CC had incubator leadership and rapid response networks (phone fax, modem) 27 big advantage is physical: all in church at least 1x wk   [and megachurches?]</div><div>
</div><div>56  anti-sem (jews ang germans created communism pat rob quoting pat b</div><div>
</div><div>PNAC neocons pro Israel</div><div>
</div><div>JUDICIAL</div><div>
</div><div>Kennedy alabama SC candidate, noprofit for abused kids (opponent H See, recruited by Biz Council). campaign on tort reform, got attn of Neal Cohen, Rove assoc, who created lawsuit abuse network. See side showed pix of Kennedy w kids, then used law school (kids from all over state) to start whisper/smear 41.  sop is to attack positives.</div><div>
</div><div>Ken Mehlman protege at RNC, prolly gay but attacked them. rose quickly (field dir b2 2000, WH pol dir, 2004 election, rnc</div><div>
</div><div>Issue One in Ohio gay bash; sec f state blackwel did robocalls for, to he is in charge of election 127 (black, so helped penetration into AA churches)</div><div>
</div><div>Dr laura biological mistake,  predators p 64</div><div>
</div><div>Drudge accused kerry and edwards of being gay p 71</div><div>
</div><div>Kofman report of ME morale low got him outed 71</div><div>
</div><div>Canton OH trimtab, so mayor helped invisibly by KR 78</div><div>
</div><div>After 2000, KR relaized only got 15 or 19m white funds and prots</div><div>
</div><div>unpredented data  gather and slicing</div><div>
</div><div>ID anget points 86</div><div>
</div><div>in Ohio big TV buys were swiftboat and Progress for Am voter fund 527, became permanent 90</div><div>
</div><div>PFA had website up for alito in 40 min 91  Gary Marx moved to Jud Confrim Network</div><div>
</div><div>White House Iraq Gp rove heads, to mkt war, w scooter, pressed for war resoltuom 9/02, 2 mos before offyear election 91 (1stx in 100 years gop pres got midterm gains.</div><div>
</div><div>p 100 phonics code word for back to basics vs dewey coddling of whole word.</div><div>
</div><div>rove took a shot at going back to school, took one? class on McKinley; front porch campign in fact sophist, sent 14 pieces of mail to every voter in 196 election 104, reaches out to worker immigtant demographic.</div><div>
</div><div>In ohio, strong union and w o mouth to neignbor, but gop shifted to demographics 113 eg church ; blend patriot, god and military</div><div>
</div><div>bush campaign requested ppl to sendf their church directories 115 got busted. kerry turned out 1/2 mil new voters, but not enough to offset b2 50.7% 122</div><div>
</div><div>LOBBY</div><div>
</div><div>health care 300m/yr  bs trail lawyers 5 mil 142  tort gets worked into lots of bills, including ant0terorism. class ation sits moved to fed, tho already overwhelmed [cf new Supreme desicisin on wal-mart]  blamed for high proce of  (and anti-flu, mfg get blanket pass on all devices?! 183)  health care drs on strike had spotty recs) 146  [even 60 min picked up?]  in NJ 6% of drs had 60% of med mal suits 149. rates are based on region.  W Va 250K caps means end, since experts are costly and evidence bar high 152 threat of strike got caps in 2 doz states 154</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>UNION</div><div>
</div><div>made tougher reporting req (could cost 1 bil) 5k under order, but only 120 nt'l 162-3</div><div>
</div><div>yet DOL did not go after walmart for 85 violation of child labor (allowed to useangerous machinery)</div><div>
</div><div>3 prong strategy to undemine unions 163, budget for enforecement cut. Not a conspiracy, tactic announced by Grover 164</div><div>
</div><div>one year break gone, so endless campaign to keep union? 165</div><div>1 mo ino ffice g2 igns 4 exec orders anti-u 165 (atc not gov't function) chao said wd work, but days later exec order; unions uted for minor stuff at same time worldcom and Enron free ride 167</div><div>
</div><div>afl-cio breaks up on campaigns, 53 mil lose overtime 169</div><div>
</div><div>---</div><div>
</div><div>Neal Cohen, Rove assoc 181 philip Mo wanted candidates in all 3 branches and KR had them, so 3K/mo retainer 1991  Cohen also on payroll thru his tort reform org; used as astroturf front "In order to be totally effective, the grasroots effort must appear to be spontaneous rather than a coordinated effort" 181  [multinat'l  Monitor www mar 2003</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Tex lawsuit on HMO aty Ted Olson 184, recused himslef a couple days before brief filed b/c his fim on both sides?!  Scalia said HMO do not practice medicine;basically the ruling was buy better insurance 15. states rghts pres 86's 'em 186.</div><div>
</div><div>Michael Ledeen under doug feith Rome mtg  (ART, pro-israel pprs) , ~ all treaties including oslo, abm etc. w/ rums, shulsky created office of  Special Plans to ~ CIA intl on Iraq.  189 overseen by VP pal Luti (scarier than ollie). ML wants to work w/ murderers; brike billygate story Libiya in New Rep w  Borchgrave (--> Wa times)/ OSP was amateur hour, academics and contractors doing war planning; luti direct conn to VP 204 unprecedented; vetting info that other agencis hs trashed, picking the rottten cheries"  204.  Forged docs leaked to berlusconi panorama (ledeen worked there too?), repoter rejected, ordered to deliver to USA embassy.</div><div>
</div><div>Rove helped abramoff get richer, and he got gop pols to do what WH wanted (apparently Delay not a pal/team player?) 210</div><div>
</div><div>2004 election reverse of LBJ in terms of congress and governors  211  KR moved office to next to oval.  campaign staffers moved out into infrastruture 213</div><div>
</div><div>Simon Rosenberg interview mar 2005: "Look, the conservatives invested billions and bilions in alternative infrastructure beause they had neither the United STates government not any other ways to communicate their values.  Thay built a mgnificent machine to communicate, and they used it to tke over the government of our country.  They have a very robust infrasructure, and we have neither government or infrastructure.  Too many of our answers as Democrats have een tactical and not understanding that the game has been changed.  We have to do that by doing some investing of our own" [!}</div><div>
</div><div>Aftr elections, 527 could coordinate (more) w. bush, and Prog fro Am sold the social sec privacy issue, also by Compass (CoC, run by Terry Nelson b2 nat pol director. compass spent 20 mil, incl on APCO, run by Neal Cohen (w/ rove since early 90's) 217. at RNC mehlman says we have war room etc.  supported by USA Next, which used swift boat tactics and ppl (lacivitas and rick reed sic. had ~ AARP ad w/ guys kissing 218  chls Jarvis</div><div>
</div><div>post katrina blame game (state and locals were dems) msg picked up by Fox</div><div>
</div><div>ed gill rove acolyte 232</div><div>
</div><div>delay laundered $  out for himself, a bully, so rove used abramoff to run him 236 (anb reed and grover CR pals, buten ussr flag abe says not to coixist w/ left "our job is to remove them power permanently" 236. JA exec asst Susan Ralston wetn to WH to wrok for KR, hired exstaffer Scanlon; had access to staffers to VP, AG, sec Int, trade reps 237  200 mtgs in 10 mos</div><div>
</div><div>JA paid Copely News Service col Doug Bandow 2K/art'l 240  (aslo a CTT guy, who does it all the time" 241   //to armstrong? on ed puff pieces?</div><div>
</div><div>randy duke cunningham took kickbks from 2 def contractors 242 set up culture of corruption charge 243</div><div>
</div><div>Mel Sembler, US amb to italy during niger deal? raised $ for scooter defense (docs cabled direct to WH) and routed to DIA, not CIA. recruited kmp, forbes, fred thomp, alan simpson, woolsey, jeane kirk.  libby did jail time, then hired by Hudson 267  PENSION  [checkcrimes vs CTT regnery]</div><div>
</div><div>after abramoff went down, KR et al scambled to round up all pix w/ B2 (NYT found one w/ rove, ja and indians) 271</div><div>
</div><div>a card leaves, bolten demotes KR (or to concentrate on 04 fight) replaced by joel kaplan BBR</div><div>
</div><div>lots of details on plame </div><div>etc 236</div><div>
</div><div>PLAME</div><div>
</div><div>1/1/01 breakin to niger embassy got letterhead and stamps</div><div>
</div><div>Nearly al the neocons lost clearances b/c of leaks eg to israelis  195</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>boho</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>In 1970, as a protégé of Donald Segretti (later convicted as a Watergate conspirator), Karl Rove sneaked into the campaign office of Illinois Democrat Alan Dixon and stole some letterhead, which he used to print fake campaign rally fliers promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing," and distributed them at rock concerts and homeless shelters. Rove admitted the incident years later, saying "I was nineteen and I got involved in a political prank." Rove learned at age nineteen, during his parents' divorce, that the man who raised him, a mineral geologist, was not his biological father. Rove's mother committed suicide in Reno, Nevada, in 1981. Rove dropped out of the University of Utah in 1971 to become the Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee and held this position until 1972, when he became the National Chairman (1973-1974). In this role, Karl Rove had access to powerful politicians and government officials of the Republican party, and formed ties with George H. W. Bush, then Chairman of the Republican National Committee (1973-1974). For the next few years, Rove worked in various Republican circles and assisted George H. W. Bush's 1980 vice-presidential campaign. Rove is credited for introducing Bush to Lee Atwater, who would go on to play a critical role in Bush's 1988 presidential campaign. Like Atwater, Karl Rove is well known for his effective campaign tactics, employing push polls and frequently attacking an opponent on the opponent's strongest issue. In 1981, Rove founded direct mail consulting firm, Karl Rove + Company, based out of Austin, Texas. </div><div>
</div><div>This firm's first clients included Republican Governor Bill Clements and Democratic Congressman Phil Gramm, who later became a Republican Congressman and United States Senator. In 1993, Rove began advising George W. Bush's gubernatorial campaign. He continued, however, to operate his consulting business until 1999, when he sold the firm to focus his efforts on Bush's bid for the presidency. In 1986, just before a crucial debate in the election for governor of Texas, Karl Rove claimed that his office had been bugged by the Democrats</div><div>
</div><div>. The police and FBI investigated and discovered that bug's battery was so small that it needed to be changed every few hours, and the investigation was dropped. Critics alleged that Rove had bugged his own office to garner sympathy votes in the close governor's race. </div><div>
</div><div>Rove is thought to be behind misleading Swift Boat Veterans for Truth television ads that quoted Kerry as saying U.S. military personnel in Vietnam "had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads," "randomly shot at civilians," and "razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan," without Kerry's qualification that he was reporting what others said at a Vietnam veterans' conference, and not what Kerry had personally witnessed. Another ad from SBVT accused Kerry of lying to win his Vietnam combat medals.</div><div>
</div><div>George W. Bush called Rove the "architect" of his 2004 Presidential Campaign in his 3 November 2004 acceptance speech. Rove has been accused of pulling many other dirty tricks over the years. In March 2001, Rove met with executives from Intel, successfully advocating a merger between a Dutch company and an Intel company supplier. Rove owned $100,000 in Intel stock at the time. In June 2001, Rove met with two pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. At the time, Rove held almost $250,000 in drug industry stocks. On 30 June 2001, Rove divested his stocks in 23 companies, which included more than $100,000 in each of Enron, Boeing, General Electric, and Pfizer. On 30 June 2001, the White House admitted that Rove was involved in administration energy policy meetings, while at the same time holding stock in energy companies including Enron. June 23, 2005, marked another controversial statement from Rove. "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," said Mr. Rove at a fund-raiser in New York City for the Conservative Party of New York State. Presently embroiled in controversy concerning his involvement in revealing the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame, allegedly in retaliation for her husband's criticisms of the administration.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>Bossrove</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>1/28/13</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>unger, craig 2012 scribner</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>newsweek, fox wsj</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>white house percs to give, eg visits, build rolodex</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>scotus legit b2 election 2000, also CU allowed perm gop p3  schumer says one of 3 or 4 scotus that undermine democ (bigtime) p 4 KR never mentions; of 5justices , 3 b1&2</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>post CU teamed w/ ed Gill, ex RNC chr, 527 up in 2 wks; onw mo 30 mil 4x RNC</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>weaver; mostly operative, but also mary cheney, norm coleman, malek, Am act network, rnc chair duncan, fmr cochr, haleyb, steen j law uscoc (2009 coc lobby$ 120m$, 5x #2 exxon)</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>allied w/ aan, am action forum, resurgent republic, rwep state leadership comm; Biz Ind pol actuon comm greg casey; mirror of soros Democ Alliance, // to RNC</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>boy read milton f nat rev, goldwater memorabilia p8 Hanna handler of McKinley hero (most expensive campaign to date) 9</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>smarTech oddities post 11:14; millions of emails lost;</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>2005 house Jud comm invest of 2004 election “massive and unprecedented” irreg 18raised “grave doubts”</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>YR foe said rove taught dirty trick courses, invest by fbi; b1 sent angry lettter and hired KR 21</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>KR rose slow (tho atwater protege, not liked); phil gramm win 84 and direct mail  to Reagan campaign 84 put own xx machine in Tex sec of state office 22</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>made hay w/ obscure unsexy tort reform; Ala dr got 4m$ from bmw b/c acid rain hurt paint; 23 cash cow and wedge issue; in 80's Tx sup ct dems and favored plaintiff; kr reversed; perry, simmons, harte, nau 25 44 tort bills; tort helped client Pmorris, so $ for b2</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>kr got b2 to read olasky, jqw, etc</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>1994 push poll gov richards lez, had 67% approval, spoken of as pres cand vs b2 had never won, but he beat by 8 pts 33</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>chat choo choo led to fibre optic lines; mike cunnyngham bought smartech; voter vault dB microtarget, could call? All 110 m houses in US 1 day; best spam ever; 38 built by  mike Connell  ; model voter turnout to preceinct level; david horo, armey, kasich, boehner wetc taft gov ohio New Media co fla IT contracts; new media joined DCI RNC  NRA, liddy dole, barbour, griffith & rogers, b2 jeb</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>synhorst had ten co's in Az alone;</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>b2 routed in NH by McC so he had to be destroyed in SC (mo teresa baby) 44 fad cand, wife on drugs, crazy pow smears by synhorst (worked in b2 gov camp)</div><div>
</div><div>DCI called KR Cenrtal, astroturf, pushpolls “dark arts” 45 DCI could generate letters, even w/ handwritten ps sig // to Horo 2000 pamplet art of pol war: destroy fighting ability 45.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>heather? Wife synhorst spun GovTech as nonpart woman owned, but run by mike and synh</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>connell pal Barry Jackson gov tour for b2 w/ kr, worked w/ ed gill on astroturf (Brooks)11/22 disrupted recount;  mercer reynolds 400K$ amb switz; bill dewitt on bd also wife 47</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>govtech: mike pense, delay led to contracts for comms; smartech gave email to evade rules records</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>ch4  b2 WH ppl had know knowledge of policy ad no desire to learn 51 just pure politics</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>KR invited to Ala to redo tex judic makeover; used u ala law school; w/ scotus, can do favors for big corps</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>bill canary pol op paratrooper, wife Leura Garrett C power couple 53 did tort reform 8:1; alice marin and leaura AG</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Don Siegelman protege of anti-war, star of anti-wallace dems; won gov landslie, only dem; 1st gov toback gore;</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Dana Jill Simpson built law practice on storm gypsies; did ops res for KR; she tailed DS; he had been invest in bid rig but dropped; leura reoopened; clear conflict of Intr; Riley gop gov opp raed about indictments (there were none?); FBI invest DS donors; b2 and DC stumped for riley; AP called for DS, 99% precinct reporting; rove aide and rnc kelly mccullogh caled riley and said no concede; vote # changed; law said wait period to cert, but AG Pryor did anyway, and said anyone who broke seal broke law (obscure), no point in going to gap state scotus; riley worried about rematch, but cabary said his girls wd take him out 61 w/ KR, who called simpson a lunatic; said his name was not in 143pp depos, but actually in 50x</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div> =</div><div>
</div><div>http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-did-karl-rove-and-his-gop-thugs.html</div><div>
</div><div>Here in Alabama, all of this has me thinking about one of the great political mysteries of the past generation. It's a mystery that began to unfold before Bush ever took office, but it did not gain national attention until Dubya and his acolytes were in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>The mystery can be summarized by two questions: (1) Why did Karl Rove and his pro-business GOP thugs target Alabama Democratic Governor Don Siegelman? (2) Why did the Bush administration proceed with what has become the most notorious political prosecution in American history?</div><div>
</div><div>Those questions are particularly powerful now because Siegelman last weekfiled a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court for review of his 2006 convictions on bribery and obstruction of justice charges. This appears to be Siegelman's last crack at appellate review, and if it is denied, he probably is headed back to federal prison.</div><div>
</div><div>I've probably written more words about the Siegelman affair than just about anyone on the planet, so I might as well take a crack at answering those questions.</div><div>
</div><div>Those who believe that the Siegelman prosecution was legitimate, that the former governor and codefendant Richard Scrushy really did commit crimes over a contribution to an education-lottery campaign, often say something like this: "Why would Karl Rove and  his associates worry about Don Siegelman? Alabama is a backwater state that nobody cares about, and its governor was not all that important. Why would Rove even care about a relative nobody like Don Siegelman?"</div><div>
</div><div>Folks who ask these questions underestimate Alabama's strategic importance. They also underestimate the grotesque greed and lust for power that has come to grip the modern GOP. Most importantly, they ignore the fact that Don Siegelman was a central figure in three financial and political scenarios that spelled potential danger for the Republican Party and the money men who support it. Let's examine these scenarios:</div><div>
</div><div>* The Duel Over An Air Force Refueling-Tanker Contract--Journalist/lawyer Andrew Kreig, of the D.C.-based Justice Integrity Project, has reported that the Siegelman prosecution was driven largely by the fierce competition between Boeing and EADS for a $40-billion Air Force refueling-tanker contract. Republicans are known to wear patriotism on their sleeves, so you might expect them to support an American company such as Boeing. But EADS planned to build a manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama, and that meant the business forces that control our state strongly supported the European contender. Where does Siegelman fit into this picture? He had helped Boeing expand a plant in Huntsville, Alabama, and locate a new facility in Decatur, Alabama. Siegelman served as governor from 1998 to 2002, and business interests feared he would favor Boeing over EADSduring a second term. How to get Siegelman out of the picture? About three months after Siegelman took office, Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor launched an investigation that later would be taken over by federal officials. Key events in the investigation seemed to be timed around the 2002 election, which Siegelman lost to challenger Bob Riley, and the 2006 election--when Siegelman had appeared to be the strongest likely challenger to Riley. Who ran Bill Pryor's campaign for the attorney general's office? Why, none other than Karl Rove. Did Pryor's efforts eventually pay off? Bush appointed him to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Did the effort to bring down Siegelman pay off? No, it did not; the tanker contract went to Boeing.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>* The Battle Over Fraud and ExxonMobil--As early as 1995, Alabama conservation officials began to suspect that oil companies weren't paying the proper amounts under leases for natural-gas rights. The issue surfaced under Republican Governor Fob James but picked up steam when Siegelman took office in 1999. He hired the Mobile law firm of Cunningham Bounds Yance Crowder and Brown to represent the state in lawsuits involving oil companies. The firm must have done a pretty good job because it won a $3.5-billion jury verdict against ExxonMobil. But the punitive damages were overturned by the Republican-packed Alabama Supreme Court. Did Karl Rove and his buddies at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce want to make sure that Don Siegelman never again went after big oil? I would say the answer is yes.</div><div>
</div><div>* The Threat of a Pro-Gun Democrat in the Deep South--Siegelman built a relatively strong progressive record while holding four different statewide offices in Alabama--governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. But he was to the right of most Democrats on the issue of guns. And sources tell Legal Schnauzer this infuriated, and terrified, Republican politicos. Our sources say that Siegelman was not a hard-core supporter of gun rights, but he developed a relatively friendly relationship with the National Rifle Association for his support of guns in hunting and other sporting activities. In fact, NRA icon Charlton Heston signed a letter supporting Siegelman in the 2002 governor's race. Why would this cause considerable consternation among Republicans? Political scientists who studied the 2000 presidential race have noted that the NRA's massive spending that helped place normally Democratic West Virginia in the GOP column was a critical factor in winning the White House for George W. Bush. Had West Virginia remained a Democratic stronghold, the subsequent Florida vote-counting controversy would have mattered little; Al Gore already would have had the electoral vote sewn up. Republicans have made huge political strides from scaring sportsmen with the notion that Democrats are going to take away their guns. But there was Siegelman, in the heart of deep-red Dixie, winning an endorsement from the NRA. If other Southern Democrats had taken similar stances on guns, it could have spelled political calamity for Republicans. Is that the reason they had to take down Siegelman?</div><div>
</div><div>Our list of GOP motivations for the Siegelman prosecution is not all inclusive. It does not include, for example, the fact that Siegelman threatened Jack Abramoff and his Mississippi gaming clients by proposing an education lottery in Alabama.</div><div>
</div><div>So what is our No. 1 reason that Karl Rove and his thugs targeted Don Siegelman? The gun issue is perhaps the most interesting one because of its potential for national political implications; Democrats probably should ponder whether it's wise to come across as anti-gun in a country that clearly loves its firearms. The Boeing vs. EADS issue is intriguing because of the sheer volume of money involved. But when you consider the timing and the long-standing power of the players involved, I would say Siegelman's battles with the oil industry are the No. 1 reason he was targeted.</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman sicced a Mobile law firm on big oil in 1999, and the Boeing/EADS battle didn't pick up major steam until about 2001. The gun issue and Charlton Heston did not become known until just before the 2002 election.</div><div>
</div><div>It's not enough for big oil to screw consumers at the pumps every summer. It also wants to defraud states out of the true value for their mineral rights. Could Alabama have used that $3.5 billion? It sure could have--for better schools, roads and bridges, health care, you name it.</div><div>
</div><div>Don Siegelman was fighting for that, and our guess is, that's why big oil decided he had to be stopped.</div><div>Posted by legalschnauzer at 6:39 AM </div><div>Labels: Boeing, Charlton Heston, Don Siegelman, EADS, ExxonMobil, Karl Rove, NRA</div><div></div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>huffpo </div><div>
</div><div>Actually, the first question is why Don Siegelman was prosecuted and jailed at all. The second question is why President Obama has not yet pardoned him or commuted his sentence. Of all the abusive, vindictive, and politically-driven prosecutions by the U.S. Department of Justice, the prosecution of Don Siegleman stands at the top. Over a hundred Attorneys General from both political parties have condemned the legality of his prosecution. The House Judiciary Committee has documented the partisan cabal between the Bush White House and the Justice Department to take down Siegelman and destroy his career. Commentary by journalists, academics, and disinterested observers has uniformly decried the legal and ethical irregularities that contaminated his prosecution and blackened the reputation of the Justice Department. Despite all this, President Obama, apparently on advice from his "Pardon Attorneys," has refused to grant Siegelman a pardon or commute his seven-year sentence. Why?</div><div>
</div><div>Don Siegelman at one time was the most powerful and popular Democrat in the blood-red state of Alabama. A former Rhodes Scholar, Siegelman was Governor from 1998-2002, and previously held many important state positions, including attorney general. He lost reelection in 2002 to Republican Bob Riley after a few thousand votes from a small rural county mysteriously were discovered in a polling place vacated by Democratic poll-watchers after polls closed. Siegelman, voter surveys showed, was expected to win a rematch against any Republican opponent. But that was before federal prosecutors began their hunt.</div><div>
</div><div>In 2004, Siegelman was indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Alice Martin, for bid-rigging on state contracts. The indictment was dismissed almost immediately by Federal District Judge U.W. Clemon, one of the most senior federal judges in Alabama, for lack of evidence. Judge Clemon stated that the Siegelman prosecution "was completely without legal merit" and, indeed, "was the most unfounded criminal case over which I presided in my entire judicial career."</div><div>
</div><div>Undeterred by this thrashing, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, Leura Canary, brought a second indictment a few months later, this time charging Siegelman with RICO violations and bribery for accepting a large donation to a state lottery campaign to fund free tuition for high school graduates and appointing the donor to a seat on the state medical board, a position that the donor had occupied under three previous administrations. The trial was held in 2006, but this time before a different federal judge, Mark Fuller, handpicked by the Justice Department because, according to sworn testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Fuller could be trusted to "hang Don Siegelman." Indeed, Fuller previously had been investigated by Siegelman for financial fraud when Siegelman was the state Attorney General.</div><div>
</div><div>The jury deliberated for 11 days, and after reporting itself deadlocked several times, acquitted Siegelman of most of the charges -- including the inflammatory RICO charges that appear to have been brought solely to portray Siegelman as part of a corrupt conspiracy. However, perhaps because of the contaminating influence of the RICO charge, the jury convicted Siegelman of the bribery count pursuant to Fuller's questionable legal instruction to the jury in which he omitted one of the key requirements that to find a bribe, the jury needed to find an explicit promise or understanding. There was no proof of an explicit promise. And Siegelman, the evidence showed, did not profit one penny from the contribution to the state lottery campaign. Indeed, the bribery prosecution of Siegelman is the first bribery case ever brought by federal prosecutors that was predicated on an issue-advocacy campaign contribution in which the alleged beneficiary received nothing in return.</div><div>
</div><div>The proof against Siegelman came from one witness only, Nick Bailey, a convicted extortionist who made a deal with the prosecutors for favorable treatment. He had been the prosecution's chief witness in the earlier aborted prosecution in northern Alabama, and who stated in that proceeding that he had no knowledge that Siegelman was involved in any illegal conduct. Federal prosecutors, in preparing Bailey for the new trial, interviewed him approximately 70 times over three years, interviews that included threats, cajoling, and intimidation, to get him to say that he actually witnessed Siegelman receiving a check from the donor. Interestingly, no notes or memos were taken by the federal prosecutors of any of these interviews. Moreover, Bailey's critical testimony was almost certainly false. After being confronted with documentary evidence that the contribution could not have been made at the time Bailey stated, Bailey changed his story and said he had no idea how the check got into the hands of Siegelman.</div><div>
</div><div>There is overwhelming evidence to conclude that Siegelman was targeted for prosecution not because he committed any crimes but because of who he was. Grant Woods, a Republican and former Attorney General of Arizona, stated: "This was a Republican state and Siegelman was the one Democrat they could never get rid of." Former Alabama U.S. Attorney Doug Jones stated: "It appeared that agents were not investigating any allegations of a crime, but were fishing around for anything they could find against an individual." Former Republican Congressman from Alabama Parker Griffith called the Siegelman case a "political assassination."</div><div>
</div><div>Strongly corroborated sworn testimony before the House Judiciary Committee disclosed that Karl Rove had contacted the Justice Department about bringing a prosecution against Siegelman, and that his close friend Bill Canary, the most prominent Republican operative in Alabama and, coincidentally, the husband of U.S. Attorney Leura Canary, who prosecuted Siegelman, spoke to Rove about getting the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section to mobilize additional resources against Siegelman. Canary declared confidently that "his girls would take care of" Siegelman. When Canary was asked who "his girls" were, he said they were his wife Leura, and Alice Martin, the same U.S. Attorney who previously brought the unfounded indictment against Siegelman. Rove and Canary have denied these allegations, but have refused to be interviewed under oath.</div><div>
</div><div>Legally, the charges against Siegelman appear to be more factually baseless than any case brought by the federal government. Politically, the case appears to have been permeated by the kind of irregular conduct that smacks of selective and partisan-driven prosecution. Ethically, the conduct of lawyers in the Justice Department appears to be utterly inconsistent with a prosecutor's professional duty to serve the cause of justice. From these perspectives, one would expect that the Siegelman case is a perfect occasion for President Obama to grant a pardon and rectify an injustice. Siegelman has been deprived of his liberty because of a relentless abuse of power by a combination of political and prosecutorial forces, and Siegelman's only recourse now is the president's constitutional power to pardon.</div><div>
</div><div>To be sure, Siegelman's case differs markedly from other recent and embarrassing Justice Department miscues. The prosecution was not marked by the kind of overt instances of prosecutorial misconduct that led the Justice Department to seek dismissals of the criminal charges against the late senator Ted Stevens, and the River Birch defendants in New Orleans. The Siegelman prosecution pales in comparison with other recent misguided prosecutions of John Edwards and the Alabama casino operators, but those cases resulted in acquittals. Interestingly, several of the same prosecutors who were involved in some of these cases were also part of the Siegelman prosecution team.</div><div>
</div><div>Some might argue that before a pardon or commutation is granted, the applicant must demonstrate remorse. However, if a person convicted of a crime has done nothing wrong, how can that person realistically be expected to show remorse? Would observers view an act of presidential mercy to Don Siegelman as a politically-motivated act, rather than a fair and reasonable use of the pardon power? To be sure, the president's pardon power has been perceived in the past not as a mercy-giving dispensation but as an act of raw political power, as with President Gerald Ford's pardon of President Richard Nixon, and President Bill Clinton's pardon of financier Marc Rich. But Don Siegelman's case is different.</div><div>
</div><div>To be sure, pardoning Siegelman is not as easy as the pardons President Obama has already made. He has pardoned several offenders, mostly for minor offenses which drew light penalties in the first place, and most of those pardoned have already been placed on probation. These are easy pardons, and are not likely to risk any criticism. Pardoning Don Siegelman is a harder case, and takes more principle and courage. But the unique record in this case, including the many Republican officials who have condemned the government's overreaching, would certainly insulate President Obama from criticism.</div><div>
</div><div>Although a pardon, or commutation of the several years left of Siegelman's sentence, will not provide complete closure to this bad faith prosecution, it will afford some measure of belated justice. The Siegelman case will continue to resonate -- it is even taught in law schools -- as a paradigm of the way the criminal justice system can miscarry when the worst in partisan politics combines with overzealous and misguided prosecution. Indeed, if anything good can ever come of this bad case, it is this awareness.</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>wiki</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Don Eugene Siegelman (born February 24, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician who held numerous offices in Alabama. He was the 51st Governor of Alabama for one term from 1999 to 2003, and to date is the last Democrat to hold that office. Siegelman is the only person in the history of Alabama to be elected to serve in all four of the top statewide elected offices: Secretary of State, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. He served in Alabama politics for 26 years.</div><div>
</div><div>In 2006 Siegelman was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to seven years in prison.[1] Various former attorneys general and officials have contended that his prosecution was intentionally wrongful.[2][3] On March 6, 2009, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key bribery, conspiracy and obstruction counts against Siegelman and refused his request for a new trial. Siegelman is currently serving a 6.5 year sentence.</div><div>
</div><div>Contents</div><div> [hide] </div><div>1 Personal life and earlier career</div><div>2 Career as Attorney General</div><div>3 Governorship</div><div>3.1 State lottery and universal education</div><div>4 2002 election controversy</div><div>5 Federal prosecution</div><div>5.1 The 2004 trial</div><div>5.2 The 2006 conviction</div><div>5.2.1 Release from federal prison</div><div>5.3 The 2009 appeal</div><div>5.3.1 Objections raised against the prosecutors and the court proceedings</div><div>5.3.1.1 Testimony of the star witness</div><div>5.3.1.2 Partiality of the jury</div><div>5.3.1.3 Karl Rove connection</div><div>5.3.1.4 Alleged Misconduct by Attorney General</div><div>5.3.2 Public reaction</div><div>5.3.2.1 Government officials</div><div>5.3.2.2 Wider public</div><div>5.3.2.3 Federal Communications Commission investigation</div><div>5.3.2.4 Siegelman Sentenced</div><div>6 References</div><div>7 External links</div><div>Personal life and earlier career[edit]</div><div>Siegelman was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, the son of Catherine Andrea (née Schottgen) and Leslie Bouchet Siegelman, Sr.[4] Siegelman is married to Lori Allen, and they have two children, Dana and Joseph. Siegelman is Catholic,[5] and his wife Lori is Jewish; they raised their children in the Jewish faith. He has studied martial arts for decades and holds a black belt in Kyokushin-style karate.</div><div>
</div><div>He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama, where he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Psi chapter), in 1968, and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1972. He then studied international law at the University of Oxford from 1972–1973.[6] While at the University of Alabama, Siegelman served as the President of the Student Government Association. While in law school, Siegelman worked as an officer in the United States Capitol Police to meet his expenses.</div><div>
</div><div>In 1979, Siegelman was elected Secretary of State of Alabama. He served as Secretary of State from 1979 to 1987, then as state Attorney General from 1987 to 1991, then as Lieutenant Governor from 1995 to 1999. In 1998, he won election to governor on his first attempt with 57% of the vote, including over 90% of the African-American electorate.</div><div>
</div><div>Career as Attorney General[edit]</div><div>In 1988, Siegelman addressed the Alabama Chemical Association and met with Monsanto lobbyists, leading to permission for Monsanto to direct their own, very inadequate cleanup of PCBs at their plant in Anniston, Alabama. As a result, Monsanto dredged PCBs from just a few hundred yards of Snow Creek and its tributaries.[7]</div><div>
</div><div>Governorship[edit]</div><div>Siegelman's term as governor took place in the midst of explosive growth in Alabama's automotive manufacturing industry. The first new major plant, for Mercedes-Benz, had come to Alabama in the administration of Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. During Siegelman's administration, Mercedes agreed to double the size of that plant. Siegelman became an energetic industrial recruiter, visiting several countries and securing commitments from Toyota, Honda,[8] and Hyundai[9][10] to build major assembly plants in Alabama.</div><div>
</div><div>Governor Siegelman presided over eight executions (seven by electric chair, one by lethal injection), including that of Lynda Lyon Block, the first female executed in the state since 1957. He also oversaw the transition from electrocution as a sole method to lethal injection as the primary method.</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman was the first native Mobilian to be elected to the state's highest office. Siegelman was also the first governor to have a non-Christian wife, his wife Lori being Jewish.</div><div>
</div><div>State lottery and universal education[edit]</div><div>Siegelman attempted to capitalize early in his administration on what had been the keystone issue of his campaign: a state lottery, with the proceeds funding free tuition at state universities for most high school graduates. Disregarding the advice of some supporters, Siegelman supported a bill that placed the lottery on a free-standing referendum ballot in 1999. The measure was defeated.[11] Some advisers had suggested that Siegelman wait until the regular 2000 elections, when anti-gambling interests would command a smaller percentage of the electorate.[citation needed]</div><div>
</div><div>After the defeat of the lottery, Siegelman struggled to deal with serious state budget problems. Alabama's tax system is historically sensitive to economic downturns, and tax revenues were down during most of his administration. Despite this, observers felt that Siegelman did a decent job of managing the limited revenue produced by this system during a national economic downturn.[citation needed]</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman launched the "Alabama Reading Initiative", an early education literacy program that was praised by both Democratic and Republican officials, and emulated by several other states.</div><div>
</div><div>2002 election controversy[edit]</div><div>Main article: Alabama gubernatorial election, 2002</div><div>Representative Bob Riley defeated Siegelman in his November 2002 reelection bid by the narrowest margin in Alabama history: approximately 3,000 votes. The result was controversial, as on the night of the election, Siegelman was initially declared the winner by the Associated Press. Later, a voting machine malfunction in a single county, Baldwin County, was claimed to have produced the votes needed to give Siegelman the election. When the malfunction was corrected, Riley emerged the winner. Democratic Party officials objected, stating that the recount had been performed by local Republican election officials after Democratic observers had left the site of the vote counting, thus rendering verification of the recount results impossible. The state's Attorney General, Republican Bill Pryor, affirmed the recounted vote totals, securing Riley's election. Pryor denied requests for a manual recount of the disputed vote in an opinion warning that opening the sealed votes to recount them would be held a criminal offense.[12] Largely as a result of this controversy, the Alabama Legislature amended the election code to provide for automatic, supervised recounts in close races.[13]</div><div>
</div><div>Federal prosecution[edit]</div><div>The 2004 trial[edit]</div><div>On May 27, 2004, Siegelman was served an indictment on federal charges, but the day after his trial began, prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges. The judge, U.W Clemon, a Carter appointee, threw out much of the prosecution's evidence and stated that no new charges could be refiled based on the disallowed evidence.[14]</div><div>
</div><div>The 2006 conviction[edit]</div><div>On October 26, 2005, Siegelman was indicted on new charges of bribery and mail fraud in connection with Richard M. Scrushy, founder and former CEO of HealthSouth. Two former Siegelman aides were charged in the indictment as well. Siegelman was accused of trading government favors for campaign donations when he was governor from 1999 to 2003 and lieutenant governor from 1995 to 1999. Scrushy was accused of arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman's campaign for a state lottery fund for universal education in exchange for a seat on a state hospital regulatory board, a non-paying position. Scrushy, who had served on the state hospital regulatory board over the past three Republican administrations, had recently been acquitted of charges of securities fraud for his part in the HealthSouth Corporation fraud scandal which cost shareholders billions.[15]</div><div>
</div><div>During his trial, Siegelman continued his campaign for reelection, running in the Democratic primary against Lt. Governor Lucy Baxley and minor candidates. On June 6, despite Baxley's relatively low-profile campaign, she easily defeated Siegelman with almost 60% of the vote compared to Siegelman's 36%.[16] Baxley went on to lose to incumbent Bob Riley in the general election by a large margin.</div><div>
</div><div>On June 29, 2006, just three weeks after losing the primary, a federal jury found both Siegelman and Scrushy guilty on seven of the 33 counts in the indictment. Two codefendants, his former chief of staff, Paul Hamrick and his transportation director, Mack Roberts, were acquitted of all charges. Siegelman was convicted on one count of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, four counts of honest services mail fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice.[17] Siegelman was acquitted on 25 counts, including the indictment's allegations of a widespread RICO conspiracy.[18] Siegelman was represented by Mobile attorneys Vince Kilborn and David McDonald, along with Greenwood attorney Hiram Eastland and Notre Dame law professor G. Robert Blakey, who is an authority on RICO. Siegelman was sentenced by Judge Mark Everett Fuller to more than seven years in federal prison and a $50,000 fine.[1]</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman has said in his defense that Scrushy had been on the board of the state hospital regulatory board during several preceding governorships and that his contribution towards the state lottery fund for universal education was unrelated. He says that such charges, in addition to being unfounded, are without precedent. Scrushy was released from federal prison in April 2012. He resided in a Houston, Texas halfway house until he was released on July 25, 2012.[19][20]</div><div>
</div><div>Release from federal prison[edit]</div><div>On Thursday, March 27, 2008, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals approved the release of former Governor Siegelman from federal prison while he appealed his conviction in the corruption case. He was released on Friday the 28th.[21] Siegelman stated that he wanted to see Karl Rove held in contempt for refusing to testify before the House committee that investigated Siegelman's conviction.[22]</div><div>
</div><div>The 2009 appeal[edit]</div><div>On March 6, 2009, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key bribery, conspiracy and obstruction counts against Siegelman and refused his request for a new trial, finding no evidence that the conviction was unjust. The Court struck down two of the seven charges on which Siegelman was convicted and ordered a new sentencing hearing.[23] His sentence was thereafter reduced by 10 months, leaving him with 69 months.[24]</div><div>
</div><div>Objections raised against the prosecutors and the court proceedings[edit]</div><div>Testimony of the star witness[edit]</div><div>Witness Nick Bailey, who provided the cornerstone testimony upon which the conviction was based, was subsequently convicted of extortion; having been facing 10 years in prison, Bailey had cooperated with prosecutors to lighten his own sentence. Although he engaged in over 70 interviews with the prosecution against Siegelman, none of the notes detailing these interviews were shared with the defense. In addition, after the case was tried it was confirmed that the check he testified he saw Scrushy write for Siegelman was actually written days later, when he was not actually present.[25][26]</div><div>
</div><div>Partiality of the jury[edit]</div><div>Documents indicated that prosecutors interviewed two jurors while the court was reviewing charges of juror misconduct, in violation of the judge's instruction that no contact with jurors should occur without his permission.</div><div>
</div><div>Karl Rove connection[edit]</div><div>Allegations that Siegelman was prosecuted at the insistence of Bush-appointed officials at the Justice Department, as well as the insistence of Leura Canary, a U.S. Attorney in Montgomery whose husband was Alabama's top Republican operative and who had for years worked closely with Karl Rove, led federal courts to release the accused on bail.[27] In June 2007, a Republican lawyer, Dana Jill Simpson of Rainsville, Alabama, signed a sworn statement that, five years earlier, she had heard that Karl Rove was preparing to neutralize Siegelman politically with an investigation headed by the U.S. Department of Justice.[28] Simpson later told The Birmingham News that her affidavit's wording could be interpreted in two ways, and stated that she had written her affidavit herself, whereas in her Congressional testimony she had admitted to having help from a Siegelman supporter.[29]</div><div>
</div><div>According to Simpson's statement, she was on a Republican campaign conference call in 2002 when she heard Bill Canary tell other campaign workers not to worry about Siegelman because Canary's "girls" and "Karl" would make sure the Justice Department pursued the Democrat so he was not a political threat in the future.[28] "Canary's girls" supposedly included his wife, Leura Canary, who is United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, and United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Alice Martin.[28] Leura Canary did not submit voluntary recusal paperwork until two months after Siegelman attorney David Cromwell Johnson's press conference in March 2002.[30][31][32]</div><div>
</div><div>In interviews with the press, Simpson has emphasized that she heard Rove's name mentioned in a phone conversation in which the discussion turned to Siegelman, clarified that she heard someone involved in a 2002 conference call refer to a meeting between Mr. Rove and Justice Department officials on the subject of Siegelman, and revealed that Karl Rove ordered her to "catch Siegelman cheating on his wife."[25] The Anniston Star published an editorial stating that, "If that's his story, then Rove should not hesitate to go under oath and answer questions before a congressional committee."[33]</div><div>
</div><div>Raw Story reports that Karl Rove advised Bill Canary on managing Republican Bob Riley's gubernatorial campaign against Siegelman in the election fraud controversy of 2002, based on the testimony of "two Republican lawyers who have asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation," one of whom is close to Alabama's Republican National Committee.[34]</div><div>
</div><div>Simpson's house burned down soon after she began whistleblowing, and Simpson's car was driven off the road by a private investigator and wrecked. Investigations of the fire and the wreck found no foul play. As a result of the timing of these incidents, Simpson said, "Anytime you speak truth to power, there are great risks. I've been attacked," explaining she felt a "moral obligation" to speak up.[35]</div><div>
</div><div>Alleged Misconduct by Attorney General[edit]</div><div>In November 2008, new documents revealed alleged misconduct by the Bush-appointed U.S. attorney and other prosecutors in the case. Extensive and unusual contact between the prosecution and the jury were alleged to have occurred.[27] According to Time, a Department of Justice Staffer furnished the new documents at the risk of losing her job. The documents included e-mails written by Canary, long after her recusal, offering legal advice to subordinates handling the case. At the time Canary wrote the e-mails, her husband was publicly supporting the state's Republican governor, Bob Riley. In one of Leura Canary's e-mails made public by Time, dated September 19, 2005, she forwarded senior prosecutors on the Siegelman case a three-page political commentary by Siegelman. Canary highlighted a single passage which, she told her subordinates, "Ya'll need to read, because he refers to a 'survey' which allegedly shows that 67% of Alabamans believe the investigation of him to be politically motivated ... Perhaps [this is] grounds not to let [Siegelman] discuss court activities in the media!" At Siegelman's sentencing, the prosecutors urged the judge to use these public statements by Siegelman as grounds for increasing his prison sentence.[27]</div><div>
</div><div>Public reaction[edit]</div><div>Government officials[edit]</div><div>In July 2007, 44 former State Attorneys General, both Democrats and Republicans, filed a petition to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees requesting further investigation of the Siegelman prosecution.[36][37]</div><div>
</div><div>On July 17, 2007, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D, MI-14) and Reps. Linda Sánchez (D, CA-39), Artur Davis (D, AL-07), and Tammy Baldwin (D, WI-02) sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asking him to provide documents and information about former Alabama Democratic Governor Don Siegelman's recent conviction, among others, that may have been part of a pattern of selective political prosecutions by a number of U.S. Attorneys across the country. The deadline for the Attorney General's office to provide the information to Congress was July 27, 2007. The documents had not been produced by August 28, 2007, the date that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that he would resign.[38] In an editorial that day, The New York Times said that despite Gonzales' departure, "[M]any questions remain to be answered. High on the list: what role politics played in dubious prosecutions, like those of former Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, and Georgia Thompson, a Wisconsin civil servant."[39] Press reports have suggested that perhaps U.S. Attorney Leura Canary did not follow proper Department of Justice procedures in recusing herself from the Siegelman matter, since there were no filings to that effect made in court and Justice refused to disclose her recusal form under the Freedom of Information Act.[40]</div><div>
</div><div>On October 10, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee released testimony in which Dana Jill Simpson alleged Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys and that Bob Riley had named the judge who would eventually be assigned to the case. She also claimed Bob Riley told her the judge would "hang Don Siegelman." In contrast with what she told 60 Minutes, in her sworn testimony she never mentioned having met or spoken with Karl Rove.[41][42]</div><div>
</div><div>Wider public[edit]</div><div>Siegelman defenders point out that over 100 charges were thrown out by three different judges. Further, they argue that there was a conflict of interest in the prosecution against Siegelman, since the investigating U.S. Attorney was married to his political opponent's campaign manager.[28] Siegelman defenders argue that the sentence is unprecedented and the punishment excessive because, for example, former Alabama Governor H. Guy Hunt, a Republican, was found guilty in state court of personally pocketing $200,000, and state prosecutors sought probation, not jail time, in the Hunt case.[28]</div><div>
</div><div>Federal Communications Commission investigation[edit]</div><div>60 Minutes aired an investigative segment on the case called "The Prosecution of Governor Siegelman" on February 24, 2008.[43] During the broadcast, CBS affiliate WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, did not air this segment of the program but claimed technical issues with the signal.[44] Scott Horton of Harper's Magazine has stated that he contacted CBS News in New York regarding the issue and claims that he was told that there were no transmission issues, and that WHNT had functioning transmitters at the time.[3] Horton also accused the station of a history of political hostility toward Siegelman. The station responded to the controversy by rebroadcasting the report later that night, and again the next day.[45] In March 2008, the Federal Communications Commission began an investigation into why the north Alabama television station went dark during a February 24 broadcast of the "60 Minutes" installment.[46] The investigation resulted in no action.</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman Sentenced[edit]</div><div>On August 3, 2012, Siegelman was sentenced to more than six years in prison, a $50,000 fine and 500 hours of community service. Siegelman will get credit for the time he has already served which leaves 5 years, nine months remaining in his sentence. An online petition has been created by his daughter, Dana, requesting a presidential pardon for Siegelman. Richard Scrushy was not released on bail and has since served all his time. At the re-sentencing the judge told Siegelman that he did not hold this against him personally and wished him well with his sentence. The judge gave Siegelman until September 11 to report to prison.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>DonSiegelman.org A website in support of Don Siegelman</div><div>Alabama Department of Archives & History – Alabama Governor Don Siegelman profile</div><div>National Governors Association – Alabama Governor Don Siegelman profile</div><div>On the Issues – Don Siegelman issue positions and quotes</div><div>Follow the Money – Don Siegelman</div><div>2006 2002 1998</div><div>The New York Times – Topics: Donald Siegelman collection of news stories</div><div>locustfork.net: The first interview with Jill Simpson</div><div>The Nation: A Whistleblower's Tale</div><div>Siegelman archive, Harper's Scott Horton's ongoing investigation</div><div>The New York Times – "Strange Case of An Imprisoned Alabama Governor" September 10, 2007</div><div>Caylor, John "The Dixie Mafia's Contract on America"</div><div>The Raw Story – "The permanent Republican majority:Part One: How a coterie of Republican heavyweights sent a governor to jail" November 26, 2007</div><div>The Raw Story – "The permanent Republican majority:Part Two: Daughter of jailed governor sees White House hand in her father's fall" November 27, 2007</div><div>The Raw Story – "The permanent Republican majority:Part Three: Running elections from the White House" December 16, 2007</div><div>CBS News 60 Minutes – GOP Operative: Rove Sought To Smear Dem February 21, 2008</div><div>Harper's Magazine – "More Prosecutorial Misconduct in Siegelman Case"</div><div>Video of Karl Rove holding "Free Don Siegelman" banner February 25, 2008</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>WATCH: I Was Imprisoned Due To Karl Rove's 'Political Persecution'</div><div>HuffPost Live | Posted 05.11.2013 | Politics</div><div>Read More: Jacob Soboroff, HuffPost Live, Politics News, Karl Rove, Video, Parker Griffith, Political Imprisonment, Don Siegelman, Free Don Siegelman, Live Video, HuffPost Live Clips, HuffPost Live 321 News, Dean John Farmer, Joe Biden, Dana Siegelman, Politics News</div><div>
</div><div>Richard Scrushy provides his first on-camera interview since serving six years in prison for allegedly bribing Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. Scrushy tol...</div><div>
</div><div>Read Whole Story</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Why Is Don Siegelman Still in Jail?</div><div>Bennett L. Gershman | Posted 06.17.2013 | Politics</div><div>Read More: Justice Department, Presidential Pardons, Don Siegelman, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Politics News</div><div>Bennett L. Gershman</div><div>Despite all this, President Obama, apparently on advice from his "Pardon Attorneys," has refused to grant Siegelman a pardon or commute his seven-year sentence. Why?</div><div>
</div><div>Read Whole Story</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>WATCH: Biden Supports Freeing Imprisoned Governor</div><div>The Huffington Post | Lindsay Wilkes-Edrington | Posted 02.11.2013 | HuffPost Live 321</div><div>Read More: HuffPost Live, Parker Griffith, Political Imprisonment, Don Siegelman, Free Don Siegelman, Live Video, Dean John Farmer, Joe Biden, Dana Siegelman, HuffPost Live 321 News</div><div>
</div><div>Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman already has 112 former state attorney generals petitioning for his release from federal prison. Now, he may also hav...</div><div>
</div><div>Read Whole Sto</div><div>Ex-Congressman: 'Karl Rove's Hands Are All Over' Ex-Governor's Imprisonment</div><div>Posted 12.12.2012 | Politics</div><div>Read More: HuffPost Live, Jacob Soboroff, Video, Karl Rove, Political Imprisonment, Parker Griffith, Free Don Siegelman, Don Siegelman, HuffPost Live Clips, Dana Siegelman, Politics News</div><div>
</div><div>Ex-Alabama Governor Don Siegelman's daughter, Dana Siegelman and former Alabama Congressman, Parker Griffith joined HuffPost Live host Jacob Soboroff ...</div><div>
</div><div>Read Whole Story</div><div>As He Returns To Prison, Don Siegelman Still Seeks Justice (Video)</div><div>John Wellington Ennis | Posted 11.11.2012 | Politics</div><div>Read More: Charlotte, Dnc, Karl Rove, Don Siegelman, Dana Siegelman, Offthebus, offthebus2012, Off the Bus, Video, Politics News</div><div>
</div><div>Today I received an email from Dana Siegelman, sharing her sad situation--she was about to drive 485 miles to take her father, the former Governor of ...</div><div>
</div><div>Read Whole Story</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Former Governor Heads To Prison</div><div>AP | Posted 09.11.2012 | Politics</div><div>Read More: Politics News, Don Siegelman Case, Alabama, Video, Don Siegelman Bribery, Don Siegelman, Alabama Governor, Don Siegelman Prison, Politics News</div><div>
</div><div>MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman has reported to a minimum security federal prison in southwest Louisiana to serve his sentence f...</div><div>
</div><div>ReWhole Story</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>The Curious Case of Don Siegelman</div><div>Mimi Kennedy | Posted 11.03.2012 | Politics</div><div>Read More: Democratic Convention, Don Siegelman Case, Don Siegelman, DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION 2012, Politics News</div><div>Mimi Kennedy</div><div>Don Siegelman should be a star in the Democratic Party. Instead, he's a former elected official sentenced to prison by a right-wing judge in Alabama.</div><div>
</div><div>Read Whole Story</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Former Governor Going Back To Prison Despite Deep 'Regrets'</div><div>AP | BOB JOHNSON | Posted 10.03.2012 | Politics</div><div>Read More: Video, Don Siegelman Alabama, Don Siegelman, Donald Siegelman, Donald Siegelman Alabama, Politics News</div><div>
</div><div>By BOB JOHNSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Following years of appeals and a vocal campaign by supporters, ex-Alabama Gov. Don Siegelm...</div><div>
</div><div>Read Whole Story</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Corruption, Bribery and the "Quid Pro Quo" Conundrum</div><div>Bennett L. Gershman | Posted 08.13.2012 | Crime</div><div>Read More: Alabama-Casino-Bust, Corruption, Don Siegelman Case, Bribery, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Bribery Cases, Andrew-Cuomo-Gambling, Don Siegelman, Crime News</div><div>
</div><div>If the line between lawful and unlawful conduct is so nebulous, couldn't every president who appoints a campaign contributor as an ambassador be chargeable with bribery at the whim of a prosecutor, and convicted if a judge and jury go along?</div><div>
</div><div>Read Whole Story</div><div>
</div><div> ===</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman, South's Political Prisoner</div><div>Timeline by: Michele Looney</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>It is very important to note, Many Good Republican Americans despise the evil and corruption presently displayed by some of its party members. Neither party is perfect, and we all fall short of perfection.</div><div>
</div><div>Curious as to the exact dates in late 1998 when Georgia's Ralph Reed, Jr. huddled with Washington and Alabama's Norquist, Rove, Abramoff and Canary. Was the meeting in Baldwin County? And the date of Leura Canary's appointment? In Kentucky, Steve Pence was appointed and took office as U.S. Attorney just after 911, soon to become Lt. Governor, under the first Kentucky Republican Governorship in many years. Georgia's Ralph Reed, Jr. was very well connected with the Strategum Group, who suffered three fatalities last August in a double murder/suicide, Orlando, Florida and the killer was connected to North Carolina. Political consultants, Strategum also handled several Alabama campaigns, including Alabama's Attorney General, Troy King. You may find a list of Strategum's clients further in this blog, or you can go to http://www.strategumusa.com.</div><div>
</div><div>Reader's input and investigations are extremely valuable in uncovering the truth, and again, many thanks to all my contributors:</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>........"I don’t know of anyone in the history of the United States who has had the constitution torn up and thrown in their face, by all levels of the federal government like Siegelman has.</div><div>
</div><div>......the three largest newspapers in his own state have been a big part of this conspiracy. The newspapers are owned by the media giant, Advance Publications Inc.</div><div>
</div><div>In late 1998 Karl Rove and William Canary arranged money laundering operations with Ralph Reed and Glover Norquist, and worked a deal with Bush's campaign financier and Rove's good friend lobbyist Jack Abramoff to finance Alabama campaign financing of GOP candidates in return for political favors. Canary and Rove were working closely with Republican Attorney General William Pryor ...........</div><div>
</div><div>In 1999 Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon funneled millions of dollars from the Mississippi Choctaw Indians to be laundered by Ralph Reed's Christian Coalition........</div><div>
</div><div>In 2001 Bush appointed William Canary's wife as U.S. Attorney of Middle Alabama. Her prior job was working for Al. A.G. William Pryor.........</div><div>
</div><div>In 2002, Mark Fuller who was the district attorney for Coffee County was appointed By Bush to be U.S. federal judge in middle Alabama. His successor who was appointed by Siegelman found that Fuller had falsified the county payroll for his investigators who had been doing work for him on the side. Fuller who owed one senior investigator several thousand dollars attempted to falsify his income so that he could retire and draw an additional $1,000 a month for the rest of his life.........</div><div>
</div><div>Fuller owns 47% and is/was president of Doss Aviation of Colorado, Springs, CO. He was working both jobs. His uncle Everett Terry serves on several Congressional Defense Committees and made his nephew Mark Everett Fuller a wealthy man through military contracts.</div><div>
</div><div>Campaign Summer of 2002, Bob Riley used Goff's personal plane to fly to Washington to meet with Karl Rove to get a quick course in wearing $3,000 alligator boots and how to project himself as the Marlboro man riding a horse in his campaign ads.</div><div>
</div><div>Scanlon used to work for Riley before he went to work for Congressman Delay.</div><div>
</div><div>They [Scanlon, Rove, Abramoff] agreed to use scare tactics on the Indian Casinos making them pay large sums of money to block so called legislation to keep their casinos from having to pay taxes.</div><div>
</div><div>The money would be laundered by the National Republican associations. Scanlon created sham companies one of which was setup in Europe from which over a million dollars came.</div><div>
</div><div>2002 election night. All the polls had reported in and Siegelman won by over 6,000 votes.</div><div>
</div><div>2002 election night. All the polls had reported in and Siegelman won by over 6,000 votes. Dan Gans, who had programming, computer system administration training and trained to work on the Diebold Election Systems Inc and the ES&S central voting tabulator was about to be fired by Bob Riley when he decide to get online with Bay Minette located in Baldwin County, Al. He made several attempts to take votes from Siegelman’s total vote count and switch them to Riley’s; however, there was a third candidate that was running for governor that he forgot about. Gans had trouble making the total votes equal the number of voters that had voted. There was a count of the paper ballots which still showed Siegelman as the winner. So as a cover up, all the votes was sealed by AL AG William Pryor who issued a warning that he would prosecute anyone who attempted to break the seals. Siegelman tried to get a court order to have a recount but the Republican Judges wouldn’t issue one. Siegelman filed charges with the attorney general’s office attorney Troy King and talked with the FBI to no avail.</div><div>The FCC Chairman Kevin Martin who was appointed by Bush is attempting to allow large media companies to be able to acquire FCC licenses so that it would be possible for one media giant to own all media in a given city, county, etc.</div><div>The GOP under the Bush administration has managed to gain control of large communication and publishing companies through government contracts, appointments</div><div>The three corrupt newspapers in Alabama ran full page articles portraying him [Siegelman] as a modern day Al Capone.......</div><div>He was shamefully shackled and paraded....</div><div>........ended up being placed in a prison over 600 miles from his family.</div><div>
</div><div>The prison has been ordered by the U.S. Court In Montgomery. Al. to keep him isolated and to deny him interviews by 60 minutes and local news medias.</div><div>
</div><div>He [Siegelman] is Alabama's most respected lawyer, politician and lobbyist, because of his work ethics and the ability to communicate with working class and the poor.</div><div>
</div><div>Political corruption in Alabama has gotten totally out of control.</div><div>
</div><div>Out of the Millions of dollars of Mississippi Choctaw money that Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon laundered and sent to AL. to defeat Siegelman’s Education Lottery in 1999, to elect Bob Riley in 2002 and for Riley to oppress the AL. Poarch Indians, “not a single person has gotten investigated by the ABI or FBI under direction of the offices of the Alabama Attorney General or the U.S. Attorneys.”</div><div>
</div><div>Every article written on the 2002 Governors election verifies that the numbers published indicates that Electronic ballot stuffing was involved in Baldwin County to transfer votes from Siegelman to Riley.</div><div>
</div><div>Alabama Attorney General William Pryor ordered that throughout the state that all votes be sealed.</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>-----</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>The Rove-Canary-Pryor Connection</div><div>
</div><div>Karl Rove became involved in Alabama politics in 1994, when he joined with veteran GOP operative Bill Canary to help elect pro-corporate Republican judges to the Alabama state supreme court.</div><div>
</div><div>A further ally of Rove's and Canary's was Alabama Attorney General William Pryor.  Both Rove in Texas and Pryor in Alabama tried to discourage their respective states from actively pursuing the 1996-97 state lawsuits against the tobacco industry, which formed an important aspect of their pro-corporate agenda.  However, Alabama's Democratic Lieutanant Governor Don Siegelman was a strong supporter of the tobacco lawsuits.</div><div>
</div><div>In November 1998, Siegelan was elected Alabama governor, defeating the Republican incumbent, at the same time that Pryor was re-elected attorney general.  Just a few weeks after Siegelman took office, Pryor began an investigation of his administration.  It was this investigation that would lead many years later to Siegerman's conviction and imprisonment.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>1994<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Karl Rove is hired by the Business Council of Alabama to work with veteran GOP operative Bill Canary on winning races for the state supreme court.  Rove brings with him from Texas the strategy of successfully demonizing Democratic judges by painting them as pawns of "wealthy personal-injury trial lawyers."  <span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Atlantic</div><div> </div><div>1996-97<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>A series of states brings lawsuits against the tobacco companies, with the support of the National Association of Attorneys General.  In Texas, Karl Rove, by then the top political consultant to Governor George W. Bush, strategizes with the pro-smoking forces.</div><div>
</div><div>In Alabama , Republican Governor Fob James and Attorney General William Pryorresist joining in the lawsuits.  Democratic Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelmanaccuses Pryor of being too close to the tobacco industry and privately urges two universities to sue the tobacco companies on their own.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>SourceWatch</div><div>Texans for Public Justice (pdf)</div><div>Press-Register</div><div>November 1998<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Democrat Don Siegelman is elected Alabama governor, defeating incumbent Fob James.  Among his campaign issues is a state lottery to fund public education. </div><div>
</div><div>At the same time, William Pryor is relected attorney general, in a campaign managed byKarl Rove and Bill Canary.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Locust Fork Journal </div><div>LegalSchnauzer</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>late March 1999<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Attorney General William Pryor opens an investigation into the administration of newly-elected Governor Don Siegelman.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Locust Fork Journal</div><div>
</div><div>The Abramoff-Reed-Riley Connection</div><div>
</div><div>Lobbyist Jack Abramoff had his own reasons for being opposed to Governor Don Siegelman.  Not only had Siegelman campaigned in 1998 on the issue of setting up an Alabama lottery to help fund public education, but he also supported Indian gambling in the state.  Abramoff saw both of these initiations as threatening the casino revenues of his own tribal clients, and early in 1999, he arranged for Ralph Reed to run a stealth lobbying campaign against them, using his connections in the religious right.  Reed was a long-time associate of Abramoff's, going back to their College Republican days in the early 80's, and also an ally of Karl Rove, who had helped him get into the lobbying business when he left the Christian Coalition in 1997.</div><div>
</div><div>Abramoff and Reed were aided in their lobbying campaign by then-Congressman Bob Riley, whose former press secretary, Michael Scanlon, had recently gone to work for Abramoff's ally Tom DeLay and would become an associate of Abramoff's the following year.  Riley wrote a fundraising letter for the campaign on the stationery of a group headed by former DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham, and Abramoff and his wife donated to Riley's re-election campaign in 2000.  It was Bob Riley who would run against Siegelman for the governorship in 2002.</div><div>
</div><div>At the same time as their anti-lottery campaign, Abramoff and Reed were also running a stealth lobbying campaign in Alabama on behalf of their client, Channel One, carried under the name of a front group whose leader was apparently employed by either Bill Canary or his business partner.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>April 1999<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Ralph Reed begins a lobbying effort against Governor Don Siegelman's state lottery and Indian gambling initiatives, using funds from Jack Abramoff's tribal clients.  The lottery plan will be defeated in October 1999.</div><div>
</div><div>Alabama Congressman Bob Riley writes a fundraising letter in support of Reed's campaign on the stationery the U.S. Family Network, headed by Ed Buckham, formerly the chief of staff to Texas Rep. Tom DeLay.  Riley's former press secretary,Michael Scanlon, was on DeLay's staff at this time and would go to work for Abramoff the following year. </div><div>
</div><div>Reed would lobby in Alabama again in early 2002, using funding from both Abramoff and Scanlon.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Common Dreams</div><div>Gambling and the Law</div><div>DCCC</div><div>Washington Post</div><div>Harpers</div><div>The Nation</div><div> </div><div>May 1999<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>At the same time as their anti-lottery campaign, Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed are also conducting a stealth campaign in Alabama on behalf of their client Channel One, which is threatened with Senate hearings into its educational programming.</div><div>
</div><div>This campaign includes a series of radio ads produced by a fictitious front group, which Reed eventually acknowledged having been behind.  The nominal head of the front group, Dax Swatak, would be described in 2002 as a business partner of Bill Canary.  As of 1999, Swatek appears to have been working either for Canary or for Pat McWhorter, a business partner of Canary's. </div><div> <span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Russ Baker</div><div>Harpers</div><div>McWhorter Group</div><div>Obligation, Inc.</div><div>Alabama Public Records</div><div>Associated Press, 5/2/02</div><div>May 2000<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Jack Abramoff and his wife donate $1000 to Bob Riley's congressional campaign.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Decatur Daily</div><div>
</div><div>The 2002 Election -- Siegelman's Enemies Join Together to Work for His Defeat</div><div>
</div><div>In August 2001, Bill Canary's wife Leura Canary was appointed a US Attorney for Alabama by President George W. Bush.  She quickly federalized William Pryor's long-running state investigation of Governor Don Siegelman, and even though she was obliged to recuse herself in May 2002 because of her husband's connections, she appears to have continued running things from behind the scenes.  When Siegelman was up for re-election in 2002, the ongoing investigation became an issue in the campaign.  </div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman's opponent in the 2002 election was Congressman Bob Riley, who enjoyed both the support of Bill Canary and funding from Jack Abramoffand Michael Scanlon which allegedly amounted to millions of dollars.  The Riley campaign was also backed by Judge Mark Fuller, who had recently been nominated to a federal judgeship by George W. Bush after serving as a local district attorney.  After Fuller left the district attorney's office, his Siegelman-appointed successor announced that he had found evidence of fraudulent accounting practices, which led Fuller to work for Siegelman's defeat.  In 2005, Fuller would refuse to recuse himself from judging Siegelman's bribery trial.</div><div>
</div><div>On election night Siegelman was leading in the tally until a midnight recount abruptly shifted 6000 votes over to Riley.  The change was officially blamed on a computer glitch, but no other races were affected, which is considered statistically implausible.  There have also been anonymous allegations that the tally was altered electronically by a Riley campaign advisor, Dan Gans.  Gans soon thereafter joined the Alexander Strategy Group headed by Ed Buckham, the Abramoff ally for whom Bob Riley had written a 1999 fundraising letter.</div><div>
</div><div>However, what decisively determined the outcome of the election was that Attorney General William Pryor refused to allow a recount, saying that state law required ballots to be kept sealed. A few months later, in April 2003, Pryor was nominated by George W. Bush for a federal judgeship.  The Democrats in Congress stalled his confirmation -- in part over his role in questionable fundraising practices -- but he was recess-appointed to the position by George W. Bush in February 2004.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>August 2, 2001<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Leura Canary, wife of Bill Canary, is appointed a US Attorney by George W. Bush and federalizes the ongoing Alabama investigation of Don Siegelman's administration.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Auburn Plainsman</div><div>LocustFork</div><div>September 29, 2001<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Alice H. Martin is appointed a US Attorney in Alabama by George W. Bush.  She would also become involved in attempts to prosecute Don Siegelman.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Auburn Plainsman</div><div>May 2002<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>US Attorney Leura Canary recuses herself from the Siegelman investigation, acknowledging her husband's political connections.  However, sources indicate that she continues to oversee it, keeping the investigation in her own office and under the control of prosecutors close to her and fighting the advise of her professional staff to drop it.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Department of Justice</div><div>Pacific Free Press</div><div>Harpers</div><div>August 1, 2002<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Alabama district attorney Mark Fuller is nominated to a federal judgeship by George W. Bush.  Governor Don Siegelman appoints a new district attorney who investigate's his predecessor' accounting practices and accuses Fuller of attempts to defraud the retirement system.  Fuller dismisses the allegations as "politically motivated" and works to defeat Siegelman in the election.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Alliance for Justice</div><div>Fall 2002<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Alabama governor's race between Democratic incumbent Don Siegelman and Republican Congressman Bob Riley.  Bill Canary is working for the Riley campaign, and the continuing William Pryor-Leula Canary investigation of Siegelman is used as a campaign issue.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Locust Fork Journal</div><div>October 2002<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon pour millions of dollars in tribal money into the Alabama governor's race.  <span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Harpers, June 2007 </div><div>Harpers, July 2007 </div><div>BalwinCountyNow </div><div>OpEdNews</div><div>November 5, 2002<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Bob Riley narrowly beats Don Siegelman after a midnight recount in Baldwin County in which 6334 votes move to Riley.  This is attributed to a computer glitch, but no other race in the county is affected.  An unidentified source alleges that Riley's former chief of staff and campaign senior advisor, Dan Gans, changed the votes electronically.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Harpers</div><div>Locus Fork Journal</div><div>BaldwinCountyNow</div><div>November 2002<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Attorney General William Pryor denies Siegelman's demand for a statewide recount, saying that a state law requires ballots to be sealed except under limited circumstances.  No judge issues an order to break the seal and the federal Department of Justice also takes no action.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Harpers</div><div>USA Today</div><div>November 18, 2002<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Don Siegelman concedes "for the good of the state of Alabama."  A 2007 affadavit and testimony from Reublican attorney Jill Simpson (see below) would suggest that this concession had been coerced by Bill Canary and Bob Riley with the support of Karl Rove.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>The Crimson White</div><div>by February 2003<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Dan Gans joins the Alexander Strategy Group, headed by former DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>NewsMeat</div><div>April 9, 2003<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>William Pryor is nominated as a federal judge by George W. Bush but Democrats stall his confirmation.  He will finally be recess-appointed on February 20, 2004.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>WhiteHouse.gov</div><div>New York Times</div><div>SaveOurCourts</div><div>
</div><div>Siegelman is Tried for Corruption -- and Then Tried Again</div><div>
</div><div>In 2004, Don Siegelman was charged with attempted bid-rigging in a case brought by US Attorney Alice H. Martin   After many twists and turns, the case was thrown out by a clearly exasperated judge on grounds of insufficient evidence. </div><div>
</div><div>A year later, in October 2005, as Siegelman prepared for an attempt to take back the governorship, he was indicted on fresh charges of bribery, conspiracy, and other crimes stemming from the long-running Pryor-Canary investigation.  The case was assigned to Judge Mark Fuller, who refused to recuse himself on the grounds of either his business ties as a federal contractor or the possibility of his holding a grudge against Siegelman.</div><div>
</div><div>The indictment and trial helped ensure Siegelman's defeat in the Democratic primary in June 2006.  This was followed three weeks later by his conviction on 7 out of the 32 counts brought against him. </div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>May 27, 2004<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Don Siegelman, his former chief of staff, and a physician are indicted on charges of attempting to rig Medicaid bids in 1999.  Three judges recuse themselves from the case over the next few months.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Montgomery Advertiser</div><div>New York Times </div><div> </div><div>July 13, 2004<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>The Spegelman case is assigned to US District Judge U.W. Clemon.  On August 16, prosecutors ask that Clemon recuse himself, citing indirect ties to Siegelman, but he refuses.  On September 29, a federal appeals court will refuse to remove Clemon from the case.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Montgomery Advertiser</div><div>Crimson White</div><div>September 10, 2004<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>One charge in the case is thrown out by Judge Clemon, who also cites an assistant U.S. Attorney and an assistant state attorney general for contempt of court.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Montgomery Advertiser</div><div>Decatur Daily</div><div>October 5, 2004<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>All charges against Siegelman and his co-defendents are dropped after Judge Clemon bars most of the prosecutors' evidence.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Montgomery Advertiser</div><div>October 26, 2005<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>As Don Siegelman begins his campaign to return to office, he is indicted by a federal grand jury in Leura Canary's district on 32 counts of bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice.  </div><div>
</div><div>The charges stem from accusations that in 1999 former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy donated to a political fund that was lobbying for Siegelman's lottery plan in exchange for being appointed to a key medical licensing board.  </div><div>
</div><div>The case is assigned to Judge Mark Fuller, who refuses to recuse himself, despite having federal contracting connections and a history of opposition to Siegelman.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Decatur Daily</div><div>June 6, 2006<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Don Siegelman is defeated in the Democratic primary.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Hartselle Enquirer</div><div>June 29, 2006<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Don Siegelman is acquitted of 25 of the counts against him but is found guilty of the other 7 after the jury deadlocks twice and is sent back by the judge.  There have since been allegations of jury-tampering.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Madison.com</div><div>Speaker of the House blog</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>In May 2007, one month before Don Siegelman was sentenced to an extended prison term, an Alabama Republican attorney, Jill Simpson, issued an affadavit claiming political interference in the outcome of the 2002 Alabama governor's race and naming Karl Rove as having taken an interest in the matter.  </div><div>
</div><div>Because this accusation came out at the same time that the US Attorneys scandal was breaking, and because Siegelman had been prosecuted by two Bush-appointed attorneys, there was immediate speculation that the prosecution might have been the product of a politicized Justice Department.</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>May 21, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Alabama Republican attorney Jill Simpson states in an affadavit that Don Siegelmanconceded in 2002 because he was threatened with the release of photos of one of his supporters planting Riley signs at a KKK rally.  She also says that Bill Canary stated Karl Rove was taking an interest in the matter.  </div><div>
</div><div>Prior to Simpson's signing the affadavit, but after she began communicating with Siegelman's lawyers, her house had burned down and her car had been run off the road.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Press-Register</div><div>Locust Fork Journal</div><div>June 1, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>The New York Times draws attention to the Siegelman case, citing the Simpson affadavit and noting the possible connection to the US Attorneys scandal.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>New York Times</div><div> </div><div>June 28, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Siegelman and Scrushy are sentenced to extended prison terms by Judge Mark Fuller, who refuses to allow them to remain at liberty while they appeal the sentences.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Press-Register</div><div>Birmingham News</div><div>July 1, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Siegelman's lawyer's office is broken into.  Files are rifled through but not taken.  However, the Siegelman files are not in the office at the time.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Daily Report</div><div>by July 11, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Siegelman is moved from the federal prison in Atlanta, GA to Texarkana, TX.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>WKRG</div><div>July 16, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Forty-four former state attorneys general ask Congress to investigate  whether the prosecution of Siegelman was politically based.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Press-Register</div><div>July 17, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Siegelman is moved again, to Oakdale, LA.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Auburn Plainsman</div><div>July 17, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>The House Judiciary Committee asks then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for documentation on the Siegelman matter.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Speaker of the House blog</div><div>August 21, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Federal prosecutors recommend leniency for the key witness against Siegelman, an aide who had admitted to taking bribes without Siegelman's knowledge.  Siegelman's lawyers call this "deplorable."<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Florida Times-Union</div><div>September 14, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Jill Simpson expands on her May affadavit, telling House Judiciary Committee lawyers that she heard Bill Canary say in a conference call on November 18, 2002 that "his girls" -- US Attorneys Leula Canary and Alice Martin -- would "take care" of Siegelman.  She says Siegelman was promised that the federal investigation of him would end if he would both concede the election and agree to stay out of politics.</div><div>
</div><div>Simpson also states that on the same occasion, Canary told Governor Riley's son Rob that he had worked it out with "Karl" -- which she took to mean Karl Rove -- and that Karl had already spoken to the Department of Justice.  </div><div>
</div><div>She says further that Judge Mark Fuller was deliberately chosen for the Siegelman case in 2005 and that Rob Riley had told her Fuller would "hang" Siegelman.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Press-Register</div><div>Washington Post</div><div>Auburn Plainsman</div><div>October 23, 2007<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>A subcommottee of the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on“Allegations of Selective Prosecution: The Erosion of Public Confidence in Our Federal Justice System,”  featuring the Siegelman case.<span style="white-space:pre"> </span>DonSiegelman.org</div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div> </div>